Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Hope you are all doing well and keeping safe. With respect to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we wanted to provide you with an update. Covid-19 has disrupted the world and we now know that none of us is immune to its devastation. Because the Ontario Building Trades, the Minister of Health and the Ministry of Labour, has deemed those in the construction trades to be essential workers; we are eligible for the vaccinations under the Essential Workers Program; naturally after health care workers and emergency workers. Our members have diligently done their duty to keep our economy running as smoothly as possible.
Caseloads from Covid-19 are very low in our industry due to your diligence in keeping yourself and others safe. We have successfully managed to complete several shut downs in spite of the pandemic numbers. Work hours are down by 10% compared to 2019 but that is to be expected given the health crisis. There will be more restrictions onsite in the coming months; for example mandatory testing and vaccinations. The industry forecast for 2021 is looking well.
There is to be an infusion of federal and provincial money to help the economy to recover but in the meantime we will continue to secure as much work as we possibly can. We continue to be patient and optimistic to see that light at the end of the tunnel.
The Provincial office will maintain operating under normal business hours to provide services to the Locals and their members.
In following with governmental mandates, we will continue with the following precautions:
- Increased signage throughout our buildings reminding everyone of the necessary precautions that must be taken;
- Installed additional signage stopping anyone visiting the building not do not enter if; they’ve travelled outside of Canada in the last 14 days; has a cough, fever or experiencing symptoms; if not experiencing symptoms, has been with anyone that has been experiencing/confirmed case in the last 14 days.
- Ensuring our office is kept sanitized and staff is staying home if they are not feeling well.
We would like to thank all staff for their ongoing patience and cooperation during this challenging time and for your contribution to in trying to combat the spread of the COVID–19 virus. We trust you will continue to practice the mandated precautions. Please contact your local offices for any new restrictions or updates on the Covid-19 virus.
The Annual Scholarship Golf tournament held at Hockley Valley Golf Resort in Orangeville has been put on hold this year due to Covid-19 restrictions regarding gatherings. Hopefully by spring we can rebook this event. We would like to extend our congratulations to Saskia Taylor and Eleri Williams on winning this years’ scholarship award.
We understand you may all be wondering about the Convention due to be held in 2021; we hope that this pandemic will not put a damper that event. We are looking into an online platform in case we cannot hold it at a public venue. This is an election year and that will not be postponed! We will keep you apprised any updates regarding the Convention.
The BACU Provincial office has installed ZOOM to hold our quarterly meetings and that seems to be working out well. All the locals have participated in those meetings and they have access to all the documents regarding those meetings.
Recently it has been reported in the news of suspicious activity relating to emails, phishing attempts, and online hacking of data. We have hired a specialist to conduct a review of our vulnerability and have updated our software to stop these malicious attacks.
In closing, I trust everyone is getting through this challenging time as best as possible. This is a demanding time for everyone, however, together doing our part, we will get through this. Stay safe by staying apart.
In Solidarity,
Tony DiMaria, President