Notice To GTSWCA Members

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Published on: 18/03/2020

On Tuesday, March 17, Local 183 issued a notice to GTSWCA member companies regarding how the Union will be reviewing and responding to issues that arise from management of your job sites around the COVID19 outbreak. GTSWCA would like to ensure that members clearly understand the message received, which we would summarize in the following way:

Local 183 will leave workplace management of the virus up to employers. The Union will not provide any opinions or advice on how an employer chooses to manage their individual situation; however

Contractors are reminded that workers have the legal right to refuse work they believe to be unsafe.

Workers who are impacted by the virus and unable to work must be issued a Record of Employment (ROE) immediately on not being able to work (whether due to illness or employer temporarily halting operations). Union members may qualify for Employment Insurance benefits without a waiting period, so this is an issue that the union will be pursuing vigorously.

The union will be filing grievances to preserve virus-related claims made by their members but may be asking the employer to hold the grievances in abeyance until the Union is better able to determine its position(s).

If you have any questions related to this issue, please contact Patrick McManus (Patrick.mcmanus@oswca.org or 905-629-7766 ext. 222).


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