The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) has requested Transport Canada and the federal government as a whole to stay out of its business when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines..“Our track record speaks for itself this far into the pandemic, and we feel that what we have been and continue to do is working very well and no third-party intervention is necessary,” wrote ILWU’s president, Rob Ashton, to Julie Gascon and Marc-Yves Bertin of Transport Canada in a letter dated Thursday, October 14..The union has been representing workers in British Columbia since 1948 and is currently the exclusive bargaining agent for over 7,200 men and women throughout the province. Doing so on a federal, provincial, and municipal level..“The Canada Labour Code requires that workers have a say in safety at their workplaces and the Government of Canada should not take this right away from us,” writes Ashton, who in the following paragraph invites Transport Canada or any other government department to discuss his concerns further..The contentious topic of mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations left a gaping wound throughout many social and professional environments, and the workplaces represented by ILWU are no exception..Some wish to have their individual choices — decided upon for a wide variety of reasons relative to the individual — respected. Others demand their own medical decisions be applied to their colleagues in the form of an ultimatum, and are willing to bequeath autonomy to the state if it means said ultimatum is achieved..The ultimatum being: get the shot or don’t work..While Ashton has not said what a vaccine policy, or lack thereof will look like, he has made it clear the state has no place in determining the decision, but rather in the “capable hands” of individual site safety committees, who he applauds for doing an excellent job..Reid Small is a BC correspondent for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
