Introduction to Occupational Health and Safety in Canada and Canadian Auto Plants

For Russian Auto Plant UnionJuly 2012

Cathy Walