Two years of workplace health and safety demolition

Despite the interim regime that has been in force for 18 months, what we are seeing on the ground in workplaces is that the implementation of this reform is tedious ultimately allowing for the enforcement of the minimal obligations stipulalted for by the law – David Bergeron-Cyr

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the implementation of the Loi modernisant le régime de santé et de sécurité du travail (Law modernizing the occupational health and safety regime), workers gathered in front of the offices of the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST) in Montreal. Even today, the effects of a reform that the labor and popular movements unanimously rejected in 2021 continue to be denounced.

“Two years after the reform came into force, we are still waiting for the promised improvements in prevention. Despite the interim regime that has been in force for 18 months, what we are seeing on the ground in workplaces is that the implementation of this regime is tedious, ultimately allowing for the enforcement of the minimal obligations stipulated by the law. At a minimum, the principle of the future regulation on participation and prevention mechanisms has just been adopted by the CNESST Board of Directors. All these delays clearly show us that we must remain mobilized in order to maintain pressure on employers, the CNESST and the Council of Ministers, so that our workplaces have mechanisms to truly protect everyone,” points out David Bergeron-Cyr, Vice-President and head of occupational health and safety for the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).

“Quebec workers have always had to fight to gain access to prevention mechanisms in their workplaces, with little support from the CNESST to enforce the law, and the reform has improved nothing. Even in highly unionized workplaces, prevention is difficult to achieve. Imagine when it comes to non-unionized workplaces or temporary foreign workers! It’s almost impossible to be proactive in health and safety and put pressure on employers to demand change. It’s high time the government and the CNESST showed the necessary will to protect all Quebec workers. More than ever, we need to mobilize in a context where the number of occupational injuries is only increasing, and where the reform opens the door to setbacks in terms of the rehabilitation of those affected,” adds Denis Bolduc, General Secretary of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ).

“It’s a sad anniversary that we are marking, the day on which a reform came into force on which we had such high hopes for, and which, in the end, rolled back the rights of a large number of workers, in addition to threatening gains, both in terms of prevention and compensation for occupational injuries. But we remain mobilized to defend these rights. Now that all workplaces have health and safety obligations, we invite all workers to put energy in them and demand their rights.The best prevention depends on the real participation of employees in their workplaces. Nearly 160,000 work-related injuries and over 200 deaths every year, year after year, is enough! It is also essential that the CNESST and the government substantially improve support for non-unionized workplaces, so that these workers can exercise their rights,” adds Luc Vachon, President of the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD).

“In non-unionized workplaces, employers systematically ignore the law and workers’ right to elect their representatives. In Amazon’s warehouses, for example, the employer decides who sits on the workers’ committees and organizes bogus elections for the position of health and safety representative, among the candidates he selects. Nothing changes in the organization of work, and workplace accidents multiply. When workers demand their rights and denounce these manoeuvres, they are met with sanctions and dismissals. We demand that the CNESST and the Minister of Labour truly enforce the law, impose sanctions on employers who don’t respect it, and protect workers from bosses who ignore Quebec laws,” adds David Mandel of the Immigrant Workers Center (IWC).

“For victims of work-related accidents and illnesses, the introduction of the reform has been a disaster. As these provisions come into force, victims of workplace injuries are seeing their rights rolled back. Injured and sick workers are facing threats and cuts to their benefits, or forced returns to work, as a result of the reform. Victims on temporary assignment receive only a fraction of their wages. But the worst is yet to come, as upcoming draft regulations seriously threaten our rights to treatment and rehabilitation. We will continue to mobilize for the rights of workplace victims. We will not accept any setbacks, and we will continue the fight for full compensation for work-related injuries and all their consequences,” concludes Félix Lapan of the Union des travailleuses et travailleurs accidentés ou malades (UTTAM).

Source: https://www.csn.qc.ca/actualites/deux-ans-de-demolition-en-sante-et-securite-du-travail/