No worker should risk their life just by showing up to work. Yet in 2023, 1,056 fatality worker compensation claims were accepted, in keeping with an average of over 1,000 workplace fatalities each and every year.

“Every workplace death is preventable,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Over 30 years after that awful day, such a high fatality rate is nothing short of outrageous. The families of those killed on the job are grieving – and they, alongside Canada’s unions, demand that our justice system hold negligent employers accountable through real and proactive enforcement of the Westray Law.”

The Law was passed in 2004, after a long fight led by the United Steelworkers, which allows for such employers to face criminal prosecution.

The Canadian Labour Congress demands:

• The appointment of dedicated investigators and prosecutors for workplace deaths and injuries, along with mandatory, standardized training for such positions;
• Ensuring Crown attorneys are educated, trained and directed to apply the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code;
• Mandatory training for police and health and safety regulators, supported by the necessary resources, on the proper application of the Westray amendments; and
• Mandatory procedures, protocols and coordination in every jurisdiction for police, Crown prosecutors and health and safety regulators.

“The passage of time has only underscored how unacceptable lax enforcement of the Westray Law is,” concludes Bruske. “Every worker’s life has value – and only real enforcement of the Law reflects that.”

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According to the Association of Workers Compensation Boards of Canada, an astounding 348,747 lost time claims were made in 2022, the last year for which complete data is available.

Shockingly, this number doesn’t even count those who decline – or are illegally persuaded by their employers not – to report their injuries.

On Day of Mourning, Canada’s unions issued a demand for “Safe work now!”, a call to action for employers and governments to make work and workplaces truly safe for all workers.

“Every workplace injury is preventable, says Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. ” These injuries – be they physical or psychological – should never be seen as “part of the job”. Employers have a legal and moral responsibility to ensure that workers aren’t hurt or maimed.”

To ensure that every worker returns home whole from the job at the end of every work day, Canada’s unions demand from every level of government:

• Holding criminally negligent employers accountable through proactive enforcement of the Westray Law – not just for fatalities, but injuries as well;
• Substantive action to ensure workers know about the hazards in their work and workplace, regardless of the type of products they use;
• Development and implementation of comprehensive strategies to remove toxic substances from the workplace;
• That every workplace be free from violence and harassment; and
• Increased proactive workplace health and safety investigations and stronger enforcement of health and safety laws.

“Workers compensation systems must also provide workers with the compensation they deserve in a fair and transparent manner,” says Bruske. “Easy access to the rehabilitation and vocational services they need is also essential.”

Workers demand that governments have their backs, so they can get back on track: “Any shirking responsibility for injured workers by employers and governments is simply unacceptable: it’s time for safe work, now.” 

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“We remember the 26 miners who died 32 years ago because of what a judge called ‘a complex mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity, and neglect’” says Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We mourn them and honour their memory by fighting for work to be safe.”  

In 2004, after a fight led by the United Steelworkers that lasted over a decade, the Westray Law was passed, allowing for negligent employers to be prosecuted under Canada’s Criminal Code.    

Each year, roughly 1000 workers are killed and since the Westray Law took effect, over 18,000 workers have died because of their work.   

“The Law is an important tool and would save lives if it was enforced as it was intended. While not every death is the result of criminal negligence, robust and transparent enforcement of the Westray Law is needed to make work safer now,” continues Bruske. “20 years is too long for workers to wait for justice” 

The Canadian Labour Congress demands: 

• The appointment of dedicated investigators and prosecutors for workplace deaths and injuries, along with mandatory, standardized training for such positions; 
• Ensuring Crown attorneys are educated, trained and directed to apply the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code; 
• Mandatory training for police and health and safety regulators, supported by the necessary resources, on the proper application of the Westray amendments; and  
• Mandatory procedures, protocols and co-ordination in every jurisdiction for police, Crown prosecutors and health and safety regulators. 

“Workers have been advocating for meaningful enforcement of the Westray Law for 20 years,” said Bruske. “It is well past time for those employers who demonstrate a negligent disregard for the lives of those who work for them to feel the full weight of this law.” 

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“Too many workers are still dying, getting injured or getting sick from work and year in and year out, these numbers are not going down. That is unacceptable because every death and injury is preventable. Employers and our governments are not doing enough to keep workers safe on the job. Workers and their loved ones can’t afford to wait for action,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “When you know better, you do better. It’s been twenty years since the Westray Law was brought into effect. It’s past time for Canada to do better to keep everyone safe.”

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of the Westray Law. Following the Westray mine disaster, Canada’s unions – led by the United Steelworkers – lobbied for change, so that employers could be convicted of criminal negligence. In 2004, the Westray sections of the Criminal Code of Canada were brought into effect, allowing for corporations to be held criminally liable for workplace deaths and injuries.

However, since its inception, only a handful of criminal charges have been laid due to inconsistent and insufficient enforcement of the law. Most of these cases resulted in fines, which major corporations can easily pay. Political leaders also still defer to business interests by weakening health and safety legislation, both provincially and federally.

Across Canada, in 2022 – the most recent year for which statistics are available – there were 993 accepted workplace fatalities and 348,747 accepted lost time claims.

“We know these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Many injuries, illnesses, and even cases of death from work are not included in these numbers. But did you know that you’re fifty percent more likely to die from a workplace incident than by homicide? And when a person dies by homicide, someone is held criminally responsible. So why are so many workers still dying on the job while potentially negligent employers are moving on as if nothing happened? A simple slap on the wrist doesn’t deter negligent bosses from putting profits over people. Paying a measly fine is not an acceptable consequence to costing someone their life, or their health,” said Bruske.

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In June of this year, the Court of King’s Bench found Jason King of New Brunswick-based Springhill Construction guilty of criminal negligence – “wonton and reckless disregard” – that killed 18-year-old Michael Henderson. 

While in a four-foot-wide utility hole, a plug holding back water slid out – and the young worker was pinned to a wall as water rushed above his head, drowning him. 

“It is unconscionable how the supervisor failed in his duties,” says Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “This young man had his whole life in front of him – his death was completely preventable and the lives of his family and those he loved will never be the same.” 

Bruske emphasizes that the fight for accountability isn’t over: “Springhill Construction must be held responsible for hiring such a supervisor in the first place. Nothing less than a strong prosecution and criminal negligence charge will suffice.” 

Canada’s unions reiterate the need for strong health and safety systems in every workplace. “Health and safety is job number one,” concludes Bruske. “Laws to protect workers must be enforced – to the fullest extent.” 

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OTTAWA––C-190 is the first global treaty that acknowledges the universal right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and establishes a clear framework for ending it. Once ratified, governments are accountable for preventing and addressing all forms of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, and it gives unions the tools they need to make work safer for everyone.

“We know that 7 in 10 workers experience some form of harassment and violence, with women and equity-deserving workers experiencing higher rates and deeper impacts on their jobs, their health, and their well-being,” said Bea Bruske, Canadian Labour Congress President. “Ratifying C-190 not only sends a powerful signal that Canadians believe everyone deserves to work free from violence and harassment – it gives governments, unions and employers a roadmap for preventing it, addressing it, and one day eliminating it.”

Convention 190 is groundbreaking and visionary, but also practical and actionable. It recognizes that everyone in the world of work – governments, employers, unions and individual workers – have a role to play to provide and sustain a work culture that is based on mutual respect and the dignity of everyone.

“We are excited about the potential for proactive, positive change that this ratification represents,” said Bruske. “C-190 is a comprehensive instrument. It’s inclusive in how it defines who is protected and what work situations are covered, it highlights the need for gender-responsive approaches, and it requires that violence and harassment involving third parties – whether they are clients, customers, patients or members of the public – be considered and addressed. For workers whose jobs involve dealing with the public and in public space, this recognition is extremely important.”

“This is truly a convention that leaves no one behind. But to realize its promise and potential, Canada needs a strong plan to implement it in every jurisdiction. Canada’s unions are ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work with governments and employers to develop this plan and to make work safer for everyone.”

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An estimated 500,000 undocumented people in Canada live under constant fear and threat of abuse and exploitation due to their immigration status. They frequently face racism, discrimination and wage theft, work in dangerous conditions, and are denied basic human and labour rights and benefits such as job protections, health care and education. Their precarious and vulnerable position leaves them unable to speak up against the maltreatment they experience.

“Migrants, international students, refugees and undocumented people are struggling hard to secure their rights. Canada’s unions stand alongside them in strongly advocating for the rights and protections they deserve,” said Bea Bruske, CLC President. “Migrant workers do the critical work of keeping our communities and families safe and cared for. They provide essential services to Canadians across numerous sectors, yet face precarity and unfair working and living conditions and low wages. Urgent change is needed to help support these workers.”

The CLC also continues to urge the government to make meaningful and substantive changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to ensure migrant workers have full human and labour rights, including the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Migrant workers under the TFWP are subject to work permits that tie them to one employer, which bars them from job mobility and security and makes them highly vulnerable to abuse and exploitation by their employers while offering them no recourse.

