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Partial Reopening of Residential Construction Sites in Quebec Workers Step Up the Fight for Proper Working ConditionsOn April 13, the Quebec government announced that it is reopening some residential construction sites starting April 20. These are sites for residential units that are scheduled to be delivered by July 31. Construction sites in Quebec have been closed since March 24. According to Quebec's Labour Minister, the work that was done during the shutdown by the COVID-19 Committee set up by the Labour Standards, Pay Equity and Workplace Health and Safety Board (CNESST) has created confidence that the reopening of residential construction, and eventually of all construction sites, is going to be done safely for construction workers.
For decades, construction workers have been waging a bitter fight for such basics as adequate sanitary installations on all sites. The government has deliberately chosen to impose the status quo on construction workers in the midst of a crisis, and cover it up with nice-sounding language, rather than finally meeting the legitimate demands of construction workers by solving this long-standing problem. Nor was a second of consideration given to the opportunity to satisfy the long-standing demand of construction workers for full-time prevention representatives on construction sites. The only role of the prevention representatives would be to make sure that adequate prevention is done on the construction sites, report on violations of health and safety standards, and make proposals to correct unsafe conditions. They would be of immense value during the pandemic in which safety hazards are significantly increased. The government still considers that construction workers have no rights and are basically troublemakers interfering with the fulfillment of narrow private interests. Construction workers create immense value for society and their claims and rights must be upheld, including the right to have a decisive say in the determination of their working conditions. The COVID-19 crisis has not changed the basic anti-social stand of the state and of the ruling elite towards construction workers, which has led, among other things, to the construction sector being the most deadly sector of Quebec economy year after year. The state-organized violation of the rights of the construction workers has to stop and it has to stop now. This leaves construction workers no choice but to step up their fight in defence of their health and safety which also defends the health and safety of everyone. They will do their utmost to defend and protect themselves and demand that the authorities take up their responsibility to provide those rights with a guarantee. They are doing so in difficult conditions and need the full support of all workers and the building of public opinion which supports their demands that they be provided with everything they need so that construction work can continue during the pandemic. Let us make sure that we support and popularize their demands in the court of public opinion so that it is impossible for the state and construction companies to isolate them.
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
Even
a cursory look at the guide produced by the committee reveals that the
Labour Minister's claims are false. It is shocking that on the issue of
sanitary installations, the guide states that "for construction sites
with less than 25 workers, a chemical toilet can be used." Besides
anything else, a chemical toilet does not have running water and
soap for the workers to wash their hands. Most residential construction
sites in Quebec have fewer than 25 workers. This is being imposed on
construction workers at a time the World Health Organization has
stressed that frequent and thorough washing of hands with soap and
water is a primary measure to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the
Quebec
government has declared a public health emergency. Still, this is not
enough to convince the Quebec government to provide construction
workers with basic sanitary measures as a sine qua non condition for the reopening of construction sites.