Union calls for guards to be added to vaccine priority list

UFCW Local 333, which, according to its website, represents thousands of workers in the security industry, has published an open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford requesting that security guards be added to the COVID-19 vaccine priority list.

“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, our members who are employed as security guards have been working side-by-side with workers who have been deemed essential, so we do not understand why they are being overlooked for the COVID-19 vaccine,” said UFCW Local 333 Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Ketelaars in a statement.

The union’s press release of Jan. 22 notes that security guards have continued to work at grocery stores, long-term care facilities, hospitals, government facilities, malls, etc., throughout the pandemic, which was declared last March.

“Although we have asked the government, since the beginning of the pandemic, to deem security guards as essential workers, and ensure that they are given pandemic pay, we are now also asking that guards be given priority for receiving a COVID-19 vaccine due to the hazardous nature of the work that they perform,” added Ketelaars.