2004 National Health and Safety Conference
“Health and Safety: Our Jobs, Our World”PHOTO GALLERY Opening Remarks
PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President (REVP) for British Columbia Patty Ducharme and REVP for Ontario Gerry Halabecki co-chaired the March 25 to 28, 2004, conference in Toronto. Panel on Globalization
Lunchtime rally in support of bargaining
Panel on Emerging Workplace Issues
PSAC National President Address
Delegates in action
Delegates debated and passed resolutions, including calls for the federal public sector to have an effective Environmental Illness policy implementation and for the establishment of an employer-provided joint occupational health and safety training fund.
The conference lobby served as a venue where delegates and guests could get more information on the PSAC and health and safety issues and activities, including a petition campaign calling on protective reassignment for pregnant and nursing workers that was launched at the conference. New PSAC members who work at BHP mining in the Norther Region were given a standing ovation by conference delegates to welcome them into the union. From left to right: BHP Employees Association (BHPEA) Executive Robert Beaulieu, REVP-North Jean-Fran ç ois Des Lauriers, PSAC Regional Organizer Don Dudar and BHPEA Executive Allan Kaltwasser. March 27, 2004 Speech By Nycole Turmel National PresidentSisters and Brothers, let me say off the top that there has never been a better time to be a health and safety activist within the PSAC. Less than a year ago, delegates to the PSAC Convention in Montreal put more money into health and safety than at any time in our history. The base budget presented by the PSAC leadership included a significant increase in PSAC Health and Safety Conference funding, a new health and safety officer staff position, and dedicated funds for regional health and safety activities. All in all it was a pretty good package. But Convention delegates went further and added 7 cents per member per month to the base budget to provide additional funding for the National Health and Safety Conference. That's one of the reasons why so many of you are In Toronto this week, and why, for the first time in PSAC Health and Safety Conference history you have been fully funded to attend. But a more important reason why you are here is because Health and Safety is an issue of increasing importance and complexity. We are in Toronto , a city that highlights the fact that Health and Safety is increasingly about what we can't see. We are in Toronto , a city that a year ago was at the centre of an international public health crisis. Beyond the personal tragedy of the SARS crisis, particularly in Toronto and Asia , SARS had devastating economic consequences for communities, and raised the bar on the importance of workplace health and safety. I know that a number of Conference participants had an opportunity to participate in a workshop dealing with infectious diseases, and that you will use the knowledge gained to better protect your brothers and sisters at workplaces from coast to coast to coast. I know, as well, that it's not just disease that is unseen, but that materials like asbestos and toxic substances can kill and maim without being seen. I know as well, that we have not witnessed the last of the infectious disease in our workplaces. By the vary nature of their jobs, some PSAC members are at greater risk than many in society. Take Avian flu, a virus that can, in relatively rare cases, spread from live poultry to people. PSAC members employed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are currently on the front line of this disease. In British Columbia , they are on site in what the government calls a “control zone”, helping to ensure that the disease does not spread. I know as well, that health and safety is not the only union issue when it comes to the impact of deadly infectious diseases in the workplace. As HIV/AIDS and SARS have demonstrated, disease has an ugly face that can breed racism and homophobia as fast as it can spread from person to person around the globe. As health and safety activists within the PSAC, we have an obligation to ensure that our workplaces are protected, both from disease and from human rights' violations that sometimes follow the disease. The PSAC is committed to connecting all parts of our Union on issues that affect our members and their workplaces. That's one of the reasons why we are asking our Health and Safety activists to play an increasing role in the duty to accommodate workers with disabilities, an issue that will be at the forefront on the PSAC Access Conference later this year, and is being discussed here as well. Connecting the dots is also why health and safety issues are increasingly finding their way to the negotiating table with our employers from coast to coast to coast. It's also why the employer's refusal to consider our health and safety demands is a solid reason for our activists who work for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Parks Canada and Treasury Board to get out, and get your Brothers and Sisters out, to vote yes at strike vote meetings that are currently underway. Sisters and Brothers, you know better than I the daily grind that is involved in getting our employers to take health and safety seriously. Getting them to go beyond the law and create a workplace culture that puts workers' health above the cost control philosophy that has permeated a great many of our workplaces over the