CPC(M-L) HOME TML Daily Archive Le Marxiste-Léniniste quotidien

April 28, 2011 - No. 70

April 28 Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job

Governments Must Guarantee the Right to Safe and Healthy Working Conditions

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

April 28 Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job
Governments Must Guarantee the Right to Safe and Healthy Working Conditions - Pierre Chénier
Ontario Government Prepares to Step Up Attacks on Injured Workers - Interview, Peter Page, President, Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups
Situation in Quebec's Construction Sector - François Patry, Director, Health and Safety Department, FTQ

Election 2011 -- Missing Voice of the Working Class
All Out for May First on Parliament Hill! Break New Ground to Defend Public Right and Set a New Direction for the Economy!
Workers' Issue Resounding Call to "Stop Harper!" in Val d'Or
MLPC Candidate in Laurentide-Labelle Calls for Solutions to the Forestry Crisis that Favour the Workers and Communities


April 28 Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job

Governments Must Guarantee the Right to Safe and Healthy Working Conditions

April 28, 2011 marks the 27th anniversary of the first Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job. Workers around the world are once again organizing ceremonies, holding meetings and observing moments of silence to mourn the dead and fight for the living. At the heart of these actions is the demand that governments uphold public right by guaranteeing the right to safe and healthy working conditions for all workers.

The International Labour Organization estimates that every day 6,300 workers around the world die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases. This is more than 2.3 million deaths per year. Deaths and injuries take a particularly heavy toll on workers in the countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean due to the super-exploitation of the peoples of these countries by the monopolies. In Canada, more than 1,000 workers die each year from workplace injuries and work-related diseases. This official figure is well below the real numbers because governments and their compensation boards refuse to recognize many work-related diseases, especially those that stem from the use of toxic materials.

The actions that governments take to guarantee monopoly right instead of public right is a major factor in creating an atmosphere of chaos in the workplace with deadly consequences for workers and their communities. For example, the federal and provincial governments gave their blessing to Vale Inco to run its operations during the recent strike with unskilled personnel. It is only good fortune that no-one was injured or killed in the explosions and other so-called accidents that have followed. Such incidents are a sharp reminder to the workers and the whole community of Sudbury of the extent to which they are put at risk by Vale Inco and the governments in its service. This criminal negligence of governments which refuse to do their duty and uphold public right must be condemned.

The abdication of social responsibility by governments for the health and well-being of workers also permits monopolies to impose a climate of criminalization in the workplace. Workers are not only blamed for being injured and killed on the job but are criminalized when they report injuries and fight for safe and healthy working conditions.

A most troublesome aspect of the refusal of the governments to uphold public right is their protracted war against the injured workers who are demanding adequate compensation as a matter of right. The governments of Ontario and Quebec have ordered reviews of their compensation systems under the hoax of dealing with "unfunded liabilities" and ensuring that injured workers "contribute to society" instead of receiving "benefits for life." Their stated aim is to reduce the amount and duration of benefits injured workers receive. This is to divert more of the monies intended for injured workers into the pockets of the monopolies, which is both an unconscionable affront to the dignity of the injured workers and a way to steal more of the social wealth that workers produce.

On April 28 workers will once again issue the demand that governments must take up their social responsibility and uphold public right by guaranteeing safe and healthy working conditions, not the so-called monopoly right which comes at the expense of the workers' lives and limbs.

Governments Must Guarantee the Right to Safe and Healthy Working Conditions for All!


Workers' memorials in Toronto, Subury and New Glasgow, Nova Scotia

Return to top


Ontario Government Prepares to
Step Up Attacks on Injured Workers

TML: On the occasion of April 28, the Day of Mourning, we would like your opinion on the funding review of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) that the Ontario government has established.

Peter Page: The Ontario government said the review would not be used to attack the injured workers' benefits. Then it turned around and only gave us a 0.5 per cent increase for 2011 when the cost of living has gone up about three per cent. This is a reduction in real terms. They are reducing our benefits in other nefarious ways as well. People on narcotics, on heavily prescribed drugs, are being told that their prescription will not be filled anymore. Or people are being told that their clothing allowance is being cut. This is in addition to the process called deeming which is already taking place, whereby injured workers can be deemed to have a job at minimum wage even if they don't, and then have their benefits cut accordingly.

