Thread by @jheighton3

Let’s talk about union advocacy & politics.

How much does the government party-in-power affect unions? Turns out, a lot.
Case in point, Ontario Fed of Labour vs. BC Fed of Labour, on #COVID19. @OFLabour @bcfed

Worker safety ought to be forefront. Let’s see…

A thread🧵
#bcpoli

2/ Ontario Fed of Labour has researched & advocated for #COVIDisAirborne policies for workers for 2 years now.

Check out their website. Posted in early June, 2021!

“Follow the science. Enforce the law. Protect workers.”
First words? #COVIDisAirborne!!

ofl.ca/the-science-is…

3/ More from @OFLabour on #COVIDisAirborne safety:

06/21“But it’s not about, ‘We told you so’. It’s about, we told you to protect workers from potential airborne transmission of COVID-19. Why haven’t you listened to so many voices, including the labour movement for over a yr?”

4/ “Min of Labour @ONTatwork must enforce the law based on airborne precautions for a communicable respiratory illness and penalize employers who fail to comply.

And our public health bodies must accept the science. Until that happens, we are a global embarrassment.” @OFLabour

5/ Ontario @OFLabour has ⬇️ information document, advocating for more #COVIDisAirborne safety-for-workers & providing specific details, published June 4, 2021.

Educates workers as well as government. Reinforces rights & precautionary principle.

Read:
ofl.ca/wp-content/upl…

6/ Now, let’s compare @OFLabour to @bcfed’s COVID advocacy.

This ⬇️ is @bcfed’s #COVID19 information document for workers. Basically - how to declare unsafe work, links to @CDCofBC, & #DropletDogma protections. 🙄

NOTHING about #COVIDisAirborne. 👎

bcfed.ca/sites/default/…

7/ What about @bcfed’s website?

Even worse. Looks like it hasn’t been updated since summer of 2020.

Just info on COVID employer-safety plans, a few 2020 webinars, & links to @CDCofBC & @GovCanHealth.

No indep research re: science of COVID for safety.⬇️
healthandsafetybc.ca/covid-19-resou…

8/ Why the stark differences between @OFLabour and @bcfed when it comes to #COVID19 safety?

Chances are, @bcndp, a supposedly labour-friendly party, being in power in BC plays a role.
@bcfed & associated unions have close ties to @bcndp - so perhaps they don’t want to criticize?

9/ Why does this matter?

The obvious reasons, properly advocating for member safety using up-to-date information on how the virus spreads, is important, yes.

And Feds of Labour represent hundreds of thousands of members & their families.

10/ By staying silent on #COVIDisAirborne, @bcfed is putting members at risk b/c employers are given licence stick to #DropletDogma, despite the scientific community & ASHRAE engineers recognizing airborne transmission as dominant.

ASHRAE, Apr. 5,’21:
ashrae.org/about/news/202…

11/ But union advocacy for proper safety measures goes beyond the obvious worker-safety reasons.

It also feeds into the narrative in each province.

Case in point, Ont has been better at #COVIDisAirborne than BC. Not perfect, but better.

See: ventilation in schools analysis.⬇️

https://twitter.com/jheighton3/status/1433788286921699329

12/ #covid19bc has suffered from an abysmal lack of understanding that #COVIDisAirborne in the general public. And while @CDCofBC is failing in that, @bcfed & unions are also at fault for refusing to press for it.

Leading to a culture of silence & zero questioning of @CDCofBC.

13/ Meanwhile, @jjhorgan & @bcndp MLAs cosy up to unions.

Unions thinking that they MUST comply, b/c the alternative major party @bcliberals would be worse, has hamstrung advocacy & harmed workers, including front lines like nurses, teachers & EAs.
@BCNursesUnion @bctf @CUPEBC

https://twitter.com/jjhorgan/status/1520085280887173120

14/ On April 28, 2022, @bcfed participated in the National Day of Mourning, honouring workers “killed or who still suffer from a work-related injury or illness.”

The irony of that, w/ @bcfed’s silence on #COVIDisAirborne, is not lost on those paying attention to the science.

https://twitter.com/bcfed/status/1519826426295246850

15/ @bcfed & associated unions refusing to fight for #covid19bc safety allows @bcndp toxic positivity to flourish, like ⬇️.

The result is detrimental to all of BC, as the groups that should be pushing for better, aren’t.

Yet better #COVIDisAirborne standards would help all.

https://twitter.com/jjhorgan/status/1520813955798601729

16/ Conclusion:
BC union advocacy is flawed.

@bcfed has chosen to not protect workers by putting blind faith in @CDCofBC, a fatal error b/c @CDCofBC is stubbornly not implementing protective science.

@OFLabour proves otherwise.

@bcfed - Now what?
Prove you’re not complicit.