United Steelworkers Canada News Feed

  • USW NextGen invites you to join our new web series – starting with a Virtual Movie Night tomorrow!
      While it has been a difficult year for many of us, the NextGen program has always been here to inspire, unite and educate young members of our union. It is for this reason that we are so excited to invite all NextGen Steelworkers to join this exciting series. The USW NextGen Committee is hosting three consecutive Tuesday events (starting tomorrow) to give a space for the incredible young members of our union to connect, share their experiences and have some fun! Please join us: WHAT: USW NextGen Committee web series WHEN: Tuesdays starting Nov 24 WHO: All NextGen Steelworkers Welcome HOW: The events will be hosted online and registration is required so we can send you the link to join. Register here.   During the pandemic we can’t gather in person, so let’s get together online. Our first event of the series is a Virtual Movie Night on Tuesday, Nov. 24 starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET), in partnership with the Canadian Labour International Film Festival. We’ll be screening Company Town: "Company Town is a 52 min documentary from Canada. On the anniversary of General Motors’ 100th year of manufacturing vehicles in Oshawa, Canada, the company announces it will be shuttering its plant in a year and the union mobilizes to fight to save jobs – and the future of the community – against huge odds." You can sign up to get your FREE ticket in advance here. Here is the series. Events will be occurring twice and members are welcome to attend whichever times suit them best: Tuesday, Nov. 24 – Virtual Movie Night: Company Town 7:30 p.m. ET - You’ll have 2 hours to start watching once the movie becomes available. Tuesday, Dec. 1 – Panel Discussion: The Impact of COVID-19 on Young Workers 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT – with Hamnah Shahid and Jared Ong from Fight for $15 & Fairness 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT – with Nathan Allen and a special guest Tuesday, Dec. 8 – Trivia Night (with prizes to be won!) 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT OR 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT Register today to be a part of our USW NextGen Committee web series at: www.usw.ca/nextgen-events. We hope you’ll join us! In solidarity, The USW NextGen Committee — Nov 23
  • Child and Youth Education Content Creator – Due January 31, 2021
    The USW aims to increase members’ families’ engagement in our union, helping them to learn more about USW and the struggles of working people across Canada and around the world. One way we can do this is by offering children’s programming on labour and social justice issues that runs parallel with union meetings and other events. The USW, through its Family & Community Education Fund (FCEF), is seeking proposals from qualified applicants to develop age-appropriate educational activities for children up to 17 years old. These activities should be fun and participatory and address themes such as solidarity, equity and democracy. Successful applicants’ activities will be displayed on the FCEF website and used in projects by locals that contribute to the Fund. We welcome applications in French or English and programming proposals that take place in virtual or in-person settings. We encourage applications from union-friendly and aware early childhood education workers, individuals currently pursuing a degree in teaching and/or early childhood education, and/or individuals certified to teach in any Canadian province or territory with experience teaching children or youth between the ages of 5 and 17. Proposals are due January 31, 2021 and successful applicants will be announced in February 2021. To learn more about this opportunity, visit the posting on Jobs at USW. — Nov 23
  • New FCEF Family Care Reimbursement Program
    The USW’s Family & Community Education Fund (FCEF) has launched an important new family care reimbursement program. Now, Steelworkers who belong to local unions that contribute to the fund can apply to be reimbursed for extra child care or family care costs they incur in order to attend authorized union events. We know that many of our members have young children and/or dependent family members living with them. Good-quality care can be expensive, which results in many of our members missing union events and meetings to cut down on family care costs. The FCEF’s Family Care Reimbursement Program will make it easier for these members to attend local union membership meetings, union education courses, and more! To make use of this program, members must fill out this application form. They must also secure the signature of their local union president or recording secretary and include an invoice from the care-provider. The maximum reimbursable amount is $270/24-hour period. If members are unsure if their local contributes to the FCEF, they can ask their local union president or contact the FCEF Co-ordinator. This new initiative encourages engagement from underrepresented members of our union. Considering the added pressures those with family care responsibilities are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also an especially timely one. — Nov 23
  • Canada’s Labour Unions Could Play Big Role in Efforts to Avert ‘Buy American’ Rules
    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Canada's largest private-sector unions could be among those with their hands on the helm next year when the time comes to navigate the shoals of Joe Biden's proposed Buy American rules.  The president-elect, a self-proclaimed "blue-collar Joe," makes no secret of his affinity for organized labour, or of his plan to ensure U.S. workers and companies are first in line to reap the benefits of his economic recovery plan.  "I want you know I'm a union guy. Unions are going to have increased power," Biden said he told corporate leaders during a meeting this week on his strategy for the economy.  "They just nodded. They understand. It's not anti-business. It's about economic growth, creating good-paying jobs." That working-class solidarity could be good news for Canada, where prominent unions like the United Steelworkers and the United Food and Commercial Workers have members on both sides of the border. "We're going to be a voice, and rightfully so," said Ken Neumann, the national director of the Canadian branch of the United Steelworkers, 225,000 of whose 850,000 North American members live and work north of the border.  "Our union has a long-standing relationship with president-elect Biden … and he knows who the Steelworkers are, so we are going to work hard to say that Canada should not be excluded." Read the full article on the National Newswatch website — Nov 20
  • The Steelworkers Humanity Fund wants to know what you think!
      Please help us better understand the outreach of the Steelworkers Humanity Fund to USW members by filling a short multiple-choice answers survey! It will only take 2 minutes.  Complete the survey before January 4, 2021 and you will be eligible for a draw to win a SHF t-shirt! Click here for the survey link.      Photo caption: In Guatemala, Steelworkers Humanity Fund partner ASDENA has provided emergency support to peasant families of Chimaltenango during the isolation period due to COVID-19. — Nov 16