Most migrants in low-waged work do not have access to permanent residency. To address this issue, the CLC fully supports creating more opportunities for permanent residency for migrants, especially for low-wage migrants, which would provide them with access to the government supports and labour protections they require. “It’s past time for Canada to remove the barriers to full participation and opportunities for migrants, undocumented people, international students and refugees. We urge the federal government to take bold and progressive action to provide full and permanent immigration status for the 1.7 million migrants living in Canada, including undocumented people,” said Bruske.

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Canada’s unions have long called for the federal government to ratify and implement ILO Convention 189 Concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (C-189) and ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment (C-190). Both global conventions prioritize labour rights and standards, with C-189 establishing rights and protections specifically for domestic workers. C-190 recognizes the right of all people to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment.

“Domestic workers are crucial in supporting Canadian families, households and the broader economy. From cleaning, to cooking, to caring for children, older people and people with disabilities, the work of domestic workers is critical and life-sustaining,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “By signing and ratifying ILO C-189 and C-190, Canada has the opportunity to recognize the true value of domestic workers and start to put in place the infrastructure needed to protect their rights.”

Despite playing an important role in Canada’s care economy, domestic workers continue to be denied decent work and are often subjected to exploitation, poor working conditions and limited pathways to permanent immigration status. In addition, COVID-19 heavily impacted domestic workers in Canada and globally. In Canada, domestic workers experienced reduced hours, job losses, unpaid wages and increased precarity and struggled to access social protections, services or programs such as employment insurance.

UN Women estimates that one in every 25 women workers around the world are employed in domestic work, with one in six workers being migrants. In Canada, racialized and migrant women make up the majority of domestic workers, providing essential labour that is part of Canada’s care economy, supporting families and households across the country.

It’s time for our government to ensure decent and safe work for domestic workers across the country. It’s time for Canada to ratify ILO C-189 and C-190.

—

Learn about migrant care worker exploitation in Canada during COVID-19.

Learn more about the campaigns to Ratify C-189 and C-190.

Read more about our calls for pathways to permanent residency for migrant workers.

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“Across the globe, we are seeing unprecedented attacks on the rights of 2SLGBTQI people,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “In 2022 alone, we’ve witnessed the introduction of more than 240 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States, and increasing criminalization and violence against 2SLGBTQI populations in regions including Eastern Europe and West Africa.”

A concrete first step in advancing protections for 2SLGBTQI workers and reaffirming a commitment to protecting those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics is for the government to ratify ILO C-190 and affirm the right to a world of work free from harassment and violence.

The CLC and researchers from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto recently released the initial findings of a national survey on workplace harassment and violence in Canada. The findings are unsettling, with 7 in 10 workers reporting having experienced a form of harassment and violence at work. The survey also found that women, trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse workers are experiencing higher rates of harassment and violence. 73 percent of gender-diverse respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment and violence at work, compared to 46 percent of women and 38 percent of men. Nearly 5000 workers took part in the survey.

“Violence and harassment is not part of the job. Governments and employers must do more to make workplaces safer and more inclusive for all,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice‑President of the CLC. “These eye-opening survey results should push governments and employers to address and prevent all forms of gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, including homophobic and transphobic violence and harassment.”

ILO C-190 is the first international standard of its kind that acknowledges the universal right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and establishes a clear framework for ending it. Once ratified, governments are accountable for preventing and addressing all forms of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment. It also gives unions the tools they need to make work safer for everyone.

The Convention was adopted in June 2019, by the ILO at the International Labour Conference, and came into force in June 2021. To date, 12 countries have ratified the Convention.

In recent years and during the course of the pandemic, hate crimes targeting sexual orientation have increased. Statistics Canada reports that people belonging to sexual minority groups are almost three times more likely to experience violent victimization than heterosexual people. This reinforces reports of how COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequities and impacted various populations differently.

IDAHOTB was first recognized in 2004 to raise awareness and mobilize to end discrimination and violence faced by 2SLGBTQI people globally. May 17 was chosen to commemorate the day on which the World Health Organization decided to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1990. Today, IDAHOTB is celebrated in over 130 countries around the world.

Send a tweet to Canada’s Minister of Labour calling on Canada to ratify C-190

Check out the CLC’s Workers in Transition Guide on how to support trans workers and combat transphobia in the workplace

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“Every year on this sad anniversary, we reaffirm our pledge to work every day so that no workers die at their jobs,” says Bea Bruske, CLC President. “Canadian companies must take responsibility to ensure workers making their goods are doing so in safe conditions, everywhere in the world.”

Canada’s unions have been supporting workers in the Global South and demanding that government and companies introduce policy and practices that respect rights, improve working conditions and pay a living wage.

We work closely with the Bangladesh Center for Workers’ Solidarity, which trains Bangladesh’s garment sector workers on their rights at work and supports unions in promoting and defending the respect of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

Again, today we call on Canadian brands sourcing clothing in Bangladesh to sign the binding International Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which makes retailers liable to legal action if their factories fail to meet labour safety standards. The extension of the Accord to other countries will help ensure a disaster like Rana Plaza never happens again.

Canada’s labour movement continues to lobby for strong Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence legislation in Canada to require companies to review all their business activities to identify actual and potential risks to people and the environment, take steps to mitigate those risks and ensure remedy for those harmed.

Last month, Canada’s unions declared support for two bills recently tabled in the House of Commons that will ensure Canadian companies respect human rights and the environment throughout their supply chains and ensure independent investigation when cases of rights violations are brought forward. Global campaigns are calling on companies to keep workers safe. You can help by sending a message to global brands to sign the International Accord to ensure factories in Bangladesh meet safety standards and keep workers safe. Visit the Clean Clothes Campaign’s Rana Plaza Never Again remembrance page to send your message.

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November 25 marks the beginning of the internationally commemorated 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. Gender-based violence and harassment infiltrates every aspect of Canadian society, from our homes, to our community spaces, to the world of work. Violence and harassment is a daily reality for far too many workers in Canada, heightened even further by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 “The argument that harassment and violence is inevitable in certain workplaces is unacceptable. All workers deserve to feel safe at work,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “We want concrete action from the government to prevent and end gender-based violence and harassment at work. That starts with ratifying C-190.

C-190 is the first international standard of its kind that acknowledges the universal right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and establishes a clear framework for ending it. Once ratified, governments are accountable for preventing and addressing all forms of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, and it gives unions the tools they need to make work safer for everyone.

Jobs and sectors dominated by women workers are disproportionately impacted by workplace harassment and violence. Women and gender diverse workers who also face discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, race, disability, Indigeneity, immigration or migration status or other social identity are also more likely to experience workplace harassment and violence, and face additional barriers to reporting. Too often, workers are not protected by existing legislation, leaving them vulnerable to abuse and threatening their safety at work.

“Now is the time for action. The pandemic has increased incidents of harassment and violence against health care and other frontline workers,” said Siobhán Vipond, CLC Executive Vice-President. “And incidents of domestic violence for those working from home have also increased over the past 20 months. C-190 is comprehensive and inclusive. It gives us the tools we need to prevent and address gender-based violence at work, and work toward ending it.”

Join us in marking the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence by asking the new Minister of Labour to ratify C-190 to protect all workers in Canada.

On December 7^th we invite everyone to join the CLC’s virtual webinar on gender-based violence at work and learn how ILO C-190 will impact workers in Canada.

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“We have seen his rhetoric around supporting working people. But when you look at his record, you start seeing the real O’Toole,’ said Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “While he clearly will now say anything for votes, the fact is Erin O’Toole is a former Bay St. lawyer for giant corporations. And it shows.”

O’Toole’s anti-worker record includes:

• Voting against extending emergency pandemic help for workers;
• Saying the government should have given less to working families and more to businesses instead;
• Proposing a law, making it easier for corporations to walk away from pension obligations;
• Voting in support of Bill C-377, which attacked workers and tried to weaken Canada’s labour movement;
• Attacking a union for standing up against his Conservative government’s cuts to services for vets;
• Voting to make it harder for workers to refuse dangerous work; and
• Supporting unfair trade deals that lost Canada thousands of good manufacturing jobs.

“Sadly, Mr. O’Toole cannot be counted on to stand up for workers. This election, he’s proposing policies that fail to protect workers’ pensions during commercial bankruptcies and start privatizing EI and public pensions,” said Bruske. “And during the pandemic, while Alberta premier Jason Kenney made it easier to bust unions and attacked nurses, Erin O’Toole was silent.”

During election 2021, Canada’s unions are engaging voters, supporting candidates who put workers at the centre of their recovery plan, and holding parties accountable for policies that would hurt working people.

“Our message to hard-working people is simple: Conservatives are dangerous for working Canadians. Don’t risk our future on Erin O’Toole,” concluded Bruske.

Contact information:
Chantal St-Denis
Cell 613-355-1962
media@clcctc.ca

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“There is no place for homophobic, transphobic or biphobic violence in our communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people face disproportionately high levels of violence in our workplaces and in our communities. The federal government must act immediately to address this alarming trend.”

The most recent Statistics Canada report on police reported hate crimes highlights a record high rate of hate crimes targeting individuals in the 2SLGBTQI community. Although members of the 2SLGBTQI community are less likely to report violent incidents to the police than other Canadians, the data indicates a 41% increase in hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI reported to the police, between 2018 and 2019. Over half of those reported crimes were violent.

