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Workers' Fight to Hold Quebec
Government to Account Government's Unacceptable Position on Training Standards for Crane OperatorsIn a recent meeting with the leadership of the Union of Crane Operators, Jean Boulet, Labour Minister in the Legault government, said he is "comfortable" with the recommendations of the Committee of Experts set up by his government which endorses the decision of the government and the Quebec Construction Commission (CCQ) to reduce the training that is required to become a crane operator.[1]
Crane operators report that last September alone there were three accidents in Quebec involving the toppling of cranes, one of which could have caused fatalities. In this last accident, four workers had to go to the hospital for nervous shock. In all three cases, crane operators who investigated the accidents report that the crane operator involved did not have the DEP. The position of the Minister of Labour is irrational and arrogant. It is a position of prejudice, in defence of narrow private interest, and it is also an irresponsible political stance that is a continuation of the efforts of successive governments to smash the crane operators' union and the construction unions in general. According to the government and the CCQ, the presence of a strong and combative crane operators' union is not in the interest of construction workers and the public. This is allegedly a problem, a situation of "control" by a particular group that prevents workers' access to the construction trades through opposition to deregulation of the sector. The Charbonneau Commission was very clear on this point when it equated the collective organized struggle of construction workers with mafia-like activities because they undermine free competition between workers on building sites and the realization of private profit by the employers.
Workers' Forum recently spoke with the director of the Union of Crane Operators, Evans Dupuis, who spoke eloquently about the role of the crane operator in the construction sector. He said, among other things: "The crane operator's job is vital to the safety of other construction workers. All crane operators work with other workers. There is always someone ahead of the crane and other workers in the area. The slightest bad movement, a sudden movement, can endanger the workers and the public. It's a job of precision, it's a job of stress. The crane operator must live with this. He must be competent and well trained. The other worker must have confidence in the crane operator. If he asks the crane operator to bring a load an inch from him and the operation is not done carefully and safely, the worker will no longer want to work with the crane operator because it is too dangerous for his security. The bond of trust will be broken and the bond of trust is vital for the safety of all. Lowering security standards is absolutely contraindicated. " The Minister of Labour and the Quebec government must withdraw the new regulations that lower training and safety standards on construction sites. Note1. In April of 2018 the former Quebec Liberal government unilaterally imposed new regulations governing the training of crane operators in Quebec. That decision overturned existing standards and the training requirements for new crane operators necessary to ensure not only their safety but also the safety of other construction workers and the public at large. The new regulations abolished the mandatory requirement that a crane operator have completed the 870-hour Diploma of Vocational Studies (DEP) training in a professional institution before being able to work as an operator. The DEP is now optional. The new required training is just a 150-hour training provided directly on the worksite by the employer. The regulations now only require a mere 80-hour course for boom trucks with a maximum capacity of 30 tonnes, after which a worker becomes a qualified driver. It is precisely this type of crane that tips over the most and causes the most damage. The crane operators and their union have resolutely fought, and are still waging a fierce battle against this attack on the safety of construction workers and the public. It's within this context that the government established the Committee of Independent Experts in September of 2018, with a mandate to assess the security aspect of the new regulations. In its report issued in March of 2019, the committee said that the DEP remains the reference standard for the training of crane operators, however it has accepted that it become optional. As an alternative, it proposed a three-week initial training period and that on-site training be maintained.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
The
Minister is comfortable, but the crane operators
and construction
workers who work in dangerous and difficult
conditions are, to say the
least, not comfortable with the government's
stand. They have been
fighting for almost a year now against this
lowering of training
standards. The facts are not consistent with the
minister's position
either. The Diploma of Vocational Studies (DEP)
was introduced in 1997
because of the large number of accidents,
including several fatalities,
which were related to crane operation.
Statistics show that since the
introduction of the compulsory DEP training for
crane operators, fatal
accidents involving crane operation have dropped
by 66 per
cent.
What
must prevail? The health and safety of
construction workers and the
public, or the shenanigans of cartel political
parties and state
agencies like the CCQ who are serving narrow
private interest and
anti-worker fanaticism? Having crane operators
who are appropriately
trained and whose organizations defend the
interests and rights of both
the workers and the public and can
authoritatively say 