last two decades. But I know the statistics, to the extent that the government bothers to compile them. First the good news. The statistical record is improving in Canada and around the world, primarily because workers are standing their ground, defending their rights and demanding effective legislation and the implementation of sound health and safety practices. In fact, the statistics indicate that workplace committees and health and safety activists are having a positive impact. But the statistical news aren't all good. In fact, they're down right devastating. In 2001, there were more than a thousand workplace fatalities in Canada . That averages out to three deaths a day, and that's three too many. Between 1994 and 1998, there were an average of 801,000 workplace injuries in Canada . That's more than 3,500 a day worked. In fact, Canadians are three and a half times more likely to get injured on the job than in a traffic accident, and it does not stop there. Canada consistently loses more time to workplace injuries than it does during strikes or lockouts. While the cost to the families of individuals killed on the job, and workers injured on the job, are hard to quantify, the cost to the economy is not. Our government's tolerance of poor workplace health and safety practices costs the Canadian economy more than $9.3 billion in workers' compensation payments and indirect costs alone. That's more than $175,000 per minute. I also know that Canada doesn't fare very well when its workplace death and injury rate is compared to countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We share with Italy the distinction of having the worst record when it comes to workplace deaths. In fact, Canada 's death on the job rate is more than seven times higher than in the United Kingdom , and 1.75 times higher than in the United States . Worse still, while death and injury rates are falling in OECD countries, they are falling far less in Canada than in other countries. In other words, as a country, we have to do more to stop the carnage that is occurring at workplaces across the country at an alarming and unacceptable rate. That's one of the reasons why the PSAC supported Bill C-45, the legislation adopted late last year which amended the Criminal Code to hold corporations, their directors and executives accountable for criminally negligent acts in the workplace. I am going to say a few words about this Bill because it clearly indicates how hard it is for Unions to get things done, and why it's so important to continue the struggle in the face of the opposition that we face from governments. In a battle that was reminiscent of the PSAC's Pay Equity fight, the Steelworkers Union took on the struggle to hold corporations to account for criminally negligent acts in the workplace under the Criminal Code. They started the campaign the morning after a 1992 explosion ripped through the Westray Coal mine in Stellarton Nova Scotia killing 26 miners and devastating the community. It took a half a decade of pressure from the Steelworkers before the government agreed to hold Public Inquiry into the tragedy, and even then, the legislation was introduced by Alexa McDonough, then the leader of the New Democratic Party, as a Private Member's Bill. In total, it took more than 11 years of petitions, lobbying and mobilization before the government finally acted. I make this point for two reasons. First, the Steelworkers, the NDP and many others, including the delegates, observers and guests at the 2003 PSAC Convention should be thanked for staying the course, for forcing the government to act, and for ultimately making employers think twice about the dangers that they are exposing their workers to. And second, because today, as we embark on our postcard and petition campaign to advance reassignment for pregnant and nursing workers, we need to remember that change doesn't just happen. It comes about through struggle, commitment and dedication. It comes through political action. And while it can take a lot of time, it' essential that we never give up. So, sign the postcard, take the petition back to your workplace, and gather support for a change, which like the Westray Bill is long overdue. But we can't just stop with postcards and petitions, and we won't. Reassignment of pregnant and nursing workers is at the bargaining table for a number of PSAC bargaining groups. It's a health and safety issue, and it's going nowhere fast in the face of employer resistance. So I am going to ask you to do this. If you are part of the PSAC Treasury Board, Parks or CFIA bargaining groups, get out to the strike vote meetings that are currently underway and build support for the issue by speaking out, and by voting yes for strike action if necessary. And those of you who are members of other bargaining groups, you need to make sure that the issue is addressed at the bargaining table, and that our negotiating team members understand the issue, and why it is so very important to women workers from coast to coast to coast. Sisters and Brothers, we are working during a time when the economy is undergoing rapid change. Trade deals are undermining labour and environmental standards and rights. Corporations and governments are cutting expenditures, work rules are being relaxed, hours are being extended, and there is no end to the consequences. Let me give you just one example. I met with the Deputy Minister of a large federal department a few weeks ago, and he told me that he is looking to transform critical parts