No more public money for Blacklisters! Tell Hwy. 407 corp. to stop attacking labour rights!

Actions!

UFCW, Unite the Union team up for bold action against Highway 407 corp. UFCW activists driving force at 407 ETR headquarters UFCW, Unite the Union protest Ontario government over labour rights

Activsts converge at Hwy. 407 and Leslie overpass for justice Click on the image above to see the photo gallery.

Protest at SNC Lavelin for scandal involvement with Ferrovial Click on the image above to see the photo gallery.

Toronto – July 5, 2013 – The European owners of Canada’s most lucrative toll highway are attacking the rights of health and safety, union activists! Support the international campaign led by the Unite the Union in the United Kingdom to stop this shameless attack on labour rights! Click here to send a letter. 

Canada’s leading and most progressive union, UFCW Canada, is calling on more than a quarter of a million members and activist across the country – plus their friends, neighbours and supporters – to join the international campaign to stop the owners of 407 ETR from carrying on a disgraceful attack on labour rights, that includes the blacklisting of a health and safety, union activist.

The company that owns and operates 407 ETR is Ferrovial, a Madrid-based transnational corporation that bills Canadians for billions of dollars every year for using the highway that public money paid for in the 1990s. In 1999, the Ontario Conservative government – including current PC Leader Tim Hudak – sold highway 407 to Ferrovial for $300-million less than the province’s taxpayers paid to have it built.

What is Ferrovial’s blacklisting scandal?

Unite the Union in the United Kingdom has evidence that electrician and Unite Shop Steward, Frank Morris, was blacklisted, victimized and sacked by BFK – a Ferrovial joint venture. Unite is now convinced that Frank is now being denied work because he is a trade unionist who is prepared to raise legitimate health and safety concerns. Frank got a job on a huge tunnelling project in London but it seems that when Ferrovial’s Tunnelling Chief saw his name he made it clear that he wanted him out – even though he had never met him before!  Unite believes that Frank was sacked by BFK because he was a trade unionist who tried to protect his fellow workers – and that Ferrovial and their partners are keeping blacklisting alive in the British construction industry.

What does ‘Blacklisting’ mean for workers?

The blacklisting of construction workers in the UK has led to:

• Poverty
• Family breakdown
• Mental breakdown (including cases of suicide)

What can we do in Canada to Stop the Blacklist?

The ETR 407 is Ferrovial’s biggest cash cow. Please send a letter to the Ontario government telling Premier Wynne to voice your concern to Ferrovial, and that you demand that Ferrovial does not receive any more public contracts until it puts a stop to blacklisting and gives Frank Morris his job back.

Name:

E-mail:

Message:

Kathleen Wynne, Premier Legislative Building Queen's Park Toronto ON M7A 1A1 cc: Iñigo Meirás, CEO, Ferrovial; Tony Woodley, Executive Officer, Unite the Union; Tracy MacCharles, MPP, Pickering-Scarborough East; Jeff Leal, MPP, Peterborough; John O'Toole, MPP, Durham; Laurie Scott, MPP, Haliburton Kawartha Lakes Brock Dear Premier Wynne: As a resident and voter of Ontario, I am writing to express my concern over your government's business relationship with a transnational corporation that blacklists workers for raising health and safety concerns. I have recently learned that Ferrovial – the parent company of Cintra, which owns and controls 407 ETR – is actively barring health and safety and union activists from jobsites throughout Europe. In addition the millions of dollars that Ontarians give Ferrovial every year through its monopoly of the 407, I take serious issue with the $1-billion of public money that was recently pledged to Ferrovial, as part of its successful bid for the 407 extension. Premier: I do not, under any circumstances, want my tax dollars being used to pay for the rights busting activities of this or any corporation. As my elected representative, I am asking you to directly voice my serious concerns about this issue to Ferrovial. Please tell Ferrovial to immediately cease and desist its reprehensible practice of blacklisting employees who speak up for health and safety. Surely, there are more responsible and ethical corporations that our province – and public money – could do business with. Thank you. Sincerely,

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