Union urging Province to ensure frontline workers receive priority access to COVID-19 vaccine

 

An Ontario union is urging the province to do better when it comes to providing vaccines for front-line workers.

Locals 175 and 633 of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) is calling on the province to ensure every front-line worker has priority access to a COVID-19 vaccine.

The union, which represents more than 70,000 workers in Ontario, has criticized the government's "ill-prepared" efforts at distributing the vaccine in a timely manner thus far.

“We see the numbers rising every day. We see the heartbreaking situation at our long-term care homes and a government that won’t step up and make it right. We see outbreaks at our meat processing plants, and we see a rising number of cases among retail grocery workers too,” Shawn Haggerty, president of UFCW Local 175, said in a news release.

“Making sure frontline workers get access to a vaccine as soon as possible is just one of the many ways that our government can help ensure the safety and health of not only workers, but customers, clients, and all of their families," he continued.

With more vaccines expected to arrive in the near future, UFCW Locals 175 and 633 are advocating for the Province to ensure every frontline worker that wants a vaccine can receive one.