of the organization into a 24/7 operation. He is moving in that direction because he believes that it will enhance service. But he's given absolutely no thought to the impact on the workers involved. No thought about the health and safety consequences. No thought about the disruption of peoples lives. No thought whatsoever. But in a technologically-driven, globalized economy, we are going to face more challenges like this, and we need to be proactive at the workplace, in bargaining, in the political arena and in the community at large. That's one of the reasons that the NBoD took a Globalization Action Plan to the last PSAC Convention, and why we continue to connect the dots between globalization and bargaining, between globalization and health and safety, between globalization and women's health, between globalization and human rights, and between globalization and social justice. Before closing, I want to do four things. First, I want to very briefly say that this is a watershed year in Canadian politics. While health and safety is not likely to be a wedge issue during the federal election, you should get active and involved in the upcoming election campaign because governments, and particularly majority governments, that are beholden to corporations, and who advocate Free Trade are trying to reshape the economy and drive labour rights and standards, including health and safety, to the lowest common denominator. Second, getting the government to take health and safety seriously is a huge struggle in federal public sector workplaces as well as the economy as a whole. We did a great job at the National Joint Council level, and finally got the employer to agree to draft terms of reference for a Joint Health and Safety Policy Committee. This is important because a lot of potential hazards, such as contaminated federal sites, transcend individual workplaces, and need a focus and resources at the national level. Third, the March 23 rd federal budget has a direct impact on health and safety, and the program review update released the following day may well have an indirect impact. The good news is that the government has earmarked a substantial sum of money for the cleanup of contaminated federal worksites, in large part because of pressure from the PSAC and our assertion that it was not doing enough and not getting the clean-up done quickly enough. The bad news is that the government is going to reallocate more money from existing programs and services to new initiatives, and every program, including health and safety initiatives, are going to be competing for available resources. So those of you who work for the federal government and the many agencies subject to program review are going to have to be diligent and tenacious in order to protect health and safety programs and initiatives. The final point that I want to make is a commitment that the PSAC will continue to provide the tools that you need to get the job done. And in this regard, I am happy to announce that a PSAC Health and Safety Tool Kit is being officially launched at this Conference. It's a comprehensive kit, and it is going to be updated on a regular basis. It will also be expanded to cover provincial and territorial jurisdictions. We also have other tools in the works, including an updated health and safety training program. I also want to thank each and every one of you for attending the Conference, and for your daily commitment to making our members' workplaces safer and healthier. It's important work, and the PSAC can be proud of the fact that we have so many committed activists who participate on workplace health and safety committees and on Component, Local and Regional Executives. As health and safety leaders within our Union , every one of you in this room has a role to play. So you have a job to do when you leave this Conference. You must take back the information, analysis and tools from the Conference to the members of your Locals and Branches and your Health and Safety Committees. You must make the link between your role as health and safety representatives and your role within the Local with grassroots members. So please continue to play an active role with others in your region to ensure that health and safety is successfully implemented. I encourage all of you here today, to work within your regions in making all of our Regional Health and Safety Conferences and regional health and safety activities as successful as I understand this Conference has been. Thank you. The objectives of the 2004 PSAC National Health and Safety ConferenceThe objectives of the 2004 PSAC National Health and Safety Conference are to elevate the militancy of the Union by:
As you may know, resolutions adopted by this upcoming National Health and Safety Conference will be sent to the next PSAC Triennial National Convention.
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About
200 PSAC members and supporters, most of whom were delegates to
the conference, rallied on Saturday, March 27, calling for Treasury
Board, CFIA, CRA and Parks Canada Agency to settle a fair contract
with the more than 100,000 PSAC members.
Katherine Lippel, Legal Studies Professor at Universit é
du Québec à Montréal. 
Charley Richardson, Director of the Labour Extension Program, University
of Massachusetts. Coming soon: a video clip of his speech
at the conference. 
Hassan
Yussuff, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress and
National Officer responsible for Health and Safety. Click
here to read his speaking notes.
