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July 4, 2014 - No. 63 Anniversary of Lac-Mégantic Tragedy The People Want Redress Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, July 6, 2013 Anniversary
of
Lac-Mégantic
Tragedy Anniversary of Lac-Mégantic Tragedy The People Want RedressJuly 6, 2014, marks the first anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, one of the deadliest train disasters in Canadian history. A year ago, in the evening of July 5, a freight train made up of five locomotives and 72 tank cars not suited for the purpose of the kind of crude oil they carried, was left unattended for the night in Nantes, Quebec. At about 1:00 am, the train started to move down a slope towards the town of Lac-Mégantic. Shortly thereafter, 63 of the tank cars derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic, releasing their contents which caused massive fires and explosions. Forty-seven people were killed, many more were injured and downtown Lac-Mégantic was destroyed. Since then, the soil, the Chaudière River and the lake itself have been heavily contaminated from the crude oil spill.
Throughout this, the Harper government has refused to
take responsibility for this tragedy. On May 3, three workers from the
Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway were charged in a local
Lac-Mégantic court with criminal negligence in the deaths of 47
people. One of them, the engineer, was arrested in the most sensational
and unwarranted fashion, in which he, his son and a friend were
surrounded and violently pinned to the ground by a police tactical
squad. In a recent interview with La
Presse, Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt tried to whitewash the
actions of her government and the Liberal governments of the 1980s and
1990s for their anti-social, neo-liberal, nation-wrecking agenda which
has smashed the public authority in favour of decision-making by
private interests. She repeated the spurious claim that the
Lac-Mégantic disaster is the result of the negligence of
individuals who did not abide by the existing safety rules. The privatization of the railways and self-regulation by the industry over the affairs which concern the society have resulted in crimes against the people. The federal government, responsible for regulating the railway industry, should be charged with criminal negligence. The assault on the human factor has been profound, especially the constant reduction of the number of workers and government personnel responsible for safety, and secret deals with the railways to allow them to operate at sub-standard safety levels. All these things done by the government to favour the monopolies at the expense of the public interest are the main factor in this disaster and the many more that have happened since then. Raitt's remarks about new regulations being in place underscores her government's disregard for the workers, their health and safety and that of the public. For years workers have been saying that governments' refusal to enforce regulations and hold the monopolies to account is what permits them to act with impunity time and time again. The government's self-righteous position and defence of monopoly right is further evidenced by its praise that charges have been brought in the case, never mind that the only people charged are three workers. At the moment, the oil and crude oil transportation monopolies are excited at the prospect of bigger scores to be made in the sector. They are calling on the federal and the provincial governments to speed up the approval and financing of infrastructure projects, as the Harper government just did with the Northern Gateway pipeline, despite the massive opposition of the workers, people and First Nations. To speed up pipeline approval and rail transport while decreasing personnel, safety mechanisms and environmental regulations can only lead to further tragedies for the people and greater despoiling of Mother Earth. It must not pass! Now is the time to step up the fight to force
governments and the monopolies to provide redress for the
Lac-Mégantic tragedy and other crimes. The Harper government is
unfit to govern, as are all governments that put themselves at the
service of the monopolies instead of defending the rights of the people
to
live a life in dignity and safety. Get the Harper government out of
office! It can be done! It must be done!   Reconstruction continues on Rue Frontenac the main road running through downtown Lac-Mégantic. Photo at left shows work being done on June 19, 2014. The downtown is still not open to the general public. (Photos: Ville de Lac-Mégantic, R. Jobin/SPIQ) Demands for a Public Authority Which Enforces
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On this sad anniversary, 
 Sarmad Iskander |
The workers who died in these accidents were the third and fourth workers killed on construction sites in the GTA this year. The Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario issued a press release which said these latest two fatal construction accidents are part of a "pattern of needless, completely preventable workplace deaths" on Ontario building sites. It said there is an epidemic of workplace deaths and injuries in Ontario which needs to be addressed by government.
There have been a total of seven deaths of construction workers on Ontario sites in 2014. Last year, 16 Ontario construction workers were killed on the job. Over the last 10 years there have been an average of 19 construction workers a year killed on the job. Construction workers make up only seven per cent of workers covered by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) but account for nine per cent of WSIB recognized lost time injuries and 26 per cent of fatal workplace accidents.
Falls similar to the accident involving Sarmad Iskander are the leading cause of construction deaths. There is absolutely no reason for deaths from falls to ever occur. Fall protection systems for every conceivable situation are available and laws are in place requiring employers to ensure they are used. Deaths from falls can only occur in a situation where employers refuse to take up their responsibilities and government is lax in enforcement of the existing laws. The same is also true for other major causes of construction worker deaths such as electrocution, vehicle accidents and trenching accidents.
As construction workers and other workers mourn the latest workplace deaths, they are also demanding an end to the epidemic of workplace deaths and injuries. Working people are demanding that governments impose restrictions on the way the construction monopolies and other employers operate so they cannot kill and maim workers with impunity.
High Frequency of Worker Deaths Shows
Ontario Safety Not Improving
The recent tragic deaths of
two Toronto area
construction workers in separate accidents during the week of June 23
are part of a continuing epidemic of death and injury faced by workers
in Ontario workplaces. The continuing high frequency of such fatal
accidents expose as fraud the government claims that
it has taken action for improving the health and safety situation of
Ontario workers.
The Ministry of Labour (MOL) and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) are claiming to have improved workplace safety. As proof, they cite the recent reductions in workers' compensation benefit payouts and the reduction in the number and length of WSIB lost time injury compensation claims. If this was true that safety has been improved, wouldn't the alleged safety improvements also be reflected in a reduction in the frequency of fatal accidents? But there has been no reduction in the number of fatal accidents.
In 2012, the last year with a full MOL/WSIB report, a total of 70 workers were killed on the job in Ontario. This is a greater number than the average number of fatal workplace accidents over the previous five-year period (a yearly average of 69 deaths from 2008-12). These figures do not include the 222 workers who died in 2012 from exposure to hazardous materials.
The government is able to
hide the extent of workplace
injuries and health hazards through ruthless suppression of workers'
compensation claims. It is even able to suppress claims made by the
families of workers who died from workplace exposure to hazardous
materials. But it is difficult to hide workplace
deaths resulting from traumatic incidents. The continuing high
frequency of fatal workplace accidents shows that, contrary to the
claims of the MOL and the WSIB, the overall health and safety situation
of Ontario workers is not improving.
The WSIB reduced benefit payments to injured workers by $500 million over the past year. These cuts were the first installment of a series of cuts to injured worker benefits mandated by the Liberal government. The government plans to extract up to $13 billion from the workers' compensation system in the name of a bookkeeping fraud known as the "WSIB unfunded liability." The WSIB, is achieving the results demanded by the government through aggressive claim denials, claims suppression, illegal changes to benefit policies and other crooked measures. Employers will benefit from this scheme and are fully collaborating with the government and WSIB.
Reductions in the number of claims for compensation by injured workers and the length of the claims are the result of claim suppression schemes and not a result of improved workplace health and safety. The assertion of the WSIB and MOL that benefit payout reductions are an indicator of an improvement in health and safety is a cover up. They cover up the government's refusal to provide just compensation to injured workers and refusal to guarantee all workers safe and healthy workplaces.
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