Media Release: Launch of the Workers’ Action Network NL

St. John’s, NL - Common Front NL, a coalition of labour, social justice and community groups representing over 100,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, is pleased to launch the Workers’ Action Network of Newfoundland and Labrador (hereafter “Workers’ Action Network”) which will replace and build upon the advocacy of the Fight for $15 and Fairness NL campaign. Centred upon the principle of ‘worker solidarity’ by which an injustice for one worker is an injustice for all workers, the Workers’ Action Network is the Newfoundland and Labrador expression of a broader Canada-wide workers’ action and solidarity movement in which non-unionized, low-wage workers collectively organize to have each other’s backs and unite in the fight for decent work for all. “As one of the largest coalitions in this province, we are embarking on the next chapter of our collective action for workers in this province because we know decent work is about more than fair wages and benefits; it means a work environment free of harassment, abuse, discrimination, precarity, and other unjust labour conditions which deny the dignity, rights, and economic well-being of workers” said Alyse Stuart, Chair of Common Front NL. The Workers’ Action Network will be staffed by worker advisors/organizers Sara Moriarity and Mark Nichols, whose immediate priority will be educating workers about their rights, as well as advising and supporting them in standing up for those rights. Workers can reach out to them through the Workers’ Action Network website (WorkersActionNL.ca) or by telephone/WhatsApp at (709) 771-0024. “Our initial focus is to provide information and support for non-unionized, low-wage workers through meetings and information sessions, but eventually, the agenda for the activity of the Workers’ Action Network will be set entirely by the collective of workers,” said Moriarity. “Workers will determine the issues we focus on and the advocacy we collectively engage in. There are employers in this province who are actively denying the rights of workers under current labour standards legislation, who face no meaningful consequences for doing so. We’ve heard from workers who feel helpless navigating how to go about asserting even their most basic rights in the workplace. That needs to change.” Furthermore, labour standards legislation in this province is woefully out of date and inadequate for the twenty-first century workplace. “The Labour Standards Act provides insufficient protection for non-unionized workers in this province, and zero protection for gig workers misclassified as self-employed independent contractors,” said Nichols. “Consequently, the overwhelming majority of non-unionized workers have no paid sick days and earn less than a livable wage. Gig workers, such as those delivering orders from local restaurants, earn even less than our poverty-level minimum wage and have no access to Employment Insurance.” The Workers’ Action Network will provide the structure for non-unionized, low-wage workers across Newfoundland and Labrador, including gig workers and migrant workers, to come together and organize as one collective voice to challenge workplace injustice, stand up for their rights under existing legislation, and demand better labour standards protection.