Foodservice workers at George Brown College and Seneca College in Toronto voted yesterday, for a second time in less than three weeks, to confirm Workers United as their union of choice.
After being visited by Paul Clifford, President of UNITE HERE Local 75, just a little over a week ago, Evelyn Neequaye, a shop steward for George Brown College said: “When Paul told me that his union was trying to stop us from voting and that this was a good thing, I had to laugh. Their attempts to deny us our right to vote reminded me of all the reasons why we chose to leave Local 75 four years ago and chose to be part of the formation of Workers United last year.”
In yet another demonstration of their contempt for worker democracy, UNITE HERE has gotten the Ontario Labour Relations Board to seal the boxes from three votes at food service locations in Ontario. Rather than waiting the three weeks it would take to have a hearing about the technicality raised by UNITE HERE, workers at all three locations re-signed enough union cards in less than 12 hours to trigger a second vote. That vote will take place next week.
“We were members of Local 75 of UNITE HERE before the merger. There were a lot of problems that went ignored. We are staying with Workers United because things are much better now and we do not want to go back to the old ways” said Genat Gmedhin, shop steward at George Brown College, Casa Loma Campus.
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