Presented by Ken Georgetti on Monday, 28 April 2008

Good morning, Sisters and Brothers.

On behalf of my fellow Officers and the more than 3.2 million Canadian workers whose unions come together through the Canadian Labour Congress, I bring you greetings on this very special occasion. And I want to say to you all – thank you for taking the time to come here today. Thank you for taking the time to remember the friends and the colleagues whose lives were forever changed or whose lives came to an end on... that day they went to work.

Thank you for coming here to show your support and your solidarity with those who have lost friends and family.

Canada, believe it or not, is one of the most dangerous places in the world to work. Since the start of this century, more than 7,500 men and women were killed because they went to work and never came home again. That’s nearly 1,000 people every year. With a five-day workweek, that three, sometimes four people die every day because of something that happened at work. Whether that something was an injury, an attack, a poisoning or a disease caused by a lack of protection from workplace pollutants – the result is the same.

I say that Canada is one of the most dangerous places in the world to work because Canada is one of the few countries where the number of workplace deaths has been allowed to grow.

Nearly a quarter of a century ago, when we marked the very first Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job, we mourned fewer workers than we do today.

Ten years ago, we mourned the loss of just over 800 workers.

Five years ago, we mourned for 928. In 2006, we lost 976 Sisters and Brothers to workplace tragedy. Already we are hearing reports that the numbers grew even higher last year with Alberta – the country’s job engine – reporting a 24% jump in workplace deaths over a single year. And what was the reaction from the Alberta government? Not a hint of shock. No resolve to prevent more deaths from happening this year. Just some cold-blooded spin doctoring about how these statistics were consistent with those from previous years.

Can you believe it! Why is Canada a country where it is acceptable for more workers to die on the job or because of their work every year?

Canada – the country that in 1984 marked the first Day of Mourning, which is now observed around the world. Ceremonies like the one we are at today are taking place on every continent and in dozens of countries where the goal is to reduce the rate of workplace death and injury.

What are we doing wrong in Canada, Brothers and Sisters? What must be done to finally point these statistics in the other direction?

Well, I have a list of things we can do right now to prevent more injuries and more deaths from happening this year. It’s a very short list.

Number One:

ENFORCE THE LAW!

Canada has some of the best health and safety laws in the world. We know this because it was unions who fought for those laws to get passed. The problem is, governments have cut back on the resources we need to ensure our workplaces are safe and to ensure our employers are not breaking the law.

Today, we spend too much time figuring out “what happened” and fixing things after it’s already too late.

Number Two:

Provide more workplace training and worker education! Both governments and employers can do so much more to ensure that the people who work for them know the safest way to their jobs and how to protect themselves from workplace hazards. Having a union with a health and safety committee makes a big difference. Having the boss and the government on your side would make an even bigger difference. When it comes to reducing the risk of injury and death by preventing the increased use of untrained and inexperienced workers, there are two more things governments can do right now.

Number Three:

Make it illegal to use replacement workers during lock-outs and strikes.

Nobody likes a scab. But the truth is that replacement workers are often plopped into workplaces and put into jobs with little or no training. Ending this abusive practice on the part of employers would prevent people from putting their health and safety at risk because they need a fast pay cheque.

Number Four:

Stop the reckless growth of foreign temporary workers as a source of cheap labour for greedy employers. Brothers and Sisters, this is a recipe for disaster. All of the ingredients are there. Thousands of new workers. Many of them desperate to come and desperate to stay. Shipped into unfamiliar workplaces. Then poorly monitored because different levels of government can’t figure out who is responsible for their health and safety. Despite the confusion. Despite the reports of abuse, and violence and exploitation, our government has chosen to accelerate this program.

Yes, these workers are getting injured. Yes, these workers are getting killed on the job. Oil patch workers have died in Alberta. Farm workers have died in British Columbia.

But these deaths don’t count among the official statistics. No, they don’t count at all, because they are not covered by provincial worker compensation laws. Nobody, it seems, is responsible for protecting these workers from harm.

Once again, as our government marches forward, Canada marches backwards.

Brothers and Sisters. We have good laws. We need them to be enforced instead of ignored. That’s the key to lowering the number of workplace deaths and injuries in Canada.

We also need governments with the will to do this. Governments formed by the people, we, the working people of this country, elect. Governments held accountable by legislatures filled with people we know are truly on our side.

Thank you for coming here today. And thank you for inviting me to be a part of your Day of Mourning ceremonies this year.

I truly hope that the next time I come to remember those we’ve lost and fight for those who go back to work today and tomorrow... I truly hope to be able to say that we have fewer, not more Canadians to mourn.
Thank you.