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Had To Test Masks In Florida The Department of Health was so poorly prepared for the outbreak of the pandemic it had to send masks to Florida for safety testing, say internal records. And the number of ventilators stored in a $300 million national stockpile was only one percent of what was needed. “We do not currently have a machine to test the specifications of our N95 masks so we are going to have to send samples to Florida to get them inspected and then have them sent back to Canada, which adds additional wait times before supplies can get to provinces,” read an April 5, 2020 memo from the Prime Minister’s Office. “Officials are trying to find a way around this.” “We cannot get our hands on machines that can test the specifications of N95s and make sure they check out,” wrote staff. “We will have to send samples to Florida.” The department was mandated to keep a four months’ supply of masks, gowns, ventilators and other pandemic goods. Authorities have repeatedly refused to disclose actual supplies in a National Emergency Strategic Stockpile at the outbreak of the pandemic last March 11. “Our understanding from the Public Health Agency is that for security reasons, the Agency does not disclose specifics,” said a March 19 staff email. However records confirm the Agency had only 539 ventilators at the time. It subsequently ordered 40,547 from manufacturers. “All deliveries are expected by March 2021,” wrote staff. The stockpile also had only a few thousand high-grade N95 masks. When the Government of British Columbia asked for quick delivery of 550,000 masks last March 24, staff found only 6,000 in federal warehouses. Two million were thrown out months before when the Public Health Agency closed a depot in Regina. Shortages were so severe political aides in the Prime Minister’s Office said cabinet might have to order private manufacturers to retool their factories. “We should get a list from Health of things we will have shortages on and look to mandate manufacturing be switched to what is needed like in war time when factories were retooled for needed equipment: masks, ventilators etcetera,” Brett Thalmann, an executive director to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, wrote March 15, 2020. “Regular procurement and bulk buying may not be enough.” MPs at parliamentary hearings last spring complained they could not obtain details of equipment shortages, or clear explanations of why the stockpile was not maintained. “It’s an embarrassment to this country,” Ken Neumann, Canadian national director for the United Steelworkers union, testified May 6 at the Commons finance committee. “We can’t produce our own equipment to protect our front line workers, to protect our people?” said Neumann. “What kind of society are we talking about?” Auditors in a 2011 Evaluation Of The National Emergency Stockpile System specifically recommended the Public Health Agency maintain “pandemic preparedness supplies,” describing the stockpile as insurance against calamity. “In many ways the emergency stockpile system is an insurance policy,” said Evaluation. “No one ever wants to draw from that insurance policy because that would mean an undesirable event has happened and many people are affected.” “However these types of events will continue to happen and Canada has to be prepared,” said the report. “There is a need for a stockpile of public health supplies managed by the federal government.” — Mar 2
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Ken Neumann’s Statement for International Women’s Day 2021 USW makes work and activism more accessible for women A woman’s place is in the union ... and in the workplace ... and anywhere she wants to be! Our society still puts barriers in the way of women’s participation. And the USW is committed to removing those barriers. Women should be able to do any job they choose. But most workplaces, machines, personal protective equipment and safety programs have been designed to suit male workers, leaving women out. Raising the Bar on Women’s Health and Safety is an important new USW campaign to make sure women’s voices and concerns are heard. We’ve created an Action Guide, an inspection checklist and other resources to raise awareness and make positive changes. And our union is also removing barriers to women’s involvement in union activities. Even in 2021, women still do most of the work caring for children and elderly family members. That makes it hard to attend union meetings and education courses, or to sit on a committee or be a steward. USW’s Family & Community Education Fund is now available to repay the cost of child or elder care for Steelworkers who attend authorized union events. (To qualify, members must belong to a local union that contributes to the fund.) Full details and claim forms are available on our web site. What better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than listening to the sound of barriers being broken down! In solidarity, Ken NeumannNational Director — Feb 25
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Take Action: Urge Your MP to Vote Yes to Pharmacare The United Steelworkers union (USW) urges federal politicians of all stripes to vote Yes to pharmacare, so people don’t have to choose between paying the rent or mortgage and taking the medication they need to stay healthy. Momentum is growing for NDP Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Julian’s private member’s bill, Bill C-213, An Act to Enact Pharmacare. Steelworkers can help. Build support for Bill C-213 by signing Peter Julian’s petition and emailing your MP to urge them to vote Yes Bill C-213. “We don’t need more studies or promises, we need action. Vote Yes on Bill C-213, and bring in pharmacare,” said Ken Neumann, USW National Director. The USW has long supported a single-payer pharmacare plan that is universal, public, accessible, comprehensive and portable. Bill C-213 will bring in pharmacare for Canadians modelled on the Canada Health Act and will improve the