The government says that it wants to eliminate what it calls the unfunded liability of the compensation system. It says that the system must be funded at a level of 100 per cent. Currently the board has $13 billion in the bank. This means that if the WSIB was to close its doors and pay off all of the accrued benefits that injured workers would receive, they have 50 per cent of that in the bank. The WSIB benefits are paid by employers through assessment rates. We say that, unless Ontario closes its doors, you are always going to have a steady stream of income coming from employers. It is not like a private insurance system.

The chair of the review, Harry Arthurs, is going to present his recommendations after the upcoming provincial election in October. If the Conservatives are elected, they may simply say that the Arthurs' report is a Liberal document, then scrap it or shelve it and push for the privatization of the system as is openly advocated in the U.S., especially in Wisconsin. If the Liberals win and they don't like the recommendations -- for example if Arthurs recommends full cost of living -- then they might say it is impossible, the employers are going to scream, the unfunded liability is going to get worse, etc. "Unfunded liability" has always been used as a political football and injured workers are always caught in the middle. At the end of the day, we are afraid that it is going to be as in the past when governments invoked a crisis to decrease injured workers' benefits. If history is a predictor of the future, we think it is going to be used to attack injured workers once the election is over.

We are also worried that Arthurs is looking at this like some kind of collective bargaining, that we are to give up something in order to get something. We say No! We gave up the right to sue in exchange for fair compensation and it is up to the employers through the WSIB to provide those benefits to injured workers and not make us a burden on society.

TML: What is the stand of ONIWG in this context?

PP: They are making up this crisis. If they want to reduce the shortage of funds in the system they can, among other things, eliminate the rebates that employers receive, which is greater than the assessment rates amount they pay in. We do not agree that the system has to be funded at 100 per cent the way they say. We are opposed to any plan to privatize the system. As much as we do not like it the way it is, it is still better than if it was in the hands of private insurance companies. We are demanding full cost of living for injured workers, life-time pensions for life-time disabilities, that all workers in Ontario be covered and the elimination of deeming and the system of rebates.

Return to top


Situation in Quebec's Construction Sector

In Quebec, the main health and safety problem in construction is that we have made no headway in building a culture of prevention. The companies still impose the status quo. Thirty-two years after the passage of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the articles that require construction sites to have a joint health and safety committee and a representative in prevention nominated by the workers have not yet been promulgated. Articles 204-215 would implement these two policies in a way suited to the construction sector. Even though the Act prescribes that all priority sectors must have a worker representative in prevention and a joint health-safety committee and specifies construction as a priority sector, it still does not apply to our sector. This in spite of the fact that 25 per cent of the work fatalities in Quebec each year happen in construction although we constitute only 5 per cent of the workforce. The highest number of work injuries is also in this sector.

These regulations are critical for us to build a culture of prevention in construction, otherwise it remains a culture of hiding things: "An inspector is coming! Quick hide this!" The scope of health and safety within this culture is to demand things like safety fences instead of making health and safety part of the project plan. There is no space to analyze the work processes, the causes of the injuries, the equipment etc. Providing construction workers with safety equipment is not prevention. Giving the workers safety equipment does not eliminate the hazard.

Health and safety considerations must start at the planning stage of the project. It is fine to say that workers have to be tied off when they work but tied off to what? To what will the life lines be connected? Too often, the workers are just tied to anything that happens to be there.

Another major problem is how big corporations are more and more screening workers under a pretense of  health and safety and even prevention. Rio Tinto, for example, forces all workers on its construction sites to pass health tests and have x-rays. They call this prevention. It has established a number of jobs as "critical" ones for which workers have to pass tests. The doctor decides whether the worker is suited to the work or not. This is phoney prevention. It attacks the worker rather than dealing with the hazard. And the information the doctors gather, which is supposed to be confidential, ends up on the company's desk. Employers can then say to a worker, "We know that in the past you have had back problems..."

The Iron Ore Company of Canada, at its operations on the North Shore, now forces all workers on their construction sites to pass drug tests. After working for these construction companies for years, these workers still have to pass the tests or they can't work on these sites. I am not talking about an individual worker who is acting as if he is under the influence of drugs. These are generalized tests, mandatory for all workers or they will be barred from the sites. I have been in prevention for over 25 years and I personally read all the reports on construction site fatalities and I have yet to read one that puts the blame on a worker's personal health issue for their demise.

