United Steelworkers Canada News Feed

  • Help for Local Families Thanks to USW Sault Ste. Marie Charity Golf
    The Twinkie Foundation was the big winner at the second Annual Steelworkers Charity Golf Open on August 18. Hosted by the United Steelworkers local unions of Sault Ste. Marie and area, this year’s tournament raised $10,000 for the local charity.    The Twinkie Foundation is a registered charity that helps local families of sick children by providing financial assistance for food, accommodations, travel and other incidentals that are incurred on medical trips so that families can focus on their children and not stress over financial obligations.   In addition to the $10,000 raised at the tournament, USW Local 2724 and USW Local 2251 made additional donations totaling $7,000; bringing this year’s total to $17,000.  The United Steelworkers local unions and the Twinkie Foundation would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to the sponsors, and all the golfers and volunteers that helped us have such a successful event. This year’s sponsors were Algoma Steel, All Star Auto Glass, Grand Gardens, Greenwoods’ Locksmith, Highland Ford, Holiday Inn Express, International Union of Painters & Allied Trades, Krown Rust Control, Metro (2nd Line), the USW Northeastern Ontario Area Council (NEOAC), Novex Group Insurance, Paliare Roland, Rivet Insurance, Sault Airport Development Corporation, Soo Foundry, Station Mall, Superior Chrysler, Universal Promotions, USW District 6 Director Marty Warren, USW Locals 2251, 2724, 7129, 8748 & 9548 and USW National Director Ken Neumann.   Steelworkers Charity Golf Open cheque presentation  (left to right) Dan Cooper (USW Local 2251 Union Coordinator, Karen Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Executive Director), Greg Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Board Member) and Marc Ayotte (USW District 6 Area Coordinator, Northwestern Region)     USW Local 2724 cheque presentation: $2,000  (left to right) Greg Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Board Member), Lisa Dale (USW Local 2724 President) and Karen Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Executive Director)   USW Local 2251 cheque presentation: $5,000  USW Local 2251’s golf team presented the cheque to the Twinkie Foundation.  (left to right) Chris Izydorczyk, Karen Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Executive Director), Greg Lefave (Twinkie Foundation Board Member), Kevin Kainula, Brent Woods and Don Court. — Aug 20
  • Twitter blitz for locked-out Local 2020
      Please join USW Local 2020 Unit 79 in a Twitter blitz on August 20 in order to encourage the Ontario Health Minister to pressure CarePartners to end their lockout and get back to the bargaining table! You can participate from anywhere as long as you have internet access. The approximately 30 USW members of Local 2020 have been locked out by the for-profit service provider CarePartners since May 31 in Sudbury, Ontario. See the belows sample tweets and hashtags for the Twitter blitz: @CElliotAbility tell @CarePartnersCA to end the lockout and get back to the table. Our members at Local 2020 deserve a fair deal now! #onpoli  #peopleoverprofits #faircontractnow #USWlocal2020unit79 #canlab #decentwork @CElliotAbility tell @CarePartnersCA to put people over profits – it’s time to reach a fair deal for workers now! #onpoli  #peopleoverprofits #faircontractnow #USWlocal2020unit79 #canlab #decentwork  @CElliotAbility tell @CarePartnersCA to end workplace violence. No-one should be abused on the job. #onpoli  #peopleoverprofits #faircontractnow #USWlocal2020unit79 #canlab #decentwork  @CElliotAbility tell @CarePartnersCA to start caring and end the lockout now. #onpoli  #peopleoverprofits #faircontractnow #USWlocal2020unit79 #canlab #decentwork Hashtags to use:  #onpoli  #peopleoverprofits#letsgetbacktothetable#faircontractnow #USWlocal2020unit79#canlab#decentwork    — Aug 19
  • Health Care Workers Council Spotlight: Ray White, District 3 Coordinator
    Ray White, president of Local 1-207 in Alberta, Canada, took his first union course in 1992. He knew right away he wanted to play a role in the fight for workers’ rights and has been an activist ever since. “I enjoyed helping people and educating myself so I could be a more effective advocate,” said White.  