CLC – Statement COVID-19

Greetings:

Our world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic.

It isn’t an exaggeration to say that many of us are still in shock, absorbing the rapid change to our way of life. Many of us are now self-isolating at home, as per the strong recommendations by our public health officials. Some of us are fortunate enough to be with our loved ones at this time. Others may be alone.

Despite the social, economic, and political upheavals we are experiencing together, many unionized and
non-unionized workers are still on the job. As I write to you now, workers providing essential services are still out in our communities, risking their own health to take care of all of us.

From those working in our supply chain to ensure we have food for our families, including front line workers in our grocery stores and pharmacies, to those working in power and maintenance and ensuring we have electricity, running water, proper sanitation, garbage disposal and access to the Internet. The workers who are continuing to operate public transit, drive trucks and taxis, operate the railway trains, the engineers and safety workers to ensure people can still access these services when it is necessary. Our postal workers, our first responders, our municipal workers, and those workers providing emergency child care services to support parents working on the front lines.

The workers who bring us the news through our phones on various apps, or who are writing the stories that fill our newspapers and feeds. These workers are the journalists, the radio and television producers, the camera people, the sound technicians, the editors and writers who keep us informed. Workers in the arts, finding new ways to provide entertainment to help provide solace in these bleak times, even as we continue to rely on the films, sitcoms, and documentaries found on streaming services.

Then there are the health workers and support staff who are directly at the forefront of the battle against the coronavirus. They are our first line of defense against a virus, which has already wrought havoc on countries around the world, where the stark reality of this fight is visible in every overcrowded hospital hallway, in the Intensive Care Units and in the caskets that have heartbreakingly been piling up in places like Spain, Italy, China, the United States, and elsewhere. Health workers in Canada hope they will be able to keep this virus at bay in our country, though it has tragically already claimed several lives right here at home.

We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to all of these workers who are committed to fulfilling their duties at a time of great anxiety and uncertainty.

We are proud of their service to our country and to humanity.

Canada’s unions stand with each of these brave individuals, and with every worker in this country to help find a path forward that protects the dignity and well-being of all in this time of great disruption.

We are also grateful　for　the　tireless　leadership demonstrated by our elected officials　at every level of government,　in responding to a public health and economic emergency, the likes of which we have not seen in our　lifetimes.

Let me now share with you how the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has been working to ensure that no worker is left behind in this crisis.

1. Calling for immediate protection of all workers

The CLC is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada, health professionals, unions and employer groups to develop interim guidance on infection prevention and control for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) for acute healthcare settings.

The CLC continues to call for paid sick leave for every worker, as well as flexible work arrangements where possible, to minimize the risk to workers and their communities.

Additionally, the CLC is calling on governments and employers to ensure frontline workers, including health workers, have the necessary equipment to prevent infection and to reduce risk to others.

2. Direct contact with federal ministers to advise on how to financially support workers

In early February, as the COVID-19 outbreak gathered steam, the CLC wrote to ministers about the urgent need for a review of the Employment Insurance (EI) program to expand access and improve benefits. As the outbreak became a global pandemic, the CLC provided detailed policy recommendations to the federal government, including expanded GST/HST credit to assist low-income Canadians, and an increased Canada Child Benefit to alleviate the child care pressures from closed schools and daycares.

The CLC also emphasized removing barriers and expanding access to EI sickness and regular benefits, and ensuring workers who don’t currently meet the EI eligibility threshold nevertheless have access to income support.

The CLC has also provided policy recommendations to the federal government regarding emergency income support for workers in the crisis.

3. Ongoing advocacy for urgent and radical changes to the processing of EI claims and administration of benefits

In order to deal with the overwhelming demand on EI, the CLC has worked with the EI Commissioner for Workers to call for urgent improvements to the EI program, calling for simplified and faster processing, as well as more information and better communication with Canadians.

For those who don’t qualify under the EI provisions, the CLC worked closely with government to secure emergency benefits, including for the self-employed, or part-time and precariously employed and all those whose paychecks have been impacted by this crisis.

4. Providing timely information for workers

The CLC established its own COVID-19 web portal (https://canadianlabour.ca/home/covid-19-response) to provide resources and information to workers and affiliates. This web portal is being updated frequently and continuously as relevant new information becomes available.

We are also urging and working with government to provide timely, clear and accessible information about income supports and other benefits on government websites and through dedicated telephone hotlines.

5. Ensuring government bailouts for their airline industry is tied to workers

In response to financial pressures mounting in the airline industry, the CLC mobilized aviation unions to set out the criteria that unions expect to see applied as conditions for any federal financial assistance to the industry.

6. Standing up for vulnerable workers

On March 20^th, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the CLC advised governments in Canada not to neglect migrant workers, undocumented people, people living on low-incomes, international students, racialized workers and refugees in this crisis. These groups are particularly vulnerable to the health fallout of the current pandemic, as well as the economic impacts of the crisis, and are at risk from scapegoating and discrimination.

7. Coordinating an international response on behalf of workers

Working with the L20 group of labour centrals in G20 countries, the CLC has brought forward the international labour movement’s urgent priorities for coordinated action from G20 states in response to the pandemic.

Among these priorities, the CLC and the L20 called on the Canadian government to work with international partners the global public health effort and ensure that health sector workers have the personal protective equipment and safeguards they need to safely do their vital work. The CLC and L20 also called for coordinated fiscal and monetary measures targeted at stabilizing employment and incomes of all workers, including the most vulnerable.

As we enter into even more uncertainty in the days, weeks, and months ahead, I can assure you that Canada’s unions will continue to do what we have always done best – bring working people together to build a better world for everyone and ensuring no one is left behind.

Solidarity will see us through these difficult times and ensure we emerge stronger than ever.

Thank you,

Hassan Yussuff
President

Link to the letter