By Lee Gilchrist On Monday June 6, 51-year-old welder Quoc Le was crushed under a 2,000 pound bulkhead while working on a rail car. Le was pronounced dead after paramedics rushed him to hospital. Le’s workplace death is the third at National Steel Car in 21 months. Labour responded immediately by calling a protest at Continue readingHamilton unions attack National Steel Car’s bloody record
health and safety
Editor’s note: The author has been kept anonymous for privacy reasons and to prevent identification by the employer Most people I know would pinpoint mid-March 2020 when COVID-19 changed life as we know it. For myself, as a part-time worker at Shoppers Drug Mart, there were signs of what was to come over a month Continue readingPandemic Diary of a Shoppers Drug Mart worker
by Jon Milton Denyse Joseph is helping to manage a crisis team for her union. “We’re looking at everything that comes out each day, each hour, regarding this pandemic crisis,” she tells RankandFile.ca. “What are the measures the government is putting in place? Is it respecting the safety and security of our members?” Joseph is Continue readingCOVID-19: We Should Have Been Listening to Healthcare Workers
By Doug Nesbitt On Monday March 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered press conferences on the crisis only to confirm that it’s business as usual for these silver-spooned sons of comfort. Hopes for emergency safety net measures were dashed, along with the prospect of such measures counter-acting the spread of Continue readingFlatten the curve, flatten the boss
Carolina Jimenez from the Decent Work & Health Network discusses the fight for paid sick days, while Marika Prokosh talks fighting Winnipeg’s austerity budget during a pandemic. We also look at attacks on public health sector across the prairies that has left our public health care providers under staffed and under resourced.Can we wrestle wins Continue readingHow do we organize during a pandemic?
by Emily Leedham As the Co-op Refinery’s unionized workforce enters their third month of a lockout, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. (FCL) is expanding on-site camps for replacement workers. Unifor 594 refinery workers have been fighting rollbacks to their pensions and savings plans. “If they’re bringing in extra camps to house these workers, it’s for one reason, Continue readingCo-op’s weak OH&S fines highlight labour laws stacked against Unifor 594
Today, Oct. 17, at 14:45, a group of 40 activists gathered in front of Ontario Premier Ford’s office in Etobicoke. By the time they had arrived, ten people had already entered Ford’s office to occupy it. They were there to demand that the government take responsibility for the five deaths at Fiera Foods, one of Continue readingOccupy Ford: No more workplace deaths
On Wednesday afternoon, 125 labour and community activists assembled outside of Fiera Foods for a solidarity rally organized by Fight for $15 & Fairness and Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP). Last week, Enrico Miranda, a 57 year old father of two, was killed at work. As Toronto Star journalist Sara Mojtehedzadeh reported: “He Continue readingNo More Deaths: Rally at Fiera Foods
On Monday, September 9, Winnipeg took a big step towards ending the airport-like security screening at the downtown Millennium library. The metal detector and bag check screenings were introduced by library management in February, responding to staff safety concerns. CUPE 500 President Gord Delbridge, representing Millennium Library workers, also supported the screenings. This was the Continue readingA Step Towards Removing Winnipeg’s Invasive Library Security
It has taken years of persistence and an army of warriors but it is finally happening – the conspiracy of silence around the hazardous work environment at the Peterborough General Electric plant is unravelling. The documentary Town of Widows aired on CBC on Thursday August 8, 2019, providing national exposure to finally put an end to Continue readingTown of Widows
On February 25, 2019, Millennium Library in downtown Winnipeg implemented new security measures – a bag check and metal detector at the front entrance. Library workers and management have cited safety concerns regarding weapons, substance use and “inappropriate behaviour.” To the general public, the security screening came as a surprise. Many library users were upset Continue readingLibrary Security & Harm Reduction in the Workplace
By Bob Barnetson There was an interesting post the other day about how workers in a US restaurant took direct and collective action to protect their health and safety when confronted with (1) unsafe temperatures and (2) a potentially lethal carbon mono-oxide leak. In both cases, the workers walked off the job until the employer Continue readingOn the absence of concerted-activity protections in Alberta