SEIU Local 1 Canada
Encyclopedia
Services Employees International Union Local 1 Canada is the largest SEIU
local trade union
in Canada
, representing more than 50,000 health care and community services workers in Ontario. Its members work in hospitals, home care, nursing & retirement homes and community services throughout the province.
SEIU has been active in Ontario for more than 60 years. SEIU Local 1 Canada was created in 2004 when six SEIU locals merged into one large local to provide a higher level of service to its members. Local 1.on (as it was then known) was officially granted status on January 8, 2004 and came from a merger of six of the remaining SEIU health care locals in Ontario (locals 183, 204, 268, 519ca, 532 and 777).
SEIU Local 1 Canada prides itself as an organizing union. Its goal is to organize every worker employed in the health care and community services field. Since its inception in 2004, SEIU Local 1 Canada has grown by over 10,000 members, a 25 percent increase.
The President of SEIU Local 1 Canada is Sharleen Stewart. She was elected for a four-year term at its provincial convention in Windsor, Ontario in 2007.
SEIU Local 1 Canada is one of five locals who are affiliated with SEIU Canada, a national union representing over 100,000 workers. SEIU is an international union that represents more than 2.2 million workers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
SEIU started organizing health care workers in Ontario hospitals in the early 1940s. Many other unions tried to organize this sector, but with little success. SEIU persisted and formed Canada’s first hospital local at the Toronto General Hospital in 1944. SEIU also organized four hospitals in eight months in Thunder Bay in 1946.
SEIU continued to expand in hospitals and nursing homes. In the early 1980s SEIU helped protect nursing home jobs from outsourcing, won a pension plan for thousands of nursing home workers worth over $304-million in assets, and stopped the Ontario Government from passing a law that would restrict yearly wage increases.
In the mid-1990s SEIU took the Ontario Government to court after the Progressive Conservatives tried to limit Ontario’s pay equity legislation. This legal action pressured the government in June 2003 to commit up to $414 million in pay equity funding for 100,000 women across Ontario.
Some of SEIU’s leaders did not agree with the November Group’s proposals. They responded by resigning and supporting the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) raid on SEIU work units in Ontario in 2000.
Many unions condemned the CAW for their actions. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) applied full sanctions against the CAW in July 2000 for violating the CLC’s no-raiding agreement. Many prominent unions in Canada including the Steelworkers, CUPE, OPSEU, CEP, UFCW supported SEIU in their efforts to fight back the CAW raid.
After the dust had settled, nearly 80% of SEIU members rejected the CAW’s raid attempt and chose to stay with SEIU.
SEIU International issued a charter for SEIU Local 1.on on January 8, 2004 and approved the new local’s constitution on March 26, 2004.
SEIU Local 1.on’s key objective was to organize non-union workers. Over a 5 year period, the Local increased its membership by 9,000 workers, a 25% increase.
Local 879. Local 879 entered into contract negotiations with SEIU Local 1.on in 2006. In January 2007, Local 879 received an offer from SEIU Local 1 management. The staff voted to reject the offer, which sanctioned a strike
. SEIU Local 1 Canada staff went out on the picket lines. The strike lasted less than a week. Management from SEIU Local 1 Canada and the Teamsters Local 879 negotiated a new collective agreement and was accepted by field staff.
In 2009 SEIU Local 1 Canada unveiled the Member Resource Centre (MRC), a help centre that provides quick answers to members.
In 2010 The Local restructured its operations to provide an even higher level of service to its members based on industry expertise.
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
local trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, representing more than 50,000 health care and community services workers in Ontario. Its members work in hospitals, home care, nursing & retirement homes and community services throughout the province.
SEIU has been active in Ontario for more than 60 years. SEIU Local 1 Canada was created in 2004 when six SEIU locals merged into one large local to provide a higher level of service to its members. Local 1.on (as it was then known) was officially granted status on January 8, 2004 and came from a merger of six of the remaining SEIU health care locals in Ontario (locals 183, 204, 268, 519ca, 532 and 777).
