September 23, 2021 – In a joint statement, Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario and IBEW Construction Council of Ontario (ECAO & IBEW CCO) encourage employers and workers to get vaccinated to “do all we can to stop the spread of Covid-19”.

Signed by Graeme Aitken, ECAO executive director, and James Barry, IBEW CCO executive secretary treasurer, the joint message reads as follows:

We are extremely proud of our community—the unionized electrical and communications industry here in Ontario for the outstanding efforts, valuable contributions, and commitment to the health and safety of our workforce, clients, and general public. It is critical in our efforts to emerge from the pandemic that we all continue to do all we can to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Thus, the IBEW CCO and the ECAO are reaching out to every worker and employer to encourage all to continue the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic by being vaccinated if you have not already done so. As Canadians we have lost 27,251 persons and, in Ontario alone, we have lost 9624 so far. And we continue to lose lives daily.

These numbers are not mere statistics; they represent families and loved ones across our country being torn apart by this deadly disease. We are talking about mothers, daughters, sisters, fathers, brothers, sons, and grandparents. There is a tool we can use to fight this ongoing pandemic and win this battle. The Covid-19 vaccine.

While the construction sector has done extremely well in Ontario in reducing the spread of this virus, we are also leaders in testing and health and safety protocols for our work sites. Now it is time to turn to the next arsenal in our battle against Covid by increasing the number of people that are fully vaccinated.

There have been far too many of stories in recent weeks of individuals who wished they had gotten the vaccine instead of succumbing to this disease. So please, let’s all work together, not merely as an industry but as a community. Think of your own family, your friends, your coworkers and their families—and urge them to get vaccinated. This decision impacts absolutely everyone, and the vaccine is readily available. Please, if you haven’t, go and get your shots. Let’s work together and do all we can to end this pandemic and win this very important battle.