A Guide to the United Steelworkers

STEELWORKERS ARE EVERYWHERE

Members of the United Steelworkers work in every sector of Canada’s economy in every kind of job.

We work in call centres and credit unions, mines and manufacturing plants, offices and oil refineries, restaurants and rubber plants, sawmills and steel mills and security companies.  We work in nursing homes, legal clinics, social agencies and universities.  

Steelworkers make glass and paper and plastics.  We process forest products and quarry stone. We make furniture and freight cars.  We maintain railways and drive trucks.

Steelworkers are women and men of every ethnic background and we speak many languages.  We work in every region of Canada.

The United Steelworkers is one big snapshot of the entire working population of Canada. The union is proud of its great diversity.

WHERE DID IT ALL COME FROM?

The USW has helped working men and women win better wages and workplace justice for more than 70 years.

It all started when the Steelworkers Organizing Committee (SWOC) first began signing up members in the steel mills of Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario in 1936.  Workers had been hammered by the Depression and were determined to protect themselves and improve their families’ lives.

Six years later, in 1942, SWOC became the United Steelworkers of America – a respected and powerful union with a solid foundation in the steel industry, and growing strength in smaller manufacturing plants.

Soon miners from all across Canada came on board as the union made important wage and benefit gains throughout the 1950s.

In the 1960s, the Steelworkers union just kept growing stronger. Other unions saw that their own members’ future was best served by linking arms with the Steelworkers.

The International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter workers merged with the Steelworkers in the late ‘60s, the first of a series of partnerships adding members and strength.

The Mine Mill merger was followed by many others through the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s -- with District 50 of the Mineworkers, with the Upholsterers International Union, the United Rubber Workers, the Aluminum Brick and Glass Workers International Union, the Transportation Communications Union, the IWA-Canada, and most recently with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE).  

Together, these alliances have turned the Steelworkers into the largest private sector union in Canada.

WHAT ABOUT WORKERS WHO DON’T HAVE A UNION?

Women and men without the protection and bargaining strength of a union must depend for their livelihood on the ‘goodwill’ of management.  The USW can be there for them.

No other union puts as much energy, effort and skill into helping unorganized workers get access to the benefits of joining a union.  The USW knows the pressures that families are under to make ends meet.  The union understands how unfair or discriminatory treatment at work, arbitrary rules, favouritism, intimidation, and unsafe conditions can kill job satisfaction, damage health and self-esteem, and breed insecurity.

The USW will help anybody who needs a union – whether in traditional ‘heavy metal’ industries, or in the huge variety of so-called service industries: in universities, nursing homes, in the financial services industry, in call centres, transportation, you name it.

If you or your partner, son, daughter, friend or a neighbour is unhappy about how they are treated at work, or too concerned about the consequences to stand up for their rights, calling the Steelworkers is the best first step he or she can take.

WHAT ABOUT FAIRNESS INSIDE THE UNION?

The commitment to equality starts with the union itself.

The USW has built its commitment to equality right into the union’s structure. Several programs give voice to those who have struggled in the past to have their voices heard.

The ‘Women of Steel’ Program is one of the leading vehicles in Canadian labour giving female workers the tools and skills they need to fight for and achieve equality.

It is a combination of specialized education and training courses, regular national women’s conferences, regional women’s meetings, targeted print materials, and special internal campaigns to ensure that women have the skills and confidence to run for office in their local union or bargaining unit.
 
The USW National Women’s Committee works hand in hand with the National Human Rights Committee to make sure that the union is a welcoming environment for all its members.

Those committees have built internal programs to combat all forms of racial and sexual harassment. The union developed anti-harassment language for collective bargaining with employers, and understands the importance of practicing what is preached.

The USW believes it is important for union meetings and schools to be accessible to all members. A program to promote clear language is aimed at helping members who need assistance and confidence-building in reading complex documents and collective agreements.

WHAT ABOUT FAIR TREATMENT AT WORK?

The short answer is bargaining.

The whole point of joining the Steelworkers – and the mission of the union itself -- is to ensure fair treatment at work.

The most important tool is collective bargaining, and the most important piece of “protective clothing” is the collective agreement – your contract.

Steelworker agreements have set the pattern for tens of thousands of Canadian workers.

Steelworkers have been leaders for decades in bargaining indexed pensions, in winning the best benefit plans in industry, including dental plans and vision care. USW seniority provisions protect jobs and make sure promotions are based on fairness, not favouritism.

Steelworker contracts had anti-discrimination clauses long before human rights laws were passed. Long before pay equity laws, the USW developed job evaluation programs to ensure fair pay for men and women.  

Long before workplace safety laws caught up with the example set by Steelworkers, the union was among the first to win union-selected worker health and safety inspectors, as well as the right to refuse unsafe work.

One of the more recent ventures is a union-operated, non-profit insurance program called the Steelworker Trusteed Benefit Plan, providing a wide range of services including prescription drug coverage, life and long-term disability insurance and much more.

WHAT SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE?

Steelworker local unions and bargaining committees are backed up by a range of expertise.

