April 28th marks the annual National Day of Mourning and participants in an event hosted by the North Bay & District Labour Council spoke in recognition of the "sacrifices made to make a living."
The human cost of working through the pandemic was a focus for Amanda Farrow-Giroux, a long-term care nurse who contributed to the ceremony, saying, "COVID-19 exposed the many cracks that have existed in long-term care...For years we've been forced to make do and perform the best with what we have, normalizing the everyday shortfalls we face — working short, violence in the workplace, and peer retribution."
The National Day of Mourning is held in honour of workers who have been killed, suffered injury or illness at work or because of workplace exposure. Several workers spoke during the ceremony on challenges faced in their workplaces.
Farrow-Giroux's experiences throughout an 18-year career have led her to desire change in the long-term care system for residents and staff members. She hoped the government "would step up and give hope to a helpless situation," but says that has not materialized.
"Increasing pay, for instance, for PSWs does nothing to change their workload. You can't plug a hole with bubble gum and hope it will save a sinking ship. Every day we go to work and wonder if today is the day we contract Covid? And, how will we cope? How will we keep our residents and families safe?"
The theme of the event was, "Mourn for the dead, fight for the living."
It was noted 58 per cent of Canadian workers don't have access to paid sick leave and "Paid sick leave saves lives."
Coun. Scott Robertson read a proclamation on behalf of Mayor Al McDonald and the City of North Bay. The labour council's flag was raised Wednesday morning at City Hall. The virtual ceremony included a moment of silence for lost, injured, and sick workers, and bagpipes. See the full stream below:
Posted by North Bay Labour NBDLC on Wednesday, April 28, 2021
NBDLC President Henri Giroux said, "This year we can't ignore the human cost of the COVID-19 pandemic, the call to mourn for the dead, fight for the living could not be more urgent."
Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) noted "the labour movement is shining a light on the COVID-19 pandemic."
Ontario WSIB has recognized 46 deaths linked directly to workplace exposure to COVID-19 since the onset of the pandemic, Giroux and Rousseau stated.
"No one should have died to make a living," said Giroux. "Without access to adequate paid sick days workers have been forced to choose between going to work and paying their rent. This failure puts us all at risk. Being able to stay home when you're sick is vital to reduce workplace exposure and illness."
Russo added, in the first 10 months of the pandemic, the WSIB reported 28 deaths but 18 in the first three months of this year alone and said those are only the deaths accepted by the WSIB as related to COVID-19 and connected to work.
"We know that many of the most vulnerable workers are not covered by the workers' compensation system," he said. "We are very disappointed with the way Doug Ford has approached this situation. When it was clear that the lack of paid sick days was making the pandemic worse, he chose to close playgrounds, rather than giving workers the ability to stay home when they are sick."
