As we continue to work through the challenges that the COVID-19 measures have put before us, we want to thank our members who are reaching out to us. Your Local leadership are all working diligently throughout these unprecedented times and the messages of support are very much appreciated. Also, we want to remind our members that your Local leadership are all still working and available to answer any questions or concerns you may have.
We encourage you to reach out if you have any questions. So many aspects of our day-to-day work are being impacted that it is impossible parse out information as each Unit, work group and department have had to take steps specific to each work area.
The State-of-Emergency has been extended to May 12, 2020. For those who have been working from home, this means that you will likely continue as you are. For those who are not able to do your normal duties from home, you should have had at least some conversation with your management by this point. You may have been given alternate work, training or other projects to keep you working. If there is not alternate work or training possible, or that avenue has been exhausted you may be contacted about potential reductions of hours, Declared Emergency Leave or other steps that may have to be taken. Again, if you have questions or concerns your best point of contact is your Unit Chair.
Many of you may have seen the announcement yesterday in regards to the expansion of the CERB benefits to provide support for those who are still working, but who have had their hours reduced. We have been in contact with Unifor National for some clarifications, and they are waiting on some details from the government at this point in time. Until we get firm answers, the government website: https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/cerb-application.html may be useful.
Unifor National’s Education department has created a number of online video conferences on a variety of topics related to COVID-19 and the resources available to our members. For more information please see the earlier post here on our website or you can go to the Calendar and RSVP page to register.
For many of our members, working from home has become the new normal. It is important to keep in mind we still need to be cognizant of Health and Safety. McMaster’s website has a number of resources that may be helpful most of which are linked to on the Resources for Working Remotely page. If you have questions relating to Health and Safety concerns, whether at home or on campus, you can reach out to Jim McAndrew, Unifor 5555 Health and Safety coordinator (jim.mcandrew@unifor5555.ca).