Canada’s unions will join other organizations across the country in providing input to help shape Canada’s LGBTQ2 Action Plan. The CLC also created a new Workers in Transition handbook to help combat transphobia in the workplace.

“We are always recommitting ourselves to eradicating all forms of discrimination and harassment, whether it is on the shop floor, at the union meeting or at a community event,” said Rousseau. “We want to set an example for workers around the world, that inclusion is necessary for true worker solidarity.”

Canada’s unions continue to organize and fight for anti-harassment policies and awareness initiatives at work that ensure safer workplaces and unions for everyone. Even in the midst of a pandemic, unions are continuing to lead the way in advocating for every worker’s right to safety in the workplace. This includes a national survey on harassment and violence at work in Canada launched late last year.

The International Day Against Homophobia was first created in 2003 in Quebec, and was later amended in 2009 and 2015 to include transphobia and biphobia respectively. You can learn more about the history of IDAHOTB here.

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In the years since, global initiatives, primarily the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, have achieved remarkable improvements to health and safety standards and practices in targeted Bangladesh factories. Much more needs to be done to ensure this progress stays on track and to keep improving the working conditions for the women who make our clothes. Safe factories, workers’ jobs, incomes and benefits remain at risk as the global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on global markets and economies. The people at the bottom rung of the supply chain should not have to bear the brunt of the crisis.

The Pandemic

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter and during the COVID‑19 crisis, hundreds of factories closed as international and Canadian brands and retailers cancelled orders and refused to pay for orders already in production. Factories fired over a million workers and many refused to pay legally earned severance pay. Workers were left with no savings from subsistence‑level salaries and no access to social protection to support them in times of trouble. The forecast remains dire for garment sector workers as global demand for apparel items remains low.

It is of immense importance to build up social protection systems in Bangladesh and other garment-producing countries. Trade unions and labour rights organizations call for strengthened unemployment protection and the respect for all workers’ rights, including the right to organize. Retailers and brands must take responsibility for issues in their supply chains and contribute to a global wage assurance and severance guarantee fund to help workers survive the crisis.

Workers in Bangladesh have been courageously organizing and fighting for their rights for years but need the support of voices in purchasing countries such as Canada, in order to push Canadian brands to rebuild a just economy after the pandemic by establishing more sustainable and resilient supply chains that respect workers’ rights and ensure suppliers pay workers living wages and social benefits.

To learn more about the global campaign to pay workers: #PayYourWorkers

To learn more about the Bangladeshi garment sector workers’ working and living conditions supplying Canadian brands: usw.to/3q6

Extend the Bangladesh Accord for Health and Safety

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legally binding agreement between unions and brands and retailers created after the Rana Plaza collapse of 2013, led to real change in making death trap factories safe. Since its establishment, the Bangladesh Accord has provided safer working conditions for over 2 million garment workers by carrying out inspections and overseeing repairs and maintenance in more than 1,600 factories. The current agreement will end in late May and action is needed to safeguard progress in workplace safety.

There are great concerns about the functioning of the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC), the body that took over Bangladesh-based operations of the Bangladesh Accord. It is voluntary instead of being legally binding and workers hold less representation in its governing body. To prevent the RSC from becoming yet another industry-led voluntary initiative, the brands and retailers who signed the Accord before, including Loblaws (Joe Fresh), must make sure to lay their commitments down in writing again in a new international legally binding agreement. Now is the time for other Canadian brands, such as Lululemon Athletica, HBC, YM Group Inc, Arc’teryx and Canadian Tire, to also sign on to a new Accord. Brands and retailers must act now to protect progress and ensure an incident like Rana Plaza never happens again.

Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence

A company’s responsibility flows through its entire corporate structure, including its business relationships and through its entire supply chain.

The Government of Canada must legislate companies to respect human rights in their global operations and supply chains. Such legislation should require companies to conduct due diligence on their human rights and environmental risks, take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate such risks and hold companies accountable in the courts if they abuse human rights.

Action:

Support workers in Canadian supply chains by writing to Canadian companies Lululemon Athletica and YM Group to contribute to a Severance Guarantee Fund. Email and/or send a tweet to the CEO of Lululemon and the YM Group.

Endorsed by:
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Centre international de solidarité ouvrière
Inter Pares
Maquila Solidarity Network
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation
Oxfam Canada
Public Service Alliance of Canada
United Steelworkers
Workers United Canada Council

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Before the pandemic, ever-increasing globalization meant many workers were employed in precarious, low-wage work with few, if any, benefits. Now millions of people across Canada and around the world have seen their jobs disappear. We need a worldwide recovery focused on secure employment and social protection.

This context serves as the backdrop for the annual commemoration of the World Day for Decent Work today, October 7.

“It’s clear that we need a recovery that is focused on shared prosperity and sustainability,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Better jobs are at the core of a robust recovery and that is true both nationally and internationally.”

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling for a new social contract to ensure a strong global economic recovery. Canada’s unions have similarly launched Forward Together: A Canadian Plan, a campaign calling for a similar focus on better jobs and reducing inequality.

“With millions of jobs lost across Canada, and hundreds of millions globally, we have to turn our focus to job creation. That includes focusing on secure employment, living wages, the universal right to collective bargaining and occupational health and safety,” said Yussuff. “The current economic model has failed working people. It’s time for us to rise to the challenge we’ve been presented with and to move forward, together.”

The CLC is marking the World Day for Decent Work with a webinar that aims to explore the issues at stake. It will be held on Wednesday, October 7 at 2 PM EDT. To register, click here.

Read ITUC’s statement on A New Social Contract for Recovery and Resilience here.

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“It is important that we recognize the significant economic contribution of domestic work  – work performed in or for a household or households – as valuable work, and acknowledge the effect that the current pandemic has had on these vulnerable workers,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Many have lost work because employers are following public health guidelines on physical distancing or because their employers have lost income and can no longer afford these services.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant loss or reduction of income for many domestic workers, leaving them unable to support themselves and their families.

According to UN Women, 83 per cent of domestic workers worldwide are women, and a majority of those are racialized women. Wages are low and working conditions can be challenging – even abusive. The pandemic’s impacts are not gender neutral. There are increased demands on workloads with children at home from school, child care centres closed and more demands on household responsibilities in general.

Internationally, many domestic workers are migrants or part of the informal economy. In Canada, the pandemic has exacerbated the precarity of their situation, making them ineligible for government income supports. Moreover, migrant care workers should be granted fair and accessible pathways to citizenship in Canada.

“The pandemic has laid bare just how essential the labour of domestic workers is – cleaning, cooking, caring for children, the elderly and people with disabilities. All of this work is necessary to sustain our economy,” said Yussuff. “It is time we cared for those who care for us.”

Read more about Domestic Workers and COVID-19: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19

Resources for Domestic Workers on COVID-19: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19/the-idwf/educational-awareness/stay-safe-what-do-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19

Recommendations for employers, governments, and others: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19/advocacy-to-the-target-groups

Read more on the campaign to Ratify C189: https://idwfed.org/en/campaigns/ratify-c189

Caregivers Action Centre: http://www.caregiversactioncentre.org/

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The current pandemic presents a monumental challenge in the fight to prevent workplace injury, illness and death. As Canadian jurisdictions begin to open up sectors of their economy, it is critical that working people have the protections they need to be able to do their jobs safely and to get home to their loved ones at the end of each day.

Workers are on the front lines of this pandemic and yet do not always have the protections they need to stay safe.

The first priority is to prevent worker exposures, illness and deaths from COVID-19. However, workers also need to know that their workers’ compensation system will provide adequate benefits and supports if they become ill as a result of their work.

This requires broadening coverage to include all workers – including those in workplaces currently exempt from mandatory compensation coverage, as well as precarious and gig economy workers.

It also requires ensuring coverage for workers who must be quarantined or have to self-isolate as a result of a workplace exposure but may not yet have symptoms of the illness. This will require streamlining processes for workers and protecting the right to appeal decisions. This will further require the removal of systemic financial incentives for employer claims suppression related to COVID-19 infections.

Governments should also implement presumptive compensation coverage for COVID-19 related illness, so that workers are not denied access to supports, waiting for their claims to be accepted.

So far, only the province of British Columbia has moved towards implementing presumptive compensation coverage for some frontline workers, recognizing that streamlining the process for accessing supports will result in better health outcomes and safer return to work for workers at higher risk of COVID-19 infection.

Other Canadian jurisdictions must move quickly to do the same in order to ensure that workers have the supports and compensation they need when their work makes them sick.

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Persons with disabilities – especially those living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities – face high unemployment rates and high levels of poverty and need additional support during the COVID-19 crisis and after.

“The current health crisis has intensified the discrimination and stigma workers with disabilities were already facing,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Hard-won workplace accommodations are at risk when the office becomes virtual, and workers with disabilities are at a greater risk of being laid off or having their jobs furloughed.”

