Workers killed or injured on the job were remembered April 28 in front of the United Steelworkers Local 6166 Steel Centre as the national Day of Mourning was observed.
“I've always had a personal interest in safety because of tragedy in our own family,” said USW Local 6166 president Les Ellsworth. “I know the pain and suffering a family goes through when they lose a loved one. I believe no worker should go to work and become injured or become sick from the workplace. Chances are if an accident or a close call has not happened to you directly then you know someone for whom it has.”
Ellsworth also said that many workplace accidents are avoidable and a result of ignorance.
“It is obvious to me and others who live in Thompson there are a lot of workplaces that have little or no understanding of the employer’s role and responsibility under legislation,” he said. “I do not believe that any employer in Thompson would purposely ignore the law. Consequently they are putting themselves at risk. We need to do more as government, union and employers. Our goal is zero harm.”
Kirk Regular, manager of human resources and safety, health and environment with Vale’s Manitoba Operations, said employers and workers need to work as a team to achieve safety goals.
“At the Manitoba Operations we've been fortunate to work closely with our union colleagues in developing and sustaining our Safe Production program,” he noted. “The road is seldom straight and the way is not always easy but we've always been able to pull together and stand on the same platform regarding the need for people to go home to their families, safe and healthy, at the end of each shift. We know that zero risk is not possible but we know zero harm is and that is our goal.”
Representatives of all three levels of government also spoke at the ceremony.
“In my working career I spent 19 years at the City of Thompson,” said Mayor Dennis Fenske. “I didn’t know what I didn't know until I moved across to vale in 2007. Through the partnership of Vale and the USW, and the introduction of Safe Operations in the city operations, we moved from being one of the highest cost workers comp claims municipalities to one of the lowest through the expertise and guidance from all those involved.”
Thompson MLA Steve Ashton said his last public speech in that role brought him full circle to where he was before he started it – working for Inco and walking a picket line.
“I've watched mining go from one of the most unsafe occupations to one of the safest, statistically,” he said. “It didn't just happen and quite frankly it probably wouldn't have happened if the labour movement, the Steelworkers in particular here in this community, didn't make workplace safety and health a fundamental element of who they are and what they are. I'm very proud to have been part of an NDP government that's made workplace safety and health a priority and actually backed it up with legislation and support for those that are committed, that are working not only in terms of workplace safety but also dealing with people that have been on the receiving end of injuries, many of whom require a significant amount of support.”
He also said it was important to support workplace safety beyond Canada’s borders.
“It's not good enough to ship off our workplace accidents and deaths to third world countries because that's part of what's happening with globalization,” said Ashton.
Danielle Adams read a statement on behalf of Churchill Keewatinook-Aski MP Niki Ashton.
“Our government should improve workplace health and safety standards and pass laws to encourage employers, especially those who put employees at risk for their own gain to act more responsibly,” said Adams. “Governments should also ensure regulations, standards, practices and laws keep pace with evidence of workplace hazards and the impact those have on workers' health and safety, both immediate and long-term.”
In Manitoba, according to a provincial government press release marking the Day of Mourning, nine workers died on the job and another 15 from occupation-related injuries last year.
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Pastor Murat Kuntel, a native of Turkey, said he knew something about workplace safety thanks to a job he had before joining the clergy.
“The last thing I was doing in Turkey was I was working in an insurance company and when you work for the insurance company you know accidents happen,” he said. “However when you look at the claims you realize quite a few of them could have been avoided and that's why your work is important.”
Kuntel also said that friends and family are the ones who bear the burden when someone loses their life at work, as well as being the source of comfort.
For those who are left behind there is pain and agony, there is loneliness,” he said. “For those who are left behind, we need to embrace each other, we need to love one another.”
Many speakers also noted that former USW Local 6166 president Dick Martin, who went on to become the president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour and secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, as well as former Churchill MP Rod Murphy were instrumental in getting the Day of Mourning, now commemorated in more than 80 countries around the world, officially recognized in Canada.
