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Workers demand better health and safety protection on the job

North-Bay and District Labour Council News Release ******************** Worker demands for better health and safety protection on the job focus of upcoming community event North Bay — On April 28, workers, their families, labour leaders and residents
North-Bay and District Labour Council
News Release

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Worker demands for better health and safety protection on the job focus of upcoming community event

North Bay — On April 28, workers, their families, labour leaders and residents in North Bay will join with others across Canada to mourn their dead. They will also demand better workplace health and safety laws and enforcement, quality health and safety training and an occupational disease prevention strategy that puts an end to the growing epidemic of work-related illness.

“We all expect to return home safe and healthy after a day’s work. We should. It’s the law. But when the spirit and letter of the law are broken, or unenforced, workers are the ones who continue to pay with their lives,” says Henri Giroux president North-Bay and District Labour Council

“We need better protection. Recently proposed changes to health and safety law in Ontario will do little to safeguard our lives, unless the government introduces dramatic amendments,” added, Giroux

According to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board statistics, last year the families of 491workers filed death claims and more than 242,371 workers filed occupational injury and disease claims. Research and experience tells us the outcomes of countless other workplace incidents and exposures go unreported, especially occupational disease claims.

In 1984, the Canadian Labour Congress, and its affiliated unions, established April 28th as the day to honour workers killed, injured or made ill. Today the day is recognized in more than 100 countries. Here in Ontario, Day of Mourning events will take place in more than 40 Ontario communities and many more workplaces.

Local Event Information

Event Host (s):North-Bay and District Labour Council Day of Mourning Ceremony
Location: North Bay City Hall 200 McIntyre Street East
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Time: 10:45 a.m.
Speakers: Andre Gauvin, Ergonomist, OHCOW Sudbury

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