COVID-19 message from IBEW CCO Exectutive Secretary Treasurer, James Barry:
UPDATE: March 23, 9:19:23 PM
The provincial government has released a list highlighting essential businesses that will remain unaffected by the province-wide mandatory closing of all non-essential businesses in order to contain COVID-19 (closing to take effect by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, March 24, 2020).
The full list of essential businesses is posted below. Among the list, are construction services that will impact IBEW members and the construction industry as a whole, including:
13. Businesses that provide support and maintenance services, including urgent repair, to maintain the safety, security, sanitation and essential operation of institutional, commercial industrial and residential properties and buildings, including, property management services, plumbers, electricians, custodial/janitorial workers, cleaning services, , security services, fire safety and sprinkler systems, building systems maintenance and repair technicians and engineers, mechanics, (e.g. HVAC, escalator and elevator technicians), and other service providers who provide similar services;
14. Businesses engaged in providing or supporting Information Technology (IT) including online services, software products and related services, as well as the technical facilities such as data centres and other network facilities necessary for their operation and delivery;
15. Businesses providing telecommunications services (phone, internet, radio, cell phones etc) as well as support facilities such as call centres necessary for their operation and delivery;
26. Construction projects and services associated with the healthcare sector, including new facilities, expansions, renovations, and conversion of spaces that could be re purposed for health care space;
27. Construction projects and services required to ensure safe and reliable operations of critical provincial infrastructure, including, transit, transportation, energy and justice sectors beyond the day-to-day maintenance;
28. Constructions work and services, including demolition services, in the industrial, commercial, institutional and residential sectors;
29. Construction wok and services that supports health and safety environmental rehabilitation projects;
41. Utilities, and Businesses that support the provision of utilities and community services, including by providing products, materials and services needed for the delivery of utilities and community services:
(c) Electricity Generation, transmission, distribution and storage;
(e) Road construction and maintenance;
42. Businesses engaged in or supporting the operation, maintenance and repair of critical infrastructure (railways, dams, bridges, highways, erosion control structures, etc.).
Full List of Essential Services
The full list can be found at https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/list-of-essential-workplaces.html
Due to a high level of traffic to the news.ontario.ca website, we have included a PDF of the release here:
Ontario-Newsroom-list-of-essential-workplaces-23MAR2020
James Barry
Executive Secretary Treasurer
IBEW Construction Council of Ontario