A great humanitarian and champion of workers’ and human rights everywhere: Steelworkers mourn the loss of Stephen Lewis

TORONTO, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marty Warren, United Steelworkers (USW) National Director for Canada, issued the following statement today on the death of Stephen Lewis:

The United Steelworkers and our members across Canada mourn the loss of Stephen Lewis, one of the greatest friends our union has known. We offer our deepest sympathies to Stephen’s family and loved ones.

Through his extraordinary career, Stephen Lewis built a legacy as a great humanitarian and a champion of workers’ rights and human rights everywhere.

For decades, particularly during his time as Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party, Stephen was an unwavering ally of the labour movement and certainly of the USW and our members.

In the 1970s, as miners in Elliot Lake were getting sick and dying from their work – a scandalous situation that Stephen denounced as a “horror story” – he supported the miners’ wildcat strike and joined our union’s relentless campaign demanding government action to enact workplace health and safety protections.

Our collective fight led to historic victories – a Royal Commission, followed by the creation of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, which in turn ushered in a new era of health and safety laws protecting workers across Canada.

In his post-political career Stephen remained a fierce advocate of unions and workers’ rights in Canada and around the world. The USW and the Steelworkers Humanity Fund were proud to support Stephen’s tireless humanitarian work on the global stage, most notably in his various capacities with the United Nations over two decades, including four years as Canada’s ambassador to the UN, and as the founder of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which champions health and human rights to end HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The United Steelworkers honours the exceptional legacy of Stephen Lewis, a fighter for economic and social justice and the dignity of all workers.

Contact:
Denis St-Pierre
dstpierre@usw.ca

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