SEIU Local 1 Canada prides itself as an organizing union. Its goal is to organize every worker employed in the health care and community services field. Since its inception in 2004, SEIU Local 1 Canada has grown by over 10,000 members, a 25 percent increase.
The President of SEIU Local 1 Canada is Sharleen Stewart. She was elected for a four-year term at its provincial convention in Windsor, Ontario in 2007.
SEIU Local 1 Canada is one of five locals who are affiliated with SEIU Canada, a national union representing over 100,000 workers. SEIU is an international union that represents more than 2.2 million workers throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
History
Originally known as the Building Service Employees International Union, the union established its first two locals in Montreal and Vancouver in 1943. Members at these two locals were mainly elevator operators, window cleaners, janitors and other maintenance employees in commercial buildings.SEIU started organizing health care workers in Ontario hospitals in the early 1940s. Many other unions tried to organize this sector, but with little success. SEIU persisted and formed Canada’s first hospital local at the Toronto General Hospital in 1944. SEIU also organized four hospitals in eight months in Thunder Bay in 1946.
SEIU continued to expand in hospitals and nursing homes. In the early 1980s SEIU helped protect nursing home jobs from outsourcing, won a pension plan for thousands of nursing home workers worth over $304-million in assets, and stopped the Ontario Government from passing a law that would restrict yearly wage increases.
In the mid-1990s SEIU took the Ontario Government to court after the Progressive Conservatives tried to limit Ontario’s pay equity legislation. This legal action pressured the government in June 2003 to commit up to $414 million in pay equity funding for 100,000 women across Ontario.
Reasserting Canadian Identity
In 1998 SEIU’s national executive and local presidents across Canada created a working group to examine ways to strengthen SEIU’s structure in Canada. Dubbed the “November Group”, this body put forward a proposal that would give SEIU Canada and its local’s greater autonomy in its decision-making, financial structures and the establishment of their strategic goals.Some of SEIU’s leaders did not agree with the November Group’s proposals. They responded by resigning and supporting the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) raid on SEIU work units in Ontario in 2000.
Many unions condemned the CAW for their actions. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) applied full sanctions against the CAW in July 2000 for violating the CLC’s no-raiding agreement. Many prominent unions in Canada including the Steelworkers, CUPE, OPSEU, CEP, UFCW supported SEIU in their efforts to fight back the CAW raid.
After the dust had settled, nearly 80% of SEIU members rejected the CAW’s raid attempt and chose to stay with SEIU.
SEIU Rebuilds
After the CAW raids, SEIU’s Ontario locals worked together to strengthen SEIU in Canada. In October 2003, the locals voted to merge its health care and community service members into one provincial local named SEIU Local 1.on. SEIU’s members approved this decision by a 90% majority.SEIU International issued a charter for SEIU Local 1.on on January 8, 2004 and approved the new local’s constitution on March 26, 2004.
SEIU Local 1.on’s key objective was to organize non-union workers. Over a 5 year period, the Local increased its membership by 9,000 workers, a 25% increase.
The strike of 2007
Field staff at the Local are represented by the TeamstersTeamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of several local and regional locals of teamsters, the union now represents a diverse membership of blue-collar and professional workers in both the public and private sectors....
Local 879. Local 879 entered into contract negotiations with SEIU Local 1.on in 2006. In January 2007, Local 879 received an offer from SEIU Local 1 management. The staff voted to reject the offer, which sanctioned a strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. SEIU Local 1 Canada staff went out on the picket lines. The strike lasted less than a week. Management from SEIU Local 1 Canada and the Teamsters Local 879 negotiated a new collective agreement and was accepted by field staff.
SEIU Local 1 Canada Today
After President Sharleen Stewart was elected to another four year term at SEIU Local 1’s members’ convention in Windsor in 2007, the Local began to invest a considerable amount of energy into new methods of servicing.In 2009 SEIU Local 1 Canada unveiled the Member Resource Centre (MRC), a help centre that provides quick answers to members.
In 2010 The Local restructured its operations to provide an even higher level of service to its members based on industry expertise.
External links
- SEIU Local 1 Canada website.
- SEIU Canada website.
- SEIU International website.