In the early 1990s, he was inspired to fully commit to the labor movement when he noticed his co-workers being treated with disrespect by his employer, Russel Metals. He now uses the knowledge and strength he’s gained throughout the years to continue standing up for fellow workers as president of a healthcare-heavy local union that includes more than 3,000 members and 38 collective bargaining agreements. For White, who serves on the USW Health Care Workers Council as District 3 coordinator, the experience fighting on their behalf is rewarding because of the workers themselves, many of whom work for long-term care facilities that are ripe with problems like workplace violence and short staffing. “The people that work in the healthcare industry are there because they care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” he said. “The emotion that these people deal with on a day-to-day basis is unbelievable.” The one issue that White believes to be the most dire for healthcare workers is violence. To combat the epidemic, he and his fellow union members lobby the Canadian government and take to the streets to fight for health and safety laws such as the right to refuse unsafe work. He believes employers need to be held accountable and should provide all workers with the tools and support necessary to deal with incidents of violence. “More staff and training would be a good start,” said White, “but they should also create the right setting to care for violence patients when they have those behaviors.”  One moment in White’s career that made him particularly proud of the union was when his local distributed “Working Short Forms” to their healthcare members to fill out every time they worked short-staffed. It wasn’t long before they had collected more than 600 forms, which they presented at a news conference in the Alberta Legislature in 2009. “We spread them out on the floor and reporters from every news station in the Province took pictures of them,” he said. “Our members could see how working together brought their issue to the public like never before.” When not fighting on behalf of healthcare workers, White enjoys taking it easy out in the wild with a camping trip or kicking into high gear on an ATV ride. — Jul 10
  • [email protected] Summer 2019
    In this issue: 
    • Standing Up for Health and Safety - Marty's Message
    • Community Rallies to Support Brunswick Smelter Workers
    • A Widow's Victory - Intake Clinic Helps Win Compensation Benefits
    • Vote for Those on Our Side - Apply to a Steelworkers Vote School Near You!
    • Lobbying for Pension Protection
    • Univerity Staff Approve New Innovative, Secure Pension Plan
    • Rubber Workers Seek Justice
    • Ford Fightback - Official Opposition NDP Calls Out Doug Ford's Lies and Attacks
    • Bagaining Successes
    • USW Family and Community Education Fund - Develop a Project, Join the Fund!
    • USW Mentorship Program - Building Our Union Through Mentorship 
    • News from the Locals - Read about What is Happening around District 6
    • Scully Mine Reopens
    Download the PDF of [email protected]     — Jul 3
  • Every Vote Counts!
    “Every vote counts.” Very cliché, right? Not for the case of Jordan Brown, the newly-minted Member of House Assembly (MHA) for Labrador West (Newfoundland and Labrador). Jordan Brown is the son of Labrador Steelworkers – his father, Tony Brown, is a member of USW Local 6480 and his step-mother, Marcie Brown, is the president of USW Local 6185. In April, Jordan announced his intention to run as the candidate for the Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) in the constituency of Labrador West. Tony, Marcie, family and friends quickly got to work to help Jordan get elected. The campaign period requires long days and a lot of hard work – knocking on doors, phone calls, putting up signs, leafletting and more. But at the end of the day, there was never a question in either Tony or Marcie’s minds of how strong their commitments are to Jordan and the NDP, and it paid off! On election night, May 16, 2019, Jordan was declared the winner in Labrador West with a five-vote lead over the then-current Liberal MHA and Minister of Municipal Affairs Graham Letto. The five-vote difference automatically prompted a re-count, administered by the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.  After the completion of the recount on June 21, 2019, Jordan was declared the winner in Labrador West, winning by two votes. Yes, you read that correctly: two votes. Even though the NL NDP did not win the majority of seats required to form the government, Jordan’s win means that the Liberal government is reduced to a minority. Any laws that they want to pass will require the support of an opposition party, which gives NL NDP MHAs the balance of power. We asked Tony and Marcie what is the most important message they want to share from this experience. This is what they had to say: “It is extremely important to exercise your right to vote. It matters! A single vote can make a big difference. “Every vote counts.” Not so cliché anymore, right? Read: CBC article on Jordan's win — Jul 2