USW research staff includes experts in economics, public policy, and job evaluation, providing the facts, figures and arguments needed to bargain the best possible collective agreements, pensions, and benefits.

USW health and safety staff, together with trained local activists, help members deal with risks and hazards at work, provide assistance on workers’ compensation, educate health and safety committees, and campaign across Canada for safer and healthier workplaces as well as a clean environment.

The USW legal department includes some of the best labour lawyers in the country. These experienced women and men are on your side to make sure your contract and workplace rights are protected and enforced.

The USW education, equality and political action department is at the centre of the services provided by the union.  Steelworker courses and programs go directly to the needs of members – providing training on bargaining, on how to administer your local and run meetings, on how to handle grievances and arbitration, on human rights, health and safety, lobbying for legislative change, political action and much more. The union makes sure you have the skills you need to protect your rights and help your co-workers.

The USW communications team makes sure members’ victories are well-known and understood.  They prepare and produce the union’s publications, audio-visual productions, bargaining-support materials.  They also keep the website updated and informative.  Anything you want to find out about the Steelworkers can be found at www.usw.ca.

Organizers are available day or night to meet with and help anyone who needs a union. The Steelworkers’ track record in organizing new workers and helping them achieve real gains is second to none, in every type of occupation and workplace.

The union has been involved in organizing for decades and has experience with every kind of obstacle, every tactic that employers use to prevent women and men from exercising their rights. USW organizers know how to listen, how to build confidence, and how to work as a team with you and your co-workers.

AND THAT’S JUST THE BASICS ...

BEYOND YOUR WORKPLACE

Winning rights for workers goes far beyond what you win in your collective agreement.  Whether you work in a university, a mine, a sawmill, or on a train, your voice needs to be heard by those who make the laws that govern everyone’s lives.

The union’s political and lobbying staff campaign at every level of government for better labour laws; for laws to protect wages and pensions in bankruptcies; to protect job security; to strengthen the public health care system; to improve women’s rights; to expand public education and job-training; to win better trade laws; and much more.

The workplace priorities of union members are always the first political concern. The USW runs special campaigns, and trained lobbyists talk to politicians on behalf of the interests and rights of workers.

Steelworkers led the campaign to win the ‘Westray Bill’, which changed Canada’s Criminal Code to make corporate directors and executives accountable for workplace injury and death.

BEYOND CANADA

Working for jobs with justice doesn’t stop at the Canadian border.

The United Steelworkers is a global union that has forged links with unions and community groups in other countries.

Corporate globalization has a big impact on the overall economic health of the country, not just on union members’ jobs.

The result has been ‘strategic alliances’ with unions and organizations in a variety of sectors — both internationally and in Canada — where sharing expertise and expanding union power can help workers beyond the union’s own ranks.

The USW is also committed to active solidarity with those fighting poverty and joblessness around the world. Our tool is the Steelworkers Humanity Fund, created in 1985, the first union-based international development organization of its kind. Through funds bargained by union members from their employers, the Humanity Fund provides more than $1.3-million a year to support international relief, anti-poverty, and labour development programs. Many other unions now follow the Steelworkers’ lead.

WHO RUNS THE STEELWORKERS?

A Steelworker member belongs to one of the world’s most democratic unions.

International officers, national, and district directors are elected by a one-member-one-vote secret ballot every four years. In most other unions, officers are elected by a select number of delegates at a convention.  You vote for your local union officers by the same kind of ‘direct democracy’ every three years.

Steelworkers make decisions about the union’s policies, direction and programs at several levels -- at the Canadian National Policy Conference, and at the International Convention.

As well, each geographic district holds regular conferences, and there are ongoing meetings on everything from human rights to health and safety, and conferences bringing together workers in a common industry. Many local unions are also grouped into Area Councils that provide yet another level where your voice is heard.

….and what does it cost?

Union dues are a small percentage of total earnings which amounts to only cents per day.

Union dues pay for the education programs, health and safety services, research and legal expertise, bargaining support, lobbying work, all specialized services, as well as the daily operations of your local union and overall union administration.  And, a special organizing fund ensures the union keeps growing and gets stronger.

The USW dues structure also supports an impressive strike and defense fund, more than 100 million dollars. Those funds are there when members need them the most.

Dues are tax-deductible, which makes a good deal even better. And no dues are paid if you are off work due to layoff, injury, sickness, or a leave of absence.

USW dues dollars are collected and banked in Canadian banks and credit unions, under the authority of the USW directors in Canada.

Steelworker dues are a small investment that produces a big return, every day of the year.

When you join the United Steelworkers you belong to something important

The governing purpose of the United Steelworkers is summed up in the USW initials – Unity and Strength for Workers.

Whether you have just recently become a Steelworker, or whether you are thinking about unionizing your workplace, becoming a Steelworker is something you will never regret. It is an opportunity not just to exercise your rights and win fairness at work; it is also an opportunity to expand your own skills, to build new friendships, to see the world through new eyes. It is a chance to grow.

Working people of all backgrounds, languages, races, and life experiences have come together in the United Steelworkers for the common purpose of improving their families’ lives.

That’s what we are all about.