In sum, the anachronistic CCAA state institution does not upset the justice because he is sworn to impose a law that exists to generate maximum profits for the wealthy owners of capital, regardless of the misery it causes for the workers, their families and communities.

Justice Newbould's attacks are directed against the rights of steelworkers, who quite justly are determined to defend their jobs, wages, benefits and pensions as well as the steel economy that is so important to their northern community. In his actions, he exhibits contempt for the well-being of working people and shows no concern for the health of the steel economy and the communities of the North. His concern is only for the rights and well-being of the financial oligarchs and the power of their state institutions to deprive working people of their rights.

STO Worker: There are a number of things, such as work schedules, breaks between trips, requirements for doctor's notes in case of illness, drivers' shifts and the employer's contribution to our insurance and to the pension plan. The STO seeks to impose setbacks by taking away from us the gains we made in the past.

In September 2016, we received the second employer global offer, which was worse than the first offer presented a year ago. The STO wants a rollback, for example, on the issue of work schedules, which are very important to us because they are directly linked to our quality of life. One of our demands is that more of our schedules be continuous schedules, i.e. more shifts of eight hours continuous rather than split shifts. A split shift is, for example, where the driver works from 5:30 to 9:30 am and then returns to work from 3:00 to 6:00 pm and is free between the two periods. We already have a percentage of continuous shifts, about 28 per cent, and the STO wants to reduce this percentage. For the employer, more broken shifts means that they need to hire fewer drivers. For us, this means a decrease in the quality of life, especially as with the accumulated seniority older drivers can choose work schedules that are most suitable for them, such as those with weekend days off. By changing the parameters, the value of seniority is weakened.

Another rollback is the return to what was called the "taxi," the drivers' shifts on the road. This year the STO opened a second transport centre, a second garage, as we call it. With this, they want drivers to finish the first part of a trip anywhere or at a terminal, and leave it up to the driver to get back to the garage outside their schedule. Right now, all our schedules are garage to garage and we want to maintain this situation.

On the question of sick leave, the collective agreement eliminated the obligation to present a doctor's note when one was absent due to illness. They want to bring back the doctor's note and without it drivers will not get paid.

Right now, too, we have no guaranteed break in any schedule, or a minimum of guaranteed breaks. If you are caught in traffic, you lose your break. We want to change that. We also ask that the STO increase its contribution to our insurance plan and pension plan. In the employers' global offer of September 2016, they demanded that their contribution to our insurance premiums be reduced from 92 per cent to 80 per cent.

We cannot accept these demands.

WF: Since the beginning of the work-to-rule campaign, the STO has undertaken to unilaterally modify your working conditions so as to impose rollbacks.

STO Worker: Yes. Since we began our work-to-rule job action following our legal strike notice, by refusing to do overtime for example, the STO undertook to change our working conditions unilaterally. They use the pretext of a lack of buses to send the drivers back home without paying them for their working day of 8 hours. If the drivers work two hours in a day they are paid for two hours, whereas in the collective agreement we have an eight-hour guaranteed work day. The drivers are now beginning to find out in advance that they will be sent back home because they see on the STO website the day before that trips are being cancelled. This is not a lack of buses. Trips are cancelled in advance. Drivers come to work, then they are sent home. So for some drivers the eight-hour workday guarantee no longer applies. It is a countermeasure of the employer to our legal slowdown. They are the ones who decide who works and who does not work. We are going back 100 years to when you went to work and employers gave shifts to their friends while sending the others home.

In addition to cutting hours and sending workers home, the STO refuses all requests for flexible leave days, unpaid leave, workers exchanging their shifts, etc. They are demanding a doctor's note in case of illness otherwise the worker is not getting paid.

The workers have had enough. Our strike mandate -- I have never seen that in all my years at the STO -- was 98.3 per cent, with a participation rate of 75 per cent of the members.

We are very united and the employer is trying to create divisions. They are blaming the union for the fact that negotiations are not getting anywhere. The STO recently, several times, suspended the union president and members of the executive for performing their duty of representing the members, saying that this had nothing to do with the negotiations. When the union withdrew from the bargaining table, the employer blamed the union for taking things personally and blocking the negotiations.

