Canadian unions renew call for comprehensive ban on asbestos
April 20, 2016
OTTAWA – Canadian unions are renewing their call for a comprehensive ban on asbestos, announcing today they will highlight the issue at events across the country on April 28, the National Day of Mourning for workers killed, injured or made ill on the job. “Asbestos is the leading cause of work-related death in Canada, and with imports on the rise,…
Unions promote corporate accountability and workers’ rights in Bangladesh
January 29, 2016
The Canadian Labour Congress will join a delegation of Canadian unions in Bangladesh on February 1st to promote corporate accountability and support ongoing efforts to improve workplace health and safety and fair labour practices for garment sector workers. Representatives from the CLC, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), United Steelworkers (USW), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and…
Canada’s health and safety laws have more clout today, following a landmark court ruling in Ontario that saw, for the first time, a manager held criminally responsible and sentenced to prison for actions that resulted in the deaths of four workers under his watch. Unions worked for years to convince the government of Canada to change the criminal code, so…
For Workers Injured or Killed on the Job Safer and Healthier Workplaces — Just One Election Away Every year, thousands of Canadians are killed or injured on the job or die from work-related diseases. Yet, this is something few of us think about when we mark our ballots at election time. This year, Canadians have an opportunity to elect a…
Recently, the CLC wrote to Foreign Minister John Baird, asking him to press the government of Bangladesh to comply with its commitments to respect labour rights and to ensure the safety of garment factories. A new framework for action called the “Sustainability Compact”, was launched with the initial support of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Union (EU) and…
Police are often not enforcing the corporate criminal negligence laws introduced into the Criminal Code in 2004 through Bill C-45. These criminal code amendments introduced a legal duty for all persons “directing the work of others” to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of workers and the public – in effect, it made certain safety breaches criminal issues. Unfortunately,…