This kind of intervention is spreading and we are preparing to fight it. We are working with other construction unions to build common resistance to this kind of intrusion and selection being done by the large corporations in the name of health and safety and prevention.

Return to top


Election 2011 -- Missing Voice of the Working Class

All Out for May First on Parliament Hill!
Break New Ground to Defend Public Right and
Set a New Direction for the Economy!

In three days, workers and their allies will gather in a historic Rally and March on Parliament Hill. Steelworkers will be joined by active workers and retirees from many other sectors of the economy from across Canada, as well as youth and students and other collectives, to voice their concern about the nation-wrecking of governments that serves monopoly right, not public right. Everyone is called on to participate so as to put forward the demands of workers in all sectors of the economy to defend the rights of all.

There is no more appropriate day than May First, International Workers' Day which this year falls on the eve of the federal election, for workers to make their voice heard and call on whatever party or parties form the next government to change the direction of the economy and uphold public right, not the so-called rights of the monopolies to do as they please and wreck the economy, our communities and the country.

In Hamilton, active and retired steelworkers of Local 1005 have been opposing the monopoly "right" of U.S. Steel to impose its phoney lockout since November of last year. To add insult to injury, U.S. Steel has been removing the coke required for production at Hamilton Works. How can any Canadian government worthy of the name stand idly by while a U.S. monopoly continues to have its way in callous disregard for the rights of Canadian workers and the very existence of Canada's steel industry? This is just one example of the nation-wrecking taking place in all sectors that has to be stopped.

In the midst of an election campaign where workers and the vast majority of electors do not have a say in decision-making, and are treated as mere voting cattle, it is crucial that we take to Parliament Hill our demands in defence of our rights and against the theft of resources, the privatization of public services, closures of factories, layoffs, etc., and show our resolve to set a new direction for the economy.

Join the steelworkers on Parliament Hill on May First to demand an economy that serves the people, public good and the general interests of society.

Concessions Are Not Solutions!
Manufacturing Yes! Nation-Wrecking No!
Uphold Public Right, Not Monopoly Right!

 
Get on the Buses for May 1st!
For information contact visit the USW Local 1005 website: www.uswa1005.ca
or call 905-547-1417 or e-mail info@uswa1005.ca

Return to top


Workers' Issue Resounding Call to
"Stop Harper!" in Val d'Or

On April 19, the workers in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec organized to let Harper know what they think of his government when he paid a visit to Val-d'Or, Quebec. About 150 workers demonstrated near the hotel where Harper was the guest speaker at an election rally for the Conservative candidate in the riding of Abitibi-Baie-James-Nunavuk-Eeyou. During the 2008 election, the workers of Abitibi-Témiscamingue also took a stand against the nation-wrecking Harper regime when they blocked the highway and prevented Harper's entourage from moving for several hours.

Val d'Or is one of the main towns in Abitibi-Temiscamingue, a region in northwestern Quebec whose economy is based primarily on forestry and mining. The region has been severely affected by the forestry crisis and the refusal of governments to take up their responsibility to defend the livelihood of the workers and the well-being of their communities. Although forestry workers and communities have experienced many plant closures and massive job losses in the last 5-6 years, they have never stopped the fight to defend the livelihood of all and build an industry that allows the communities to flourish. Their efforts have been met by the Harper government's infamous refusal to assist the forestry workers, even at the peak of the economic crisis, claiming that to sustain the falling income of the workers would be a waste to the economy. With shameless self-delusion he now dares to go to the region and ask for its support in the election.

In his attempt to gain more seats in Quebec to form a majority government, Harper is courting the regions with his vulgar propaganda that if the people elect Conservative MPs, the regions will join the table of the "decision-makers." To this, the workers have replied: "Better to stand in the opposition than sit on your ass for the regions!"; "No way we are giving you a majority! You want a majority to silence us!"; "In power in the region, but excluded from the Constitution?"; "No Omerta [Mafia code of silence] for Quebec and Canada!" and "No Reform Party for Abitibi!"

The workers, who were mostly from the forestry sector, demonstrated for three hours, highlighting the forestry crisis and the Harper government's refusal to take up its responsibilities. They pointed out that at the height of the forestry crisis, Harper dedicated a meagre $178 million to the sector, all of which went to the companies with nothing for the workers. The workers also demanded a change in the bankruptcy protection laws to put an end to the theft of retirees' pensions.

