Forty years ago, on May 23, 1985, USW International President Lynn Williams created SOAR, an organization of USW retirees directly affiliated with the United Steelworkers union, to do three things:
- Uphold the policies of the USW and the broader labour movement.
- Work to make our communities and countries better.
- Engage in political action to accomplish our shared political goals and the dream of a fairer and better society.
Every day SOAR chapters and members across Canada strive to meet all three goals.
In August 2022, SOAR leaders from both countries, gathered in Las Vegas for the international SOAR conference. Canadian members and leaders were justifiably proud that the conference agenda included substantial Canadian content with three of the major presentations being made by Canadians.
Dr. Anderson, from the Bayview Clinic in Toronto, presented an engaging and entertaining presentation on memory loss and dementia: “What is normal and what is not.”
Steelworker leadership graduate Jamie West, member of Provincial Parliament for Sudbury, Ont., gave an uplifting and positive speech on what the union had done for him and his family, entitled “It all started in a room just like this” which was enthusiastically received by the delegates.
Finally, Dr. Bouchard, member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare, presented by Zoom on the factual difference between the Canadian and American health care systems and the better outcomes of a public system compared to a private system.
Delegates adopted a series of resolutions designed to make SOAR more effective and set the organization’s policy direction.
Following the SOAR conference, SOAR executive members attended the USW international convention with full voice and vote. Resolution #8 was adopted unanimously by the delegates, which encourages all local unions to adopt a resolution at their local, paying the first year’s dues to SOAR for all retirees of the local union.
Local union action
Several local unions have acted in accordance with Resolution #8 passed at the USW Internation Convention in 2022.
In Vancouver, Local 2009 in Canada adopted all six points of Resolution #8. But they went beyond that creating a position on the local’s executive board for a representative from SOAR Chapter 3-14 with full voice and vote. Congratulations to both the local and the chapter.
Local 7884 in Elk Valley, B.C., adopted a resolution to pay 10 years of dues to SOAR chapter 3-30 for every retiree and retiree spouse, a first in Canada. They also challenge other local unions to do the same.
In Hamilton, Locals 16506, 5328 and 7135 have passed motions paying dues for their local executives and spouses to be SOAR members.
In addition, Local 5328 pays dues for SOAR members who attend SOAR membership meetings. Locals 7135, 16506 and 1005 pay the first year dues for their retirees and spouses.
Some staff are members of SOAR, but more needs to be done to encourage them to join.
SOAR is reaching out to our NextGen so we can start closing the gap between the two groups. Two of our executive board members took part in the NextGen conference in Pittsburgh in March 2024.
SOAR members and leaders continue to support our active members in their struggles by attending rallies and picket lines.
Political action
COVID-19 took a significant toll on SOAR chapters and as an organization. To create interest and activity among our members, we in Canada asked our chapters to participate in a concerted political action campaign: lobbying, letter writing, phone calls, etc., to convince political leaders of all stripes to support and enact a national universal pharmacare program. This was in keeping with a resolution adopted at the Canadian SOAR Conference in 2019.
We are happy to report that recently,
the federal Liberal government tabled and adopted legislation to make universal pharmacare a reality in accordance with the negotiated Supply and Confidence Agreement with the New Democratic Party (NDP). The legislation immediately covers contraceptive medications and devices for women and gender-diverse people, as well as medications and equipment for diabetes control, free of charge. And it moves closer toward full national, universal coverage. This legislation became law on Oct. 10, 2024.
SOAR members and leaders can take some credit for success in legislated changes to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to move pensions and wages up to protected status in the case of bankruptcy proceedings, a more than 10-year battle.
In addition, SOAR activists lobbied hard for anti-scab legislation, which recently became law and in effect as of June 1, 2025.
SOAR continues to lobby for the removal of parking charges in hospitals, which is an unfair charge on retirees.
In April 2023, SOAR Canada held our 6th National conference in Toronto. Almost 50 delegates attended the two-day conference under the Title of “Let’s Finish the Job: Pharmacare for All.” With health care being top of mind for most seniors in Canada, and our support of a national universal pharmacare program, we had a presentation by video from Don Davies, MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, who has been leading the New Democrats’ fight for such a program for years.
Don encouraged SOAR to continue to fight and support pharmacare.
We also heard an eloquent and impassioned presentation from Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, on fighting against Ontario’s privatization of the our treasured health care.
SOAR Chapter 6-17 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., plays a significant role in fighting to keep the group health centre open in its community. This centre was established by local USW members in 1963. Since July 2023, more than 10,000 patients, including many retirees, have been de-rostered because their doctor was retiring and no replacement could be found. SOAR is working with USW locals, other area unions, and the Algoma Health Coalition in lobbing all levels of government to keep this centre open.
In September 2023, SOAR National Co-ordinator Doug MacPherson retired, and Lena Sutton was appointed by Canadian National Director Marty Warren as Doug’s replacement. On behalf of all members, thank you, Doug, for your many hours of volunteer time and commitment to SOAR both nationally and internationally.
SOAR had a booth at the District 6 Conference in St. John’s in July 2024 and the District 3 Conference in Winnipeg, in October 2024. SOAR continues to reach out to local unions and area councils to build our membership. SOAR/ORME is back up and running in District 5, in Quebec. We are still working on getting chapters up and running as a result of COVID-19. We need more USW staff 45 and over to join SOAR and engage with retirees.
In closing, we thank the Canadian directors, staff and local union executives for their continued support in encouraging the growth of SOAR in Canada. Please get in touch with SOAR chapters, co-ordinators and executive board members to grow SOAR. Engage staff and your local union members 45 and over to join SOAR. Encourage local unions to pay the first year of dues for retirees and their spouses. Retirees have retired from the workplace but not the fight and can provide assistance on picket lines, demonstrations, political action and lobbying all levels of government on behalf of workers, retirees and their families. Encourage all national, district and local union committees to reach out to SOAR to participate in action and discussion. Working together we can help make a better world for everyone.