About the campaign
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shone the spotlight on the difficult and dangerous working conditions that our members face on a daily basis. Governments across Canada have responded to these challenges by putting in place temporary wage increases that selectively apply to some workers and not others.
Your work does not stop being essential whenever the pandemic ends, and neither should the increases to your pay.
For too long, our healthcare workers have been undervalued. The work is physically, emotionally, and socially demanding. The for those services is only set to grow. These people living in these facilities deserve respect and dignity and so do our members who care for them!
Join our campaign to get governments and employers to listen up!
PLEASE NOTE THIS CAMPAIGN IS CURRENTLY OPEN TO DISTRICT 3 PROVINCES/TERRITORIES (BC, AB, SK, MB, NT, YT). THANK YOU!
Essential Everyday survey
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought issues in long-term care homes front and centre into the public’s attention. The public now knows what we have always known, your job is extremely important for keeping people safe and healthy and deserves to be fairly valued.
This survey is the first step in our campaign to get governments and employers to recognize that fact and make wage increases put in place during the pandemic permanent. We have the momentum and with your help we are working to make lasting change. The information you provide will directly influence the campaign, so please share as much as you feel comfortable with.
TAKE THE SURVEY
Workers’ stories
Share your essential worker story with us here.
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Frequently asked questions
Essential everyday is the central theme of our campaign and reinforces the fact that our healthcare members are essential before, during and after the pandemic and should be compensated accordingly.
For the purpose of this campaign an essential worker is someone who works in healthcare, providing care for people by maintaining facilities and providing care and the necessities of life.
The United Steelworkers union represents over 50,000 healthcare workers. We represent many healthcare workers across Canada, including hundreds of workers across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba in District 3.
Our members are a diverse bunch. In the healthcare sector they tend to work in long-term care centres and in-home care. They tend to be women, and usually workers of colour. This group of people has historically had their work undervalued for several reasons and it is time that changes.
Several reasons. Publicly funded, privately run facilities that put shareholder profit ahead of resident care which includes paying low wages. The work is precarious with people having to work part time hours across several facilities to make “ends meet”. Women, and especially women of colour are historically over represented in the gender wage gap.
Workers in healthcare, specifically long-term care homes, were often working in multiple sites before the pandemic. To prevent the virus from spreading rapidly through multiple homes provinces ordered workers to work at a single site. This left workers in a precarious position. It was not always clear what protections the had to come back to their second job once this was all over, and how they would make up for lost income. Provinces have taken different approaches to this but the confusion and uncertainty left many workers frustrated.
The shift to working at multiple sites came as the industry moved from full-time employees to a focus on part-time employment, to skirt benefits and other advantages of full-time work. The USW has fought and continues to fight this shift.
Additionally workers have faced many infection control issues while working to keep people in their care safe.
Your safety and security are our number one priority. Any personal information you submit to USW will remain strictly confidential, unless you indicate we can post it on our website.
Survey responses will be held in the strictest confidence. No personal information connected to the survey responses. Data will be aggregated so we can identify general trends and demographics. No individual information will be singled out and your specific information/responses WILL NOT be shared with your employer. Additionally, we will not contact you directly, unless you have indicated that you would like us to.
If you use the mail-out tool to send the campaign letter, your name and contact information will be shared with the corresponding MP/MLA, and subject to their privacy policies.