The demonstrators' slogans and signs denounced other aspects of the Harper government's anti-social offensive as well: "No to Your Billions for Armaments!"; "You Invest in Jails Not in Prevention!" and "Conservatives Mean Humiliation for the Unemployed!"

The workers prepared statements to present to the media, summarizing their views of the Harper government. However, police forces were everywhere, creating a militarized atmosphere around Harper.

Carl Proulx, a national representative of CEP for the region, told TML: "Policemen outnumbered the demonstrators. The Sureté du Quebec were there and so were the RCMP and the anti-riot squad. There were so many police that it was impossible to even get close to Harper, who was rushed into the hotel through one of the back doors. The rally lasted two hours and then Harper rushed out and immediately left for Rimouski. The journalists did not even bother to come to talk to us. They passed right by us without even stopping. Maybe they were told not to speak to us. We negotiated with the police to have access to the press. We did not want to kidnap the prime minister; we wanted to be listened to and have our opinions published in the newspapers. If Harper does not agree with us, he can answer us! If he does not have bad conscience, what is wrong with answering?"

Workers are proud of their action, despite the boycott by the monopoly media, as it showed their opposition to the warmongering, anti-social and anti-people Harper government and their resolve to Stop Harper!

Return to top


MLPC Candidate in Laurentide-Labelle Calls for Solutions to the Forestry Crisis that Favour the Workers and Communities

Mikaël St-Louis is the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada candidate in Laurentide-Labelle. A 24-year-old student of history and politics at the University of Quebec in Outaouais, he has lived in Notre-Dame-Du-Laus since childhood and serves his community as a volunteer fireman. He is also active in the Quebec student movement in the struggle in defence of the right to education and against the anti-social offensive in Quebec. He is participating in the election as a candidate for the MLPC to ensure that the problems facing the region are put on the agenda. Mikaël writes:

"With the upcoming May 2 federal election, the usual avalanche of preoccupations of the parties of the rich and the monopolies in different sectors of the economy has been unleashed against the workers and the people. The agenda of the working class, the youth and the people in general is once again marginalized and categorized as just another 'lobby' by the monopoly media. The problems the workers face are allegedly turned into solutions in the so-called programs of the parties of the rich, which are wooing the ruling circles for their support.

"The forest industry, for example, is a major concern for the workers in the Laurentide-Labelle riding. However, despite the crisis that has dragged on for more than five years, no serious discussion has been held on this question during the electoral campaign, let alone any talk about solutions. The parties of the rich are busy wallowing in the political and constitutional crisis that predominates the Canadian institutions. We have to remember that, since the beginning of the crisis in the forest industry, the Harper government of Canada and the Quebec Charest government have supported the forest monopolies in their destruction and plunder that has deprived tens of thousands of workers and their communities of their means of subsistence. No political party offers any solution other than financing the forest monopolies, the very ones responsible for the crisis. In other words 'everything for the forest monopolies, nothing for the workers and their communities'!

"The parties of the rich and their economists talk about the forest industry as something belonging to the past and with no future. That is how the representatives of the monopolies speak after having wreaked havoc on the economy. However, the forest industry is a key sector of the economy, particularly in relation to housing construction and furniture manufacture. How can we explain the logic whereby people across the country are demanding housing while the economists and the monopolies claim that a lack of demand for wood is forcing the closure of factories and sawmills? If taken away from the monopolies in the service of the American empire, the forest industry could meet the needs of the working class and people for housing and furniture, as well as the demand for a guaranteed means of subsistence for the forestry workers and their communities.

"While the monopolies are bogged down in their crises, the Harper government does nothing but launch programs to support these monopolies. For the workers, this amounts to paying their own executioner. In other words, everything is done to hide the fact that the forest monopolies like AbitibiBowater are a solution from the past for the current problems in the industry and throughout the economy. Perpetuating the regime of the monopolies equals perpetuating the ongoing crisis and maintaining the sword of Damocles hanging permanently over the working class and people. The solutions of the monopolies and their parties have had their day! Discussion must begin everywhere during these elections on building the Workers' Opposition in order to advance the workers' solutions to all the problems that society is facing."

Return to top


Website:  www.cpcml.ca   Email:  editor@cpcml.ca