QUEBEC, May 31, 2021 / CNW Telbec / – In unison, activists from the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), the Federation of Workers of Quebec (FTQ), the Centrale des Syndicates du Québec (CSQ), the Centrale des unions democratiques (CSD), the Union of professionals of the government of Quebec (SPGQ), the Union of the public and parapublic of Quebec (SFPQ), the Alliance du personnel professional and technical health and social services (APTS) and the Union of injured or sick workers (UTTAM), keep a 59-hour lookout in front of the National Assembly from 6 a.m. on Monday, May 31 until 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 2. They demand major improvements to Bill 59 currently under consideration in parliament.
While respecting the health measures, the activists gathered day and night send a cry from the heart to the deputies who are studying the reform in occupational health and safety. It is unacceptable that after decades of waiting, Quebec gives birth to a bill as disappointing as it is incomplete, which will be forgotten for a long time, if the elected officials do not correct the situation now.
- How can the government justify to those who are part of the priority groups – a model to follow in terms of prevention – that henceforth these groups will no longer exist? Health and safety will have to be negotiated locally. Currently, union representatives have the time they need to clean up their workplaces and resolve dangerous situations. The current model should not be abolished. Rather, it should be applied to all industries.
- How can the government question the importance of parity in matters of health and safety? The bodies that discuss OSH must be equal. Why could employers obtain the right to replace or abolish local OSH committees to create multi-establishment committees, without the prior agreement of the union party?
- How does the government plan to resolve the problems related to psychological health at work if there is no rigorous application of prevention mechanisms in all workplaces in Quebec? In addition, clear guidelines must frame teleworking and rule on the right to disconnect.
It should also be noted that this bill provides for numerous unjustified setbacks to the rights of victims of occupational accidents and illnesses in terms of compensation and rehabilitation which will generate savings of $ 4.3 billion, on their backs, for the victims of occupational accidents and diseases. next ten years.
The government’s plan is like a sprinkling of a few advances in prevention, while the essential is in fact only window dressing. However, the right of all workers in Quebec is to work in healthy work environments where hazards are identified and eliminated at the source. In 2021 and for the future, we need prevention representatives who have sufficient time to investigate and correct deficiencies in all workplaces. It’s non-negotiable.
The anger is all the more keen since, for months, labor organizations and many social organizations have confirmed that this bill will leave Quebec at the back of the North American states in terms of prevention with, in addition, a risk of increased legalization. The already problematic court congestion will only increase. We must aim precisely at the opposite objective.
If Bill 59 promises savings to employers in Quebec, it is the injured and sick workers who will pay the price of this reform. It is not with half-measures in prevention and pernicious setbacks in compensation and support for victims of occupational accidents or illnesses that this reform will advance Quebec. Without a serious boost, Bill 59 will not allow our society to shine among the best.
SOURCE CSN
For further information: Martin Robert, union advisor in the CSN Communications Department, 514 377-6985, [email protected]; Rima Chaaban, FTQ communications advisor, 514 806-9162, [email protected]; Sébastien Marcil, CSQ communications and press relations advisor, 438 356-4545, [email protected]; Simon Lajoie, CSD union communications advisor, 514 662-5495, [email protected]; Philippe Desjardins, SPGQ information advisor, 581 995-0762, [email protected]; Éric Lévesque, communications advisor at the SFPQ, 418 564-4150, [email protected]; Merlin Trottier-Picard, APTS Communications and Public Relations Advisor, 514 912-1875, [email protected]; Roch Lafrance, secretary general of UTTAM, 514 528-7705, [email protected]
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