Public support is good. People come to us and tell us to continue. We feel supported by the general public.

Convoy of trucks arrive in Quebec City for demonstration at National Assembly to affirm
their dignity and rights, November 19, 2016.

The trucking industry, involving hundreds of thousands of workers in Canada, is regularly in the headlines with reports of serious accidents, including deaths. This has been particularly true in the first month of 2017, when three truckers died in accidents on the job in Quebec in just one week. The accidents involved dump trucks and trucks of container type or container semi-trailer. This type of equipment is used in the construction industry, the agricultural sector, waste collection, material recycling, snow collection, etc. Dump trucks are machine tools that require a high level of training and competence, including highly skilled health and safety training. However, the training of workers in this area is totally inadequate, truckers report. Continuous training for truckers to be able to perform their job safely is one of the most pressing demands in this sector, given the dangerous nature of their work.

Provincial and federal occupational health and safety laws make companies responsible for ensuring a safe workplace for their employees. But the reality is quite different. The massive privatizations in recent years, the ever-increasing pace of work, the unbridled competition between the transport companies and the budgetary pressure exerted on the industries and especially the independent drivers, have overwhelmed the working conditions on the ground. When an incident or serious accidents take place, the blame is routinely pinned on the truckers themselves. The lack of accountability of manufacturing and transport companies, which constantly point the finger at truckers for accidents, leads to tragedies. This is the case in all sectors of the transportation industry.

Truckers are keenly aware that the situation continues to deteriorate. While Labour Standards, pay equity and workplace health and safety board (CNESST in Quebec) may conduct investigations in the event of an incident, make such investigations public and refer them to the Ministry of Transportation or the trucking association which oversees large transportation companies, there is no change in health and safety for truckers. According to the Robert Sauvé Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (IRSST), "fatalities related to a road accident account for between 25 per cent and 30 per cent of all accidental deaths in the workplace." Within this, 83 per cent of the victims are drivers.

What do truckers need to do to ensure their safety when all institutions, laws, standards and obligations fail to do so? What authority should they rely on to protect their health and safety at work?

More and more truckers have come to the conclusion that they can count only on themselves. They realize that while laws, regulations, and obligations governing workplace health and safety exist, nothing will change if truckers do not organize themselves to enforce and develop them. Various collectives of truckers have joined an affiliated union and created joint health and safety committees in their companies. The idea of forming a national truckers' association is also spreading throughout Quebec and Canada. But what is most important is the determination of more and more truckers to themselves decide on the issues that affect them, their jobs and their lives. By taking a firm stand to put an end to the tragedies that regularly hit the transportation industry, truckers contribute to a new direction for their industry.

New York City construction workers are raising the alarm over deaths of workers in their industry. Workers organized in the Greater New York Labor-Employers Cooperation & Education Trust have begun a "How Many More Must Die" campaign to denounce the failure of authorities to take responsibility for the safety of construction workers. The workers are informing the public that more than 30 construction workers have died on the job in the past two years. The workers are calling on the city government to adopt laws that guarantee their health and safety and prevent companies from subcontracting work to companies whose workers are improperly trained and without union membership.

On January 18 at a street march in New York City, construction workers held an action in which they dressed in black and each wore a number to represent the workers killed on the job, and held mock tombstones bearing the names of the workers. Inscribed on the tombstones was, "Cause of Death: Greed, Exploitation." Other slogans included, "Safety Before Profits," "Need Over Greed, Safety First." Media reported that at least 31 workers were arrested during the action.

A rally on January 13, in front of the Gilbane Building Company offices in the heart of Manhattan denounced the use of untrained, non-union subcontractors on construction sites. A vigil was also held at City Hall to demand that elected officials render account and strengthen measures to protect construction workers. Many other actions are planned in this life and death matter for construction workers.

Workers' Forum sends its support to New York City construction workers in their courageous battle for their rights and to defend their lives. Canadian and Quebec workers stand alongside U.S. workers in the fight against retrogression and to uphold the dignity of labour.