The Steelworkers Humanity Fund (SHF) is a unique vehicle to convey Steelworker solidarity around the world and in Canada. Here is an overview of the important initiatives made possible through Canadian USW member contributions to the fund. Since the last International Convention, the SHF has extended our reach by supporting unions and community organizations, engaging members through worker-to-worker networks and exchanges and launching campaigns defending the rights of workers. Through our global connections, the SHF brought international perspectives to USW events in Canada including district conferences, the National Policy Conference and the National Women’s Conference, to name a few.
Sustainable development and community education
Many initiatives funded by the SHF focus on sustainable development and community education, including projects with local groups and non-profit organizations in countries in Latin America, Africa, and South Asia. From Colombia to Liberia, we have supported education on labour rights, health and safety, vocational and skills training, agroecology and community leadership.
Some initiatives that exemplify this work are in the Afro-descendant majority city of Buenaventura, Colombia, where following decades of marginalization and racism, the people took to the streets in 2017. SHF partner Fundación Aribí has since facilitated workshops with community leaders and conducted outreach and training for youth on civic activism, as part of an effort to make municipal and national governments accountable to the agreements reached with the population during this historic strike.
In the West African nation of Liberia, the SHF continues to support sustainable development and poverty alleviation efforts by partnering with the organization Camp for Peace. Camp for Peace primarily works with young adults grappling with the effects of civil war, ongoing national crises and economic hardship. Young men and women have completed courses focused on rehabilitation and trade skills development, gaining renewed confidence as they pursue small business and agricultural ventures.
The Ergonomics School, an education project implemented by SHF partner EMIH in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is designed to equip union members with the knowledge and skills to identify and address workplace ergonomic risks. Participants including garment, agriculture and electrical workers have reported positive outcomes, including a deeper understanding of ergonomic principles, identifying repetitive movements and associated risks and the confidence to propose workplace changes to mitigate these risks.
Women’s solidarity program
Our union recognizes the persistence of gender inequality and supports initiatives that empower women. The SHF is funding initiatives providing resources, education and mobilization to support women’s rights and address the challenges women face in the workplace and in their communities.
In Brazil, we provided welding and quality inspection training to women in low-income neighbourhoods, while in Nepal, we supported the organizing and health and safety training of informal female waste pickers who work in garbage landfills.
The SHF also co-ordinates Steelworker women exchanges, fostering connections and shared learning among workers in Canada, Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. A panel presentation at the most recent International Women’s Conference highlighted the results of the delegations. In 2024, a special emphasis was placed on engaging Canadian Indigenous women in the union, inviting them to meet with Indigenous groups in South America. These educational delegations featured the importance of women actively challenging norms, breaking barriers and creating a more equitable future in every corner of the world.
Canadian program
An important part of the work of the SHF focuses on supporting organizations and initiatives in Canada.
Food insecurity affects a growing number of Canadians who, due to rising living costs, rely on food banks. Every year during the holiday period, the SHF supports more than 120 food banks across the country to alleviate the economic hardships of individuals and families in communities where Steelworkers live and work.
Housing is also an issue of heightened concern across Canada and addressing this crisis requires a wide range of efforts. Seeking to be part of the solution, the SHF has supported a number of initiatives, including partnering with the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights. This national organization has been expanding its work of building community capacity and education on the right to housing by working with renters and frontline housing advocates.
Reflecting the Canadian economy’s growing reliance on temporary foreign workers (TFW), the SHF has partnered with organizations that defend the rights of workers who participate in this program. RATTMAQ, a Quebec organization (Support Network to Agricultural Migrant Workers in Quebec), has been developing expertise in providing support to TFW in the province’s agricultural sector.
Finally, the SHF supports projects to deepen our union’s commitment to Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada. Focusing on the widespread issue of food insecurity within Indigenous communities, our partner organization Community Food Centres Canada actively collaborated with 40 Indigenous communities and organizations to support advocacy efforts that aim to strengthen health, culture and food security.
Mexico Labour Solidarity Project
A joint initiative of the USW, the Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), the Mexico Labour Solidarity Project builds on a unique partnership with four Mexican labour organizations by expanding popular education on labour rights for Mexican workers and supporting the growth of independent, democratic unions in the country. Since its inception in 2021, over 1.5 million workers have been reached by tailored workshops, courses and radio broadcasts. Initiatives like the Union Training School, gender empowerment programs and targeted organizing campaigns have also led to workers successfully organizing against hostile employer protection unions and winning better contracts in their workplaces. Most recently, workers at a garment manufacturing plant successfully affiliated to a new union and in August 2024, they ratified a new collective bargaining agreement. Workers continue to organize at plants around the country and further wins are expected in 2025.
Emergency relief (international and Canada)
Lastly, the SHF continues to provide support for the delivery of urgent aid to those in need. The growing impact of climate-change-related emergencies has been felt worldwide, where extreme weather patterns have distressing consequences for humans, nature, communities and workers exposed to dangerous conditions. Between 2022 and 2024, the SHF contributed close to $250,000 in emergency relief for victims of climate disasters in Canada, especially wildfires, across Districts 3, 5 and 6. In other parts of the world, Steelworker solidarity has been felt with over $200,000 in support of victims experiencing multiple natural and human-made disasters. usw.ca/humanityfund