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Quebec Construction Workers Achieve Initial Successes Stepping Up the Fight for Safe and Healthy Working Conditions Construction workers report that they have made some headway through their direct intervention on construction sites in recent weeks in getting adequate washrooms installed and getting larger construction trailers set on a number of sites. They have exercised their right to refuse dangerous work to get changes that improve sanitary conditions on construction sites. Since the middle of March, construction workers report that hundreds of them have exercised their right to refuse dangerous work because basic sanitary measures and social distancing are not being upheld. Besides the problem of sanitary facilities being non-existent and hand washing impossible on many construction sites, the issue of the organization of their work is foremost in the minds of the workers and must be dealt with urgently. Construction workers work in confined and restricted space which requires the presence of several workers and where even a distance of one metre between workers is hard to achieve. This requires full mobilization of the construction workers and their organizations so that alternatives can be worked out. This is why on March 18, the two biggest unions of construction workers, the FTQ-Construction and the Quebec Provincial Building Trades Council, demanded that work on construction sites be temporarily suspended so that this work can be done. They are demanding that it be done with the participation of health authorities, the committee that was created by the Labour standards, Pay Equity and Workplace Health and Safety Board (CNESST) to deal with the issue of health and safety on the sites, and with all the stakeholders of the construction industry. On March 23, the Quebec government announced that it is minimizing all non-priority businesses and services until April 13, including construction sites. Construction firms can only carry out emergency repairs or work needed to ensure safety. Electricians, plumbers and other trades will perform emergency services only, with equipment rental firms maintaining their activities as needed for support. This measure has been presented by the Quebec government as a "pause" but this is not the way construction workers and their unions see what this period should be. They are demanding that this period be one of intensive work so that, when construction sites reopen, measures have been put in place to drastically improve sanitary conditions and deal with the organization of the work so that workers' health and safety is protected. This is how the General Director of FTQ-Construction Éric Boisjoly described the aim the union had in demanding that activities be temporarily suspended on the construction sites: "It is currently impossible to meet basic
health standards on the vast majority of
construction sites in Quebec. In this context,
it is irresponsible to continue the work. Our
workers are not guinea pigs and cannot continue
to work without any protection. You can't
improvise with health and safety, you have to
have clear measures and make sure they are in
place. We must act immediately."
This article was published in Article Link:   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
In the face of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Quebec construction workers
are stepping up the fight to protect their
health and safety which are seriously put at
risk by the lack of basic sanitary conditions on
construction sites. Two of their main demands
concern the installation of adequate washrooms
on all construction sites, with heating,
ventilation, a flush toilet, warm water, soap,
toilet paper, and the setting of construction
trailers so that workers do not eat side by side
but can maintain a distance of one to two metres
between them. They have actually been fighting
for such a basic demand as adequate washrooms
for decades and the life threatening danger they
are now facing exposes the blatant indifference
and neglect displayed by successive Quebec
governments, the Quebec Construction Commission
and many construction companies.