health and lives of millions of Canadians. Pharmacare brings fairness when women, racialized people, Indigenous people, young people and those with lower incomes have more difficulty accessing the drugs they need. “Union members tend to have better health care and drug benefits than workers who do not belong to a union that negotiates on their behalf,” said Neumann. “But all workers – and all Canadians – deserve public drug coverage to ensure that people can access the medication they need.” The Liberal government’s own advisory council recommended universal pharmacare in 2019, before the pandemic. As studies have shown, pharmacare will save lives. Too many Canadians die from preventable causes because they lack medication coverage. Since the pandemic began, many workers have lost their jobs or benefits coverage. Pharmacare would mean all Canadians could get the medication they need to stay healthy without having to pay out of pocket or worry about not being able to afford the cost. Email your MP to urge them to vote Yes on Bill C-213. www.peterjulian.ca/pharmacare_email #PharmacareNow #VoteYesonC213 — Feb 17
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What’s Your Work Story? Write for Our Times Our Times magazine is always looking for workers’ stories about their working lives. Consider writing your work story for Our Times Magazine’s Working for a Living series. You can do it! Our Times wants stories that describe:
- What your work is like
- What you do for a living
- How you feel about your work
- The best part about your work
- And the worst part
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When it comes to building materials, Canada has a climate advantage to use (or lose) New U.S. President Joe Biden has a USD $2-trillion plan to build America’s clean economy. That’s trillion with a t. The plan is sweeping and includes, among many other things, spending on modern public buildings and infrastructure with the next generation of low-carbon building materials. What will the U.S. be buying? Aluminum, cement, steel, and wood, the materials used to construct most things we build and whose production represents a vital part of Canada’s economic backbone. The good news for us: when it comes to the carbon footprint of these construction materials, Canada has a unique advantage. Thanks in large part to our country’s clean electricity grid (which is now 82 per cent emissions-free), goods produced here often have a smaller carbon footprint than those produced elsewhere. When you combine this with the efficiency of our manufacturers and the fact that it’s less polluting to ship materials across a land border than across an ocean, it becomes clear that Canada’s advantage is also its opportunity, an opportunity to not only build better in our own backyard—but to also help with renovations down south. The scale of the undertaking should not be understated. Buildings account for 13 per cent of Canada’s carbon emissions, and when you add infrastructure, like roads and airports, the number is even higher. In short, we can’t achieve our 2050 goal of net-zero emissions unless we build better, and nor can the Biden administration. In addition to cutting pollution, “buying clean” and investing in public construction also creates jobs at a crucial time when our economy is in recovery. These employment and economic benefits are outlined in Blue Green Canada’s latest report, which recommends three actions to capitalize on Canada’s low-carbon advantage. First, governments should ensure all public spending on infrastructure prioritizes lower carbon materials, fuels, and processes, creating new markets, supporting jobs, and stimulating demand for these products. As an example, Canadian-made Portland-limestone cement contains up to 10 per cent less embodied carbon than ordinary Portland cement, and it costs the same. If it were used exclusively across Canada, we would avoid over one-million tonnes of carbon pollution every year. Secondly, we need an Industrial Decarbonization Strategy to identify the low-carbon advantage of Canadian industries and manufacturers. We must demonstrate, commercialize, and promote high-potential technologies that further reduce the carbon footprint of Canadian manufacturers, while ensuring our products become and are recognized as the most sustainable in the world. Canadian steel is already among the world’s cleanest, and yet Canada spends more than $7-billion annually on imported steel and aluminum that’s typically higher-carbon. The steel made at an Ontario facility, for example, is about a third less carbon-intensive than steel made in the U.S.—and nearly 80 per cent cleaner than steel made in China. Finally, the federal government should establish a Clean Infrastructure Challenge Fund to encourage the use of low-carbon building materials in the construction of public infrastructure. The challenge would showcase the potential of these solutions for use in all forms of infrastructure. This one-time fund dedicated to public projects would be available to provinces, territories, municipalities, and Indigenous communities to support infrastructure projects that reduce pollution through the use of low-carbon building materials. Together, these actions would help create a stronger ecosystem for clean building in Canada, unlocking overlooked pollution-cutting opportunities while supporting Canadian manufacturers by creating the conditions for them to compete and win in a cleaner and cleaner global marketplace. We already have the advantage. It’s time for Canada to put its strengths to work. Ken Neumann is the Canadian national director of United Steelworkers. Merran Smith is the executive director of Clean Energy Canada. Blue Green Canada was founded by an alliance between Canadian labour unions and environmental and civil society organizations to advocate for working people and the environment by promoting solutions to environmental issues that have positive employment and economic impacts. — Feb 16
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