Women of Inspiration Hold 15th Annual Vigil

The Women of Inspiration vigil, held yearly at Queen's Park on the eve of Injured Workers' Day, also moved online. This year marked the 15th anniversary of the event and it was opened by one of the vigil's founders, Maryam Nazemi, who honoured all those, including the many frontline workers, who have lost their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has exposed many social problems that activists have spoken out about for decades, she said. Our message to government, she stated, is that a strong economy can only be built by making the health and safety of everyone the priority. This means No! to privatization and the cuts to the safeguards to the health and safety of workers -- essential workers must not be forced to work in unsafe and undignified conditions.

The program included a spirited song by Heather Cherron Von-Atzigen calling on injured workers to speak out because their voices matter and poems and interventions by injured workers and their allies. Among these, Sharnette, from Injured Workers Action for Justice, spoke to the increased hardships faced by injured workers during the pandemic. No additional assistance has been provided by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) for injured workers to cover extra financial burdens they are facing to stay safe during this pandemic such as transportation to medical appointments and the cost of grocery delivery. Sharon, also an injured worker spoke on the need to end the practice of cutting injured workers' benefits based on deeming them to be working at jobs they do not have.

Leila Paugh a paramedic and a health and safety representative for the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 911, spoke to the challenges they faced on the ground as frontline workers to protect the safety of their members and the public during the pandemic. What came out in her presentation was that it is the workers, organized in their collective, that lead in ensuring both their own health and safety and that of everyone.

Sultana Jahangir, from the South Asian Women's Rights Organization, spoke to the effects of the pandemic in their Scarborough community. Many have lost their jobs, some 70 per cent of women, and many of those who were employed as temporary and on-call workers do not qualify for government relief programs. Many who are working do so in unsafe workplaces which did not comply with health and safety standards before the pandemic let alone now. They work as frontline workers in retail, food processing, factory and warehouse jobs and bring COVID-19 infections into the community from the workplaces. The safety of the community depends on ensuring workplace safety, she pointed out.

Cynthia Ireland from CUPE Local 1750, representing WSIB employees, spoke about the Cover Me campaign to expand workers' compensation to cover all workers and workplaces. Presently in Ontario only 76 per cent of workers are covered, the lowest of all the provinces. The campaign's petition is available here. 

This article was published in

Number 39 - June 9, 2020

Article Link:
Women of Inspiration Hold 15th Annual Vigil

    

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