Benefits of insulating

The object of the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers shall be to assist its membership in securing employment, to defend their rights and advance their interests as working men and women, and by education and co-operation, raise them to that position in society to which they are justly entitled.

What is Organizing

The point of Organizing non-union workers is to work with those people who can help them learn and understand the benefits of what the Union can do for them. Also this can help them understand why workers organize for various reasons, such as to improve their working conditions, increase their pay or benefits, and/or to create a better working environment for themselves. We encourage you to continue reading about organizing, and below is some helpful reading to see if you should start organizing and start becoming part of an Union.

Your rights

Employees shall have the right to self-organize, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

35 Things Your Employer Cannot Do:

1. Attend any union meeting, park across the street from the hall or engage in any undercover activity which would indicate that the employees are being kept under surveillance to determine who is and who is not participating in the union program.

2. Tell employees that the company will fire or punish them if they engage in union activity

3. Lay off, discharge, discipline any employee for union activity.

4. Grant employees wage increases, special concessions or benefits in order to keep the union out.

5. Bar employee-union representatives from soliciting employees’ memberships on or off the company property during non-working hours.

6. Ask employees about union matters, meetings, etc. (Some employees may, of their own accord, walk up and tell of such matters. It is not an unfair labor practice to listen, but to ask questions to obtain additional information is illegal).

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Contact

Become a Heat & Frost insulator

E-mail: inquiries@insulators95.com
Telephone: 905-944-0110
Fax: 905-944-1065

The origins of Labour in Canada can be traced back to a printer's revolt in 1872 in Toronto, where labourers tried to establish a 54-hour work week. At that time, any union activity was considered illegal and the organizers were jailed, at the behest of George Brown. Protest marches of over 10,000 workers were formed in response, which eventually led to Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald repealing the anti-union laws and arranging the release of the organizers as well.

The fight of the Toronto printers had a second, lasting legacy. The parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers' strike led to an annual celebration. In 1882 American labour leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labour festivals in Toronto. Returning to the United States, Peter McGuire along with the Knights of Labor organized a similar parade on September 5, 1882 in New York City. In 1884 another parade was held, and the Knights passed resolutions to make this an annual event. Other labour organizations (and there were many), but notably the affiliates of the International Workingmen's Association, many of whom were socialists or anarchists, favoured a May 1 holiday. With the event of Chicago's Haymarket riots in early May of 1886, president Grover Cleveland believed that a May 1 holiday could become an opportunity to commemorate the riots. Thus, fearing that it might strengthen the socialist movement, he quickly moved in 1887 to support the position of the Knights of Labor and their date for Labour Day. The date was adopted in Canada in 1894 by the government of Prime Minister John Thompson. Socialist delegates in Paris in 1889 appointed May 1 as the official International Labour Day. (See May Day).

At the time trade unions were still illegal, and authorities still tried to repress them, even though laws against "criminal conspiracy" to disrupt trade had already been abolished in Britain. Despite the obstacles, the assembly had emerged as an important force in Toronto. It spoke out on behalf of working people, encouraged union organization and acted as a watchdog when workers were exploited. Occasionally, it also mediated disputes between employers and employees. By the time the landmark parade was organized in 1872 the assembly had a membership of 27 unions, ......