The Canadian Labour Congress is marking National AccessAbility Week to shine a light on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities, and those whose experiences are amplified by multiple marginalized identities, including being a woman, Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQI, et al.

Canada’s unions have joined with disability rights organizations in the Include Me coalition, calling for a number of priorities to protect the health and safety and provide care and support to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government has yet to announce specific targeted income supports for persons with disabilities to navigate their unique financial impact of this crisis.

Unemployment rates are between 35 per cent for people with ‘mild’ disabilities and 74 per cent for people with ‘severe’ disabilities. High levels of poverty and unemployment means more reliance on affordable housing, income and health care supports – programs whose funding and availability vary greatly across the country.

“We are working together to ensure that Canada’s response to this crisis leaves no one behind,” said Rousseau. “We need to see targeted income supports for persons with disabilities to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, and, in the longer-term, recovery planning must make accessibility and inclusion a core priority.”

For more information on on-going advocacy efforts from disability related organizations in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, check out the Include Me coalition’s COVID-19 resource centre.

National AccessAbility Week was first introduced in 2019 after the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, learn more about the history of the week here.

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This is a monumental challenge in the era of COVID-19, but it is a challenge that we must meet. There are numerous Canadian and international examples of inadequate workplace health and safety protections leading to worker exposures and deaths and in some cases widespread community transmission of the virus. Workers are on the frontlines of this pandemic, and yet references to worker health and safety in public health guidance are rare and often insufficient.

As Canadian jurisdictions begin to re-start sectors of the economy, governments and employers must take steps to protect workers’ health and safety from COVID-19 exposure.

Before opening, employers must have in place a safety plan that keeps workers healthy and safe and ensures that workplaces don’t contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Specifically, employers must have an infection prevention and control plan, developed with the participation of workplace health and safety committees, or worker health and safety representatives. This plan must be in place before an employer is allowed to re-open. This plan must include a detailed health and safety response in the event of a workplace COVID-19 outbreak. Governments must have the capacity and commitment to enforcing occupational health and safety laws. If we are to avoid a dangerous second wave of COVID-19 infections, governments must also ramp up research and staffing capacity for rapid, effective COVID-19 testing and contact tracing to stem the spread of infections.

Health and Safety Rights at Work:

Canadian health and safety law is based on three basic rights at work, including:

1. The right to know about the dangers in their workplace;
2. The right to participate in decisions that affect their health and safety; and
3. The right to refuse unsafe work.

Employers have a duty to remove workplace hazards that put the health and the lives of workers at risk.

These health and safety rights at work are enshrined in law in every jurisdiction in this country. Canada’s unions are clear: we will not relinquish those rights, risking workers’ lives as governments and employers make decisions to re-open sectors of the economy. We will not accept employers or our governments prioritising profits over people, putting workers in harm’s way without the appropriate safeguards and protective equipment. Employers must fulfill their duty to ensure a safe workplace, even in the face of this pandemic. Governments must protect a workers’ right to refuse unsafe work, and not ask workers to put their lives on the line without ensuring that every possible step is taken to allow them to do their jobs safely.

When a worker invokes their right to refuse unsafe work, they are deploying the last tool available to them to protect themselves from grave danger. It is not a step that anyone takes lightly. Accounts of government regulators ruling against all but a handful of refusals are extremely troubling. Reports indicating that there have been over 200 work refusals in Ontario with not a single one being upheld after the provincial government quietly set-up an internal committee to oversee the inspectors’ enforcement efforts, and inspectors reporting a chill on their ability to do their jobs is unacceptable to workers. Unions having to file complaints with the provincial labour relations board for employers to fulfill their health and safety obligations and the government to enforce the law is unacceptable. Workers deserve better than this. Ensuring that workers can exercise their basic health and safety right to safe work is non-negotiable.

Paid Sick Leave and Job Protection:

Although certain provinces have instituted COVID-19-specific measures to allow for quarantine or self-isolation, many of those sanctioned sick days are unpaid. No jurisdiction in Canada provides adequate, job-protected paid sick leave, leaving workers in the impossible situation of having to choose between paying the bills and protecting their health and that of their coworkers and community. Further, access to the protections that do exist often depends on where a person lives and what job they do. This is a recipe for a public health catastrophe.

Governments must ensure that every worker has access to at minimum, 14 paid, job-protected sick days so that they can take time off work when they are sick and need to quarantine or self-isolate.

Key to preventing a second, more severe wave of COVID-19 infections is ensuring that every worker in the country has access to sufficient paid, job-protected sick leave, regardless of where they live in Canada.

Worker Engagement:

Before re-opening, employers must make a COVID-19 safety plan that demonstrates how they will operate safely. This safety planning is key to ensuring that the workplace is effectively implementing COVID-19 controls and that the health and safety of workers and others aren’t put at risk as a result of their work arrangement.

It is important that employers consult with workers, their unions and their health and safety representatives about how to make sure these safety plans and COVID-19 controls will work. Engaging joint health and safety committees early on, and in an ongoing way is crucial to ensuring safe workplaces. Engaging workers, through their health and safety committees to participate in assessing COVID-19 related hazards and developing responses is an important part of good health and safety practice and must be included in workplace COVID-19 safety planning.

It is also the law. Canadian law and international labour conventions to which Canada is party require employers to involve workers in decisions that affect workplace health and safety. Employers cannot ignore workers’ concerns, making decisions unilaterally. Governments must commit to robust enforcement of these statutes.

Hazard Prevention and Control:

Hazard prevention planning and the hierarchy of controls are common workplace health and safety prevention tools. While there will be COVID-19 related hazards in the workplace for the foreseeable future, certainly until an effective vaccine is widely available, those hazards must be controlled to protect worker safety. Employers can play a role in preventing COVID-19 being transmitted to workers and the wider community by putting in controls to minimize the risk of infection, including:

• Supporting people with flu-like symptoms to self-isolate;
• Ensuring separation distances in the workplace;
• Disinfecting surfaces;
• Maintaining good hygiene, particularly good hand hygiene and cough/sneeze protocols.

Other controls to minimize exposure:

The workplace hazard prevention/control program and the hierarchy of controls must be deployed to reduce the likelihood of exposure. This includes:

• Eliminating hazards and Substituting higher risk procedures with lower risk activities, including allowing ongoing increased flexible working from home/telework arrangements to facilitate greater physical distancing within workplaces;
• Implementing engineering controls, including workplace design, equipment and ventilation system changes to reduce exposure;
• Using administrative controls such as staggered scheduling, controlling or restricting access to common spaces, more frequent cleaning/disinfecting of the workplace, preparing and training for emergency situations, as well as training and communication on COVID-related health and safety procedures and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Assessing work schedules and the potential need for additional health breaks to accommodate for fatigue related to the use of PPE, or increased workload related to COVID-19 protocols.
• Ensuring that workers have access to appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when the hazard cannot be eliminated through substitution, engineering or administrative controls. As it will be impossible to completely eliminate COVID-19 hazards in some workplace contexts through the use of substitution, engineering and administrative controls, an adequate supply of appropriate PPE will be critical to any strategy to re-open the economy. Workers will also require training and opportunities to practice in order to use PPE effectively. PPE must be provided at no cost to the worker.

The Precautionary Principle and Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment

As a new coronavirus, our knowledge of this virus, how it is transmitted and how infection presents with symptoms of COVID-19 is far from settled. As with any new hazard, a health and safety approach requires that we use the precautionary principle when making decisions on how to eliminate or control for this hazard. That means, implementing the higher level of protection, and not waiting for scientific certainty before taking precautions. Otherwise, individual workers are left to bear the burden of new hazards while our knowledge evolves. Just as knowledge about how COVID-19 symptoms presents in different populations is evolving, so is the evidence of how this virus is transmitted. There remains a lack of consensus on potential transmission pathways for COVID-19. Workers at elevated risk of exposure as a result of the populations they work with must be protected from all potential, not only the most common, routes of transmission.

Personal protective equipment is the last line of defence in the hierarchy of controls. If it fails, the worker is exposed to the hazard without any protection at all. This is why the precautionary principle is at the core of the labour movement’s argument for providing the higher levels of protection for workers.

Governments and employers would do well to remember the lessons of earlier outbreaks with this observation from the author of the SARS Commission Report:

“Scientific uncertainty and scientific debate can go on forever,” wrote Justice Archie Campbell at the conclusion of a public inquiry he led into Ontario’s handling of the SARS outbreak that killed dozens and sickened hundreds nearly two decades ago.

“What we need to do is to follow the precautionary approach that reasonable steps to reduce risk need not await scientific certainty … There is no longer any excuse for governments and hospitals to be caught off guard and no longer any excuse for health-care workers not to have the maximum level of protection through appropriate equipment and training.”

The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) is making all of its pandemic planning and mental health resources available at no charge. Those resources can be found here.

CCOHS has also prepared a series of COVID-19 tip sheets for a variety of workplace sectors, which can be found at no cost here.

Worker Safety Data Collection and Transparency:

Some workers are at increased risk for workplace COVID-19 infections. Healthcare workers represent a disproportionately high percentage of those infected in Canada. Workers in food processing, transport, essential retail and all public-facing positions are also at increased risk for infection. To date, there is insufficient tracking and reporting on workplace exposures, illnesses and deaths of workers in these and other sectors. There is also a need for greater tracking and transparency on how this pandemic is affecting populations differently. We see in other countries that the number of exposures, illness and poorer outcomes varies significantly across equity-seeking groups and income levels. Canadian jurisdictions must collect and report on this data. Public health agencies can assist by supporting public exposure and infection registries to collect and report on this data. There is also a need for greater tracking and transparency on the state of supply of personal protective equipment (PPE). Fears of shortages without sufficient data lead to decisions that are putting frontline workers in harm’s way.

Protect Workers from Reprisals:

Just as the burden of the pandemic is not being experienced equally, neither will workers’ ability to return to the workplace as jurisdictions begin to re-open sectors of their economy. Workers with responsibilities to care for children or vulnerable adults, or who are at elevated risk for poor outcomes if they are exposed to the virus must be protected from reprisals if they cannot return to work when their workplace re-opens.

Employers must also accommodate, or implement specific controls to protect workers with elevated individual risk factors such as chronic medical conditions, pregnancy or older age when they return to the workplace.

Workers’ Compensation Systems:

Our first priority must be preventing worker exposures, illness and deaths from COVID-19. However, workers need to know that their workers’ compensation system will provide the benefits and supports that they need if they become ill as a result of their work. This is especially true in this pandemic. That means, broadening coverage to include all workers – including those in workplaces currently exempt from mandatory compensation coverage, as well as precarious and gig economy workers. It also means ensuring coverage for workers who must be quarantined or self-isolate as a result of a workplace exposure but may not yet have symptoms of COVID-19. It means streamlining adjudication processes for workers and protecting injured workers’ right to appeal decisions. It also means removing systemic financial incentives for employer claims suppression related to COVID-19 infections.

Finally, it also means moving to presumptive coverage for COVID-19 related illness, so that workers are not denied access to supports, waiting for their claim to be accepted. Certain international jurisdictions have implemented presumptive compensation coverage for some frontline workers, recognizing that streamlining the process for accessing supports will result in better health outcomes and safer return to work pathways for workers at higher risk of COVID-19 infection. We are encouraged to see that WorkSafe BC has begun the process to include COVID-19 for presumptive compensation coverage. Other jurisdictions must move in the same direction, to ensure that workers have the supports and compensation they need when their work makes them sick.

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“As communities mourn workers we’ve lost this year, including many in recent weeks, we must remember that we owe it to them to do everything we can to protect all those who are still working in the midst of this crisis,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “The best way to honour them is to fight for the living. Every person should be able to go to work without the fear of being infected, or of bringing this virus home to their loved ones.”

The theme for the annual memorial this year is “Stop the pandemic at work.” Across Canada, 4.9 million workers have been deemed essential, meaning they have to keep reporting to work. They are risking their lives every day, keeping the rest of us safe and supplied. Many of these workers are paid minimum wage and receive no benefits. Workplace injuries and deaths are preventable, even in a pandemic. All workers, in every sector, deserve to come home safe at the end of their shift.

“Canada’s unions are calling for paid sick leave and adequate personal protective equipment for every essential worker on the front lines right now,” said Yussuff. “This pandemic has demonstrated who the essential workers really are. It is up to us to ensure society never undervalues essential workers again. That means fair compensation, benefits and all manner of necessary protections.”

In Canada, workers have three basic health and safety rights at work: the right to know about what could harm them in their workplace, the right to participate in decisions that affect their health and safety, and the right to refuse unsafe work. Canada’s unions are working to ensure that all essential workers know their rights and are able to exercise them as we all do our part to fight the pandemic.

This year, to respect public health guidelines, mourners will be gathering virtually to hold vigils for those who have lost their lives or had their lives changed forever because of an incident in the workplace.

To join the CLC’s call for a uniform policy of 14 paid, job-protected sick days for all workers, sign our petition here.

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Canada’s unions and civil society organizations are calling for immediate relief for workers and protection of rights in global supply chains.

The coalition says that concerns for workers cannot stop at Canada’s borders and the millions of women and men who make clothes in other countries cannot be abandoned. In particular, efforts to address and rectify dangerous working conditions following the Rana Plaza disaster must not be undone now in the midst of this global crisis.

On April 24, 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh killed at least 1,132 people and injured more than 2,500.

The tragedy put a spotlight on substandard working conditions and low wages in the industry. In response to public outrage at the disaster, more than 200 global brands and retailers signed a legally binding agreement with Bangladesh and Global unions that achieved important improvements in workplace safety.

The current pandemic has created new threats to the lives and livelihoods of garment workers.

Brands and companies have cancelled orders down their supply chains leaving factories unable to pay workers’ wages, even for work already completed. This is leaving millions of people without income and job security. Women are particularly hard hit by this crisis.

Eighty per cent of Bangladesh’s four million garment workers are women. These workers have received poverty wages for years, barely making ends meet and have no financial savings to draw on. Without work, without income, with little access to health care and without any social safety net, they can easily slip into abject poverty and struggle to feed themselves and their families.

In response to the crisis, the Bangladesh government instituted a nationwide public holiday for an extended period. Millions of workers have returned to their villages with empty pockets, unable to collect unpaid wages or severance pay from closed factories. Government relief packages are being channeled through factories, but are proving difficult for workers to access. Some factories have remained open where workers continue to work in cramped conditions, without personal protections.

Canadian unions and civil society organizations stand in solidarity with Bangladesh garment sector workers and with garment sector workers in all countries, and urgently recommend the following:

Payment of orders and wages & worker health and safety
Canadian brands and retailers must honour their obligations to suppliers and workers by paying for orders that are completed or in production. They should ensure the payment of wages or severance to all workers who were employed at the onset of the crisis and ensure that workers who work during the pandemic can follow World Health Organization protection guidelines and reserve the right to refuse unsafe work.

Emergency relief for workers
Governments, including Canada, should support global emergency relief programs for garment sector workers set up with contributions from international financial institutions, donor governments as well as brands and retailers. These programs must maintain workers’ employment and wages.

Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence
The Government of Canada should legislate companies to respect human rights in their operations and supply chains. Such legislation should require companies to conduct due diligence on their human rights and environmental risks, take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate such risks, and hold companies accountable in the courts if they abuse human rights.

Rebuilding a just economy after the pandemic
The industry as a whole must change the current pricing and business model moving forward. Canadian brands must commit to establish more sustainable and resilient supply chains that respect workers’ rights and ensure suppliers pay workers living wages and social benefits.

Endorsed by:

Amnesty International Canada (English-speaking branch)
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale
Canadian Council for International Co-operation
Canadian Jesuits International
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO)
Fairtrade Canada
Inter Pares
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Maquila Solidarity Network
MiningWatch Canada
Nobel Women’s Initiative
Ontario Catholic No Sweat Network
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation
Oxfam Canada
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Social Justice Connection
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
The United Church of Canada
United Food and Commercial Workers Canada
United Steelworkers
Workers United Canada Council
World March of Women Coordinating Committee

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While many us are making sure that we #stayathome, we still need to be aware of the threat of homophobic and transphobic violence that persists online, at home, and for those on the front lines.

“This year, we are taking action online to take a stand, joining people around the world for a #VirtualDayofPink,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Solidarity is a key strength of our union movement. The #VirtualDayofPink is an opportunity for leaders in the trade union movement, in business and government, as well as everyday people, to stand together against homophobia and transphobia everywhere and in all of its forms.”

Canada’s unions have a role to play in educating and empowering our members so that all workplaces are welcoming and inclusive for all. In the context of COVID-19, our federal government needs to step up to ensure that 2SLGBTQI people are not left behind during and after this pandemic.

Around the world, 2SLGBTQI communities face disproportionately high levels of harassment and violence.

According to research from EGALE Canada, “Approximately 47 per cent of LGB workers (in Canada) have experienced workplace harassment and/or violence based on their sexual attraction (orientation), while approximately 90 per cent of transgender and gender variant employees report experiencing workplace harassment and/or violence stemming from their gender identity and expression.”

“Everyone has a role to play to better protect the rights of 2SLGBTQI people and ensure that they have the support they need in our workplaces, in our unions and in our communities,” said Rousseau “Our federal government must lead efforts with a dedicated gender-based plus analysis of the pandemic’s impacts, and by ensuring that additional emergency funds are available to support 2SLGBTQI organizations and communities to survive this crisis.”

You can mark the International Day of Pink right by:

1. Tagging your union and snapping a photo of you in pink to share online with the hashtag #VirtualDayofPink.
2. Downloading the CLC’s newest resource: Workers in Transition and learn how to be a Trans ally in your workplace today.
3. Read, share and support the demands of over 100 2SLGBTQI organizations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning more about International Day of Pink and how you can join #VirtualDayofPink here.

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Health care workers are working overtime, playing a critical role for their patients across the country and around the world, often without access to adequate personal protective equipment.

“These essential health care workers are making unimaginable sacrifices, losing time with their loved ones, and risking their own health,” said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff. “At a time when these workers are being asked to go above and beyond – sometimes acting as the only support for patients because of quarantine – we need to make sure they have every piece of equipment they need to reduce their own risk and any risk to their families.”

Canada’s unions stand in solidarity with all health care workers. These jobs are always challenging – with a lack of funding, threat of violence in the workplace, the trauma and stress faced by many, and an ongoing shortage of professionals ­– but more challenging now than perhaps ever before.

“We need to pay tribute to these workers, and demonstrate our thanks by following the best advice of public health officials – washing our hands, not touching our faces, and staying home whenever possible,” said Yussuff. “We owe it to all essential workers to do everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

At the end of this crisis, when the recovery starts, Canada’s unions will continue to press for adequate funding to ensure health care workers always have what they need to provide Canadians with the best possible care. This includes funding for national, public pharmacare, which would reduce hospital visits from those who can’t afford to take their medications as prescribed.

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Representing 40,000 employees, Canada’s airline unions participating in the meeting included the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Unifor, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) Canada, the Air Canada Pilots Association (ACPA) as well as the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

“A key priority for today’s call was to ensure that front-line aviation employees still working have the appropriate personal protective equipment,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “This includes pre-board screeners, flight crews, and passenger agents who are working to ensure the safety of both employees and the travelling public.”

Union leaders urged the federal government to consider measures similar to those in U.S. Congress where affected airline and airport workers are to be provided top-up benefits similar to those in U.S. Congress where 80% of wages are guaranteed. The Unions also proposed that employers extend health benefit plans and ensure pensionable service is accrued under retirement plans. Moreover, they also wanted to ensure that any federal aid allows laid-off employees to return to payroll and maintains employment levels.

Unions also asserted that any government support be accompanied by tight restrictions on executive compensation. This includes bonuses and stock options, share buybacks and dividend payments, as well as debt repayment designed to increase shareholder value.

“Air travel is a vital part of Canada’s transportation network and economy, and the success of any federal financial aid package will require worker supports,” added Yussuff. “Canada’s unions welcome the federal government’s efforts to work with Labour to ensure the airline industry will continue to flourish into the future.”

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

CUPE
Philippe Gagnon
613-894-0146

UNIFOR
Hamid Osman
Hamid.Osman@unifor.org
647-448-2823

IAMAW
Frank Saptel
fsaptel@iamaw.org
416-386-1789

ALPA
media@alpa.org

ACPA
Kym Robertson
krobertson@acpa.ca

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Income support will be critical to minimizing the economic impact of COVID-19.

In addition, the Canadian Labour Congress is calling on all governments and employers to take every step necessary to protect the health and well-being of workers, including health care workers who are on the frontlines of this public health emergency. These measures include:

1. Permitting flexible work arrangements, telecommuting, video and teleconferencing, ending non-essential travel, and postponing unnecessary meetings and events.
2. Providing paid sick leave under short-term disability and sick leave plans while maintaining drug coverage.
3. Providing 14 days paid sick leave for workers under prevailing federal, provincial and territorial labour standards to cover the quarantine period. 
4. Waiving any requirement for a doctor’s note to permit sick leave.
5. Prohibiting coronavirus testing as a condition of continued employment.
6. Working with Service Canada to take full advantage of the improved EI Work-Sharing Program to minimize layoffs.
7. Working closely with health and safety committees and unions to provide accurate and timely information to employees about accessing benefits and support.
8. Providing compassionate care and bereavement leave support to employees, as well as mental health counselling and support.
   

   Specific to health care workers, employers should, among other things:

    

9.  Provide an adequate supply of appropriate N95 respirators on hand as well as PAPR (for aerosol-generating procedures, e.g. intubation) and other personal protective equipment.
10. Conduct a risk assessment to determine all points of potential entry (and how to restrict them) and other points of potential exposure for workers (e.g. screening, triage, isolation rooms).

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After over a year of negotiations with governments, employers, and workers, the Centenary International Labour Conference adopted the new framework at its convention in Geneva.

“It is a historic day,” said CLC’s Secretary-Treasurer Marie Clarke Walker, who served as Worker Vice-Chair for the negotiations. “We set out to draft a standard that would stand the test of time, that would carry us forward into the next century of the ILO, and would meet the challenges of the future world of work.”

The ILO is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labour standards.

The ILO Convention and Recommendation set out clear policies, grounded in social dialogue and requiring an integrated, gender-responsive approach to the prevention and elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work. The Convention is legally binding, while the Recommendation provides advice.

“I truly believe what you have before you today are texts that we can all be proud of – instruments that are both ground-breaking and visionary, but also practical and actionable,” said Clarke Walker in a speech to delegates at the conference.

“Having a global minimum standard to prevent and address violence and harassment in the world of work will bring hope to millions of workers – hope that a world of work free from violence and harassment is possible,” she added.

Canada’s unions congratulate Clarke Walker and all of the participants in the standard-setting process.

“This is a great achievement,” said Hassan Yussuff, CLC President. “Now that we have secured this ground-breaking convention, we urge Canada to be among the first countries to ratify. We stand ready to ensure its effective implementation, so everyone can fully enjoy the right to work free from violence and harassment.”

Read the full text of the new Convention and Recommendation here.

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Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), serves as the Worker Spokesperson and will continue as a key leader in the effort to strengthen obligations to end violence and harassment at work.

Representatives of the ILO’s 188 member states will be meeting from June 10 to 22, 2019 to negotiate the ILO’s Centennial Declaration. The ILO Centenary provides an important moment to look back and celebrate the ILO’s history and achievements, but also to reaffirm its social justice mandate. Workers are calling for a new Social Contract that guarantees a fair deal for all working people to change the current model of globalisation that puts profit ahead of working people. The thematic focus for the event is the “Future of Work,” aiming to respond to the global drivers of change, including global economic policy, climate change and technology.

This year, discussions will lead to the development of a specific Convention and a Recommendation aiming to end violence and harassment in the world of work. This Convention would be a legally binding international treaty, which, when ratified by ILO member states, would commit them to apply the Convention in national law and practice, while a Recommendation is a guideline providing more details on its application. Worker representatives are advocating for language to enshrine the right for all people to a work environment free from violence and harassment. A priority focus will be on gender-based violence, reflecting the prevailing gender inequalities in the world of work and that victims of violence and harassment are overwhelmingly women.

The CLC’s Marie Clarke Walker was appointed last year to serve the two-year term as the Worker Spokesperson on the ILO Standard Setting Committee. Her role in the Committee is that of chief negotiator representing workers. Two weeks of intense discussions aim to lead towards a consensus with concerned parties on the language for new instruments on ending violence and harassment in the world of work.

“There can be no decent work with violence at work,” said Clarke Walker. “Few countries provide protection against violence in the workplace, especially gender-based violence. A strong ILO Convention and Recommendation are important instruments to recognize and close this gap.”

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“Far too many journalists continue to risk their lives in upholding a basic cornerstone of all democratic societies: press freedom,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “This is an important day to remember those who have died in the line of duty and to continue to advocate for better protections for those who continue to do their important work despite the fear of retribution or attack.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) observatory recorded 99 journalists killed in 2018, and a total of 1,307 journalists killed between 1994 and 2018. The 2019 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without Borders, marks an ongoing decline in the numbers of countries around the world where journalists are able to work safely.

The index shows Canada’s ranking has remained steady at 18^th overall in the index since 2018. “Back in the top 20 but still room for improvement,” write the authors. The report points to a number of factors contributing to this stagnation: the ongoing effort by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to compel a VICE News reporter to hand over communications with a source; criminal and civil charges against a journalist over his coverage of protests against a hydroelectric project in Labrador; and the closure of more than 40 independent newspapers.

“Canada must do better in upholding the principles of press freedom and media pluralism,” added Yussuff. “At a time of growing mistrust of media institutions, we must now more than ever do all we can to support the independence of news organizations and continue to advocate for investments in local news outlets and companies. Our democracy depends on it.”

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“One workplace death is already too many. Workers deserve to arrive home safely at the end of their workday. No one should die for their job,” said Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President Hassan Yussuff. “Yet, there were almost one thousand reported workplace deaths in Canada in 2017, and recent research shows us that these statistics on workplace injuries, accidents and illnesses are just the tip of the iceberg,” Yussuff continued. Official numbers only take into account approved compensation claims, leaving out illnesses and deaths that go unreported or claims that are denied, or workers not covered by compensation systems at all.

Workers need better enforcement of existing occupational health and safety legislation, and the Westray sections of the Criminal Code of Canada. Employers need to invest in proven prevention tools, including empowered, well-trained health and safety committees.

Unfortunately, provincial governments across the country – like Ontario and Manitoba –have been weakening health and safety provisions when they should be working to strengthen them. Ontario announced a change in its requirement for basic health and safety certification from the current standard three days of instructor-led, in-class training to a one-day on-line course. And Manitoba introduced changes to its Workplace Safety and Health legislation, eliminating the Chief Prevention Officer position and adding a six-month deadline for workers to report complaints. It also provided new authority for a labour director to dismiss complaints without first starting an investigation.

“The previous federal government weakened the definition of danger in the labour code without any consultation. The right to refuse dangerous work is often a worker’s last line of defence,” said Yussuff. “This government must reinstate the previous definition, that was developed in consultation with workers and employers.”

Canada’s unions have also called on the federal government to better protect workers. This means reinstating the pre-2014 definition of danger in the Canada Labour Code Part II to once again include the right to refuse dangerous work, hiring and training more federal health and safety officers, and enforcing the laws we have including legislated occupational health and safety requirements and the Westray Law.

The post One is too many: no one should die for the job appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter. Roughly 4 million people work in the country’s four thousand plus factories. Nearly 80 percent of these workers are women,” said the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) President, Hassan Yussuff. “Garment sector wages are far below the level of a living wage that meets workers’ basic needs, and workers are repressed when they try to exercise their fundamental rights.”

In January, government and factory owners again attempted to stifle workers’ wage protests with violence and intimidation. Many demonstrators were injured. Dozens of workers were arrested and thousands were dismissed and blacklisted from future factory jobs.

Health and safety in factories has improved under the inspection system pioneered by the Bangladesh Accord on Building and Fire Safety, an agreement between over 200 brands and global unions, introduced after the Rana Plaza disaster. However, the government of Bangladesh is working to eject the accord from the country and assume responsibility for factory inspections. There is global concern from governments, retailers and unions that the regulatory capacity and measures required for this handover have not been met, and an early transition will cost workers their lives.

“Canadian unions continue to stand in solidarity with Bangladesh garment workers and are engaged with leading Canadian retailers to promote labour rights in their supply chains,” said Yussuff.

On this sombre anniversary, we call on the Canadian government to work with their counterparts in Bangladesh to promote fundamental rights, and health and safety at work, and to change the climate of fear and repression that garment workers currently face. The CLC asks that Canada review its system of preferential access to Canadian markets to ensure that access is conditional on respect for labour and human rights.  The federal government must require that all companies importing garments and textiles into Canada publicly disclose factory locations ensuring respect for labour rights in their supply chains. Canada’s unions also call on Canadian retailers and brands to ensure rights are respected throughout their supply chain and to increase the transparency of their practices.

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“On behalf of the over 3 million CLC members, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the victims’ families, friends and co-workers who are mourning the loss,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “This loss will be felt by rail workers and their families across the country.”

The victims were members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC). This latest tragedy means that eight railway workers have now died in Canada since November 2017.

“This is an absolute tragedy. Everyone expects their loved ones to come home at the end of the work day,” said Yussuff. “We will monitor these investigations closely, and call on the government and the rail industry to take the necessary steps to prevent these accidents in the future. Even one workplace death is one too many.

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“This is a critical step on the long road to banning asbestos, and will, without a doubt, save lives for generations to come,” said Canadian Labour Congress President, Hassan Yussuff.

The new regulations, under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act 1999 (CEPA), prohibit the import, sale and use of asbestos, the manufacture, import, sale and use of products containing asbestos, as well as the export of asbestos and asbestos-containing products, with a limited number of exceptions. Combined, this is a historic step to protect the health of Canadian workers and the public, and to address Canada’s history as an exporter of this deadly substance. With these regulations, Canada now joins 55 countries that have banned the use of asbestos.

Yussuff said that it will be crucial for protection from exposure to extend to everyone living in Canada, including those living in First Nations housing filled with asbestos-ridden vermiculite insulation.

“Because these diseases have a long latency period, the danger is not over, but this is the beginning of the end. Now we need the provinces and territories to show the same leadership that the federal government has shown and move quickly to take stock of where asbestos is, harmonize regulation around disposal and remediation, and ensure a comprehensive response,” he said.

“We can all breathe easier. The introduction of these regulations in a timely manner is the result of years of advocacy and hard work by people dedicated to safer, healthier workplaces. Today, I celebrate and thank the government for giving the next generation of Canadians a better future, free from the pain and suffering caused by asbestos,” said Yussuff.

A robust enforcement strategy to ensure compliance with these new regulations will be important to a successful implementation and to addressing the legacy of asbestos-contaminated workplaces.

“We look forward to continuing to work with the federal government on the broader whole-of-government strategy to protect Canadians from the harms of asbestos,” added Yussuff.

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It’s not listed among the top tourist destinations in Ottawa, but if you are visiting the National Capital Region this summer (as many Canadians do), you may wish to pay your respects to the nine workers who went to work that day and never got to go home, and the other 55 whose lives were forever changed.

An official inquest into the disaster laid blame on the engineers, the use of green lumber and the lack of diagonal bracing on the wooden support forms, which caused them to collapse as concrete was being poured to form the bridge deck.

The consequences for those responsible – the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario suspended two of its members, reprimanded a third, and the construction company, O.J. Gaffney Limited of Stratford, Ontario, was fined $5,000 (the maximum penalty under the Construction Safety Act).

Ontario’s construction safety standards were rewritten following this incident.

In 1987, the Canadian Labour Congress placed its National Monument to Workers Killed and Injured Each Year at Work in Ottawa’s Vincent Massey Park, within sight of the bridge. It is here that the Canadian Labour Congress, the Ottawa & District Labour Council, and local unions hold their ceremony each year on April 28 to mark the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.

Occupational “accidents” and work-related diseases kill more than 2.3 million workers around the world each year. According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety:

“The most recent statistics from the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada (AWCBC) tell us that in 2016, 904 workplace deaths were recorded in Canada. Among those dead were 5 young workers aged fifteen to nineteen years; and another 20 workers aged twenty to twenty-four years.

Add to these fatalities the 240,682 claims accepted for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease, including 7,562 from young workers aged fifteen to nineteen, and the fact that these statistics only include what is reported and accepted by the compensation boards, and it is safe to say that the total number of workers impacted is even higher.

What these numbers don’t show is just how many people are directly affected by these workplace tragedies. Each workers death impacts the loved ones, families, friends and coworkers they leave behind, changing all of their lives forever.”

Archives

Archives

Resources:

Ottawa Citizen:
The Ottawa bridge collapse that shocked the world

Collapse recalled on eve of Heron Road bridge renaming

Reporter Bruce Deachman on the Heron Road Bridge collapse

Picture of human error emerges from inquest into collapse of bridge (1966)

CBC-Ottawa:
‘Never be forgotten’: Heron Road Bridge renamed 50 years after deadly collapse

Families remember Heron Road Bridge disaster

Today in Ottawa’s History:
The Heron Road Bridge Disaster

Other Resources:

Canadian Labour Congress:

Health & Safety

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety

The National Day of Mourning – April 28

Huffington Post:

National Day Of Mourning: This Is How Many Canadians Die At Work

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Early in the morning beneath the small town of Plymouth, Nova Scotia, a methane gas leak into the Westray mine shaft from the Foord coal seam mixed with coal dust and caused in an explosion. The sky lit up with a blue flash and homes more than a kilometer away shook with the force of blast. Within seconds 26 miners working underground on that shift were killed.

In little over an hour a team of men was down the mine on foot to attempt a rescue. They were soon joined by rescue teams from mines in Cape Breton, Pugwash and Bathurst as is the tradition of miners rushing in to help their fellow miners. But there were no survivors of this explosion.

When the explosion happened, the Westray mine was the only working underground coal mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia’s coalfield. The coal seam there had been mined for 200 years with a long history of explosions. The nearby Allan mine, which closed in 1951, experienced eight methane explosions in its 40-years of operations.

The Westray death toll was Canada’s worst mining disaster since the 1958 “bump” in the Springhill coal mine that claimed the lives of 75 miners. Coal mining has always been dangerous work. Between 1838 and 1950, 246 Pictou County miners were killed in similar methane and coal-dust explosions. Many of them were mining the Foord seam that the Westray mine was working. Between 1866 and 1972, another 330 miners were killed in other mine related accidents. According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics a worker in the coal mining industry is six times more likely to die of a job-related issue than in any other private industry on earth.

Despite these dangers, it turns out the Westray mine was an accident waiting to happen. Before the mine opened, concerns had been raised about its safety. During its construction, in July 1991, a letter was sent to the provincial Labour Minister from MLA Bernie Boudreau warning that the new coal mine “is potentially one of the most dangerous in the world.” The promise of new jobs, rich profits and political reward left those warnings and others unheeded.

Following the disaster, a provincial inquiry lead by Justice Peter Richard found “The Westray story is a complex mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity and neglect.”  (The Westray Story: A Predictable Path to Disaster.) Yet, all attempts to prosecute the company and its officials for actions that lead to the deaths of 26 men failed.

Canada’s unions responded with a campaign to change the Criminal Code so corporate managers and directors who fail to take steps to protect the lives of their employees could be held criminally liable in the event of workplace deaths. Private members’ bills were introduced in Parliament only to fail until, on the fifth attempt, in 2003, the federal government enacted what would come to be known as the “Westray Bill” that provided a new framework for corporate liability in Canada.

