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The United Steelworkers has carried out lobbying campaigns on a number of important issues, from health and safety (including success with historic Westray Bill) to trade policy, pension protection, labour law reform, and much more.
Few of the union’s lobbying initiatives have been more active or more vocal than the campaign to increase funding for post-secondary education in Canada, especially in Ontario. No other union has come close to the Steelworkers’ record of engagement on this issue in the last two years.
The Steelworkers’ contribution to public policy discussions and the Rae commission highlighted the mostly ‘invisible’ role post-secondary education support staff play in maintaining excellence in the system.
The lobbying campaign was supported by television ads that ran for several weeks on major networks. You can view the ad and submissions to the Rae commission on the Steelworkers’ website, steelworkers.ca (click on postsecondary education on the left side of the front page).
The union has also commissioned Professor Wayne Lewchuk of McMaster University to conduct a research study on the difficult working conditions experienced by many university support staff.
The effort is starting to pay off. The Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities has proposed to the executive heads of provincially-assisted universities that one of the key measures to control the proper use of funds will be support staff recruitment.
The Post-Secondary Education Council and others in different sectors are based on the successful experience of the Steelworkers’ Health Care Council, which helps promote the interests of the thousands of health care workers in the union who work in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, adult day care facilities, group homes, family services and assisted living facilities.
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UNIVERSITY STAFF