The Westray mine site was razed in 1998 and the mine shaft sealed entombing the bodies of 11 miners. A memorial was built in a park in nearby New Glasgow approximately at the location above ground where the remaining miners were trapped. The memorial’s central monument, engraved with the names and ages of the twenty-six men who lost their lives in the disaster, states, “Their light shall always shine.”  The memorial lands were protected by the Nova Scotia government and further mineral exploration is prohibited within the park.

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Working conditions on today’s construction sites and factory floors, in schools, office buildings, warehouses, restaurants – any workplace, really – are often taken for granted. We see fire extinguishers and sprinklers, first aid stations and emergency exits. We see the safety barriers, the hard hats, and the labels that warn of explosives, poisons and burns. We know they are there to keep us safe, but forget how they got there in the first place.

In 1960, work on the Hogg’s Hollow water main was in full swing. Built under the Don River to connect a pumping station with the water distribution on the other side, the work was done mostly by hand, in cramped and confined quarters 10 meters underground. It was also nearly a year behind schedule, the result of a failed contractor, faulty equipment and other delays. Pressure to finish the work resulted in corners being cut with disastrous consequences.

The underground workers that build tunnels for city water works and subways are known as “sandhogs”, and their working conditions were often more reminiscent of the 19th century than a modern, post-war Canadian city.

Workers later testified that the tunnels lacked fire extinguishers and resuscitators, the timber supports were not strong enough, grout was not used on the floor of the tunnel to keep out sand and silt, and there were no extra air compressors. They didn’t even have flashlights. In spite of these issues, the site had been deemed to meet the safety standards of the day.

Late on Thursday March 17, hours after work should have stopped, a dozen workers were still underground welding steel plating in a compression chamber west of Yonge Street when a fire started and smoke began to fill the main tunnel. A valve that would have allowed the smoke to blow out of the tunnel would not open.

Firefighters arrived quickly, but were told to wait at least 30 minutes before watering the tunnel for fear it would collapse. While half of the workers had managed to escape down the tunnel to the east, the rest were trapped inside with riding temperatures, toxic smoke and rising levels of sand, silt and water. Two workers tried to get down to the trapped men and thought they heard at least three voices moaning, but were forced back by the intense heat. The next day Pasquale Allegrezza, Giovanni Carriglio, Giovanni Fusillo, and brothers Alessandro and Guido Mantella were dead – poisoned by carbon monoxide and drowned.

A coroner’s jury later ruled that the deaths were preventable, “the inevitable result of the failure to implement and enforce regulations.” The resulting media coverage, community outrage and demands from unions forced the Ontario government to call a Royal Commission, which led to new regulations on fire protection, worker safety in tunnels and the first overhaul of the province’s labour laws in nearly 40 years. It also spurred the organization of more construction workers and more immigrant workers into unions, so they could stand up for their rights, health and safety.

Disasters like the tragedy at Hogg’s Hollow, the Heron Road Bridge collapse in Ottawa, and the Westray Mine cave in years later all changed workplace health and safety laws by shining a light on the unsafe and, in the case of the five immigrant workers killed at Hogg’s Hollow, unfair conditions faced too often by many working people. In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress established a National Day of Mourning for workers killed and injured on the job to keep pressure on employers and politicians.

Today, unions continue to stand up for fairness, safety and the health of workers with winning campaigns to ban asbestos, prevent workplace harassment and violence, win supports for workers experiencing domestic violence, and help working people struggling with mental illness.

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In the early days of colonial settlement into “the Canadas”, some of the largest construction projects were the building of canals to secure safe routes for the movement of people and the trade of goods. The 1820s saw major undertakings across the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River regions including the Lachine Canal at Montréal, the Welland Canal to connect Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the Rideau Canal to connect Montreal with Kingston by way of the Ottawa, Rideau and Cataraqui Rivers.

Work in canal construction was hard and done by hand using small tools, picks and shovels. There was little use of animals, so the rocks and soil the workers dug was hauled away by wheelbarrow. A canal “Navvie”, short term for navigator, worked 14 to 16 hour days, 6 days a week.

Working conditions were often deplorable. During construction of the Rideau Canal, around 1000 workers lost their lives to worksite injuries or disease. Some died during the blasting of rock, others drowned in rivers or swamps, but most died from diseases like “Ague” or “swamp fever”, a form of malaria carried by mosquitos. Today, the canal is dotted with monuments and memorials to the men and women who toiled and died along its length.

Workers were also vulnerable to exploitation. The money earned by workers was vulnerable as the men who hired them also acted as sellers of food, shelter, whiskey and tobacco – an early “company store”. In winter, there was often little other work available to support a family. Often, workers found themselves pitted against one another in a struggle for limited work – protestant workers vs catholic workers, French-speaking workers vs English-speaking workers – all to the advantage of employers.

However, some of the early struggles at Bytown managed to unite all workers. The March 2, 1829 riot was not the first time workers had risen up to protest poor pay and working conditions. Work on the Rideau Canal stopped three times in 1827 because of worker protests.

Throughout history, workers have found power when they came together and worked for the common good. In 1167 BC, there is recorded history of organized work-action during the building of the pyramids in Egypt. Angry about poor treatment and food rations, workers downed their tools until the Pharaoh conceded to their demands. Craft guilds formed in medieval Europe as a means for skilled workers to control the quality of their craft and the value of their labour. The trade and industrial unions of the 19th and 20th centuries transformed society, taking the working-class out of the world written about by Dickens and into the prosperity of the middle class.

Today, where workers have rights to unions, collective bargaining and to legally strike, it is rare for them to riot over working conditions. However, working people do still take to the streets when it is time to demand fairness – often with the help of the labour movement and union members. The “fight for 15 and fairness” and public campaigns to expand public pensions, pharmacare, and ban asbestos are recent examples of how unions help working people make a difference.

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“What I found [at Asbestos]… was a Quebec I did not know, that of workers exploited by management, denounced by government, clubbed by police, and yet burning with a fervent militancy. I was later to describe the strike . . . as a “turning point in the entire religious, political, social and economic history of the province of Quebec.”

_{P. E. Trudeau, Approaches to Politics. 2010}

The conservative Union Nationale was the government of Quebec. The Premier, Maurice Duplessis, was known as “Le Chef,” ruling the province with a strong hand. Supporters benefited from patronage, those in opposition were punished.  His time in office has been called La Grande Noirceur (“The Great Darkness”).  He championed a rural Quebec working with the Catholic Church to protect the population from the evils of Communism and militant Unions that would jeopardise American industrial investment.

In 1937 his government enacted the “La loi du cadenas” / “Loi protégeant la province contre la propagande communiste”, (Act to protect the Province Against Communistic Propaganda or as it was known the ‘Padlock Law’). This act made it illegal to use a dwelling to propagate Communism or Bolshevism. A violation would allow the Attorney General to padlock the building for up to one year.  A person guilty of involvement in prohibited activities could be jailed for thirteen months.  (In 1957 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law.) So when the miners struck their employers they also were taking on the right wing provincial government of Duplessis.

The miners wanted a wage of $1 per hour, union security, a pension, and action to check the spread of lung choking ‘silicosis’ caused by exposure to asbestos.  They did not have to wait long for premier to respond to their demands. On February 23 their strike was declared illegal and Duplessis dispatched a battalion of provincial police to the small town of Asbestos. For over two months calm in the community was preserved with almost a holiday atmosphere as people strolled about with music entertainment for the workers and their families but all that was soon to change.

Quebec supplied 85% of the world’s asbestos and the American Johns Manville Company began to hire replacement workers. The police supported them by intimidation and threatening the miners, breaking up their picket lines, even padlocking a church to prevent the miners from meeting there. The strikers fought back setting up roadblocks to prevent the “scabs” from entering the town.  On March 14 someone set off an explosion on the railway track leading into the plant and a company official was beaten by the workers.

Duplessis called the strikes “saboteurs” and “subversives.” At the picket lines the police attacked the strikers with tear gas and fired warning shots into the air. Strikers responded by dragging police from their cars and beat them. On May 6 a heavily armed provincial police force arrived arresting several strikers and beating them in the process. However, now there was a photographer for Time magazine as a witness making the strike worldwide news and the brutality of the police the central issue. Journalist Gérard Pelletier labelled them “Hitler’s elite troops.”

The culture that had allowed the Union Nationale to rule with an iron fist was cracking. Young intellectuals like future Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau came from Montreal to the support of the miners. The traditionally conservative union movement of the “Canadian Catholic Confederation of Labour (CCCL),” originally set up by the church to keep workers away from communist and radical unions, was itself fighting back against their employers and the government. Workers cheered militant union leader Jean Marchand when he spoke. Even the traditionally conservative Catholic Church found it was in sympathy with the strikers raising support to sustain the miner’s families.

The strike ended on July 1^st with Archbishop Roy mediating a settlement. While Quebec was starting its Quiet Revolution the workers would have to wait.  Many were not rehired, those that were continued to work in one of the most dangerous workplaces in the world. Trudeau, Marchand and Pelletier, would go on to play profound roles in shaping the political developments of Quebec and Canada. As for asbestos the health and safety struggles of 1949 continue to play out as it has taken Canada until this year to start banning it proposing the prohibition of the use, sale, import and export of asbestos and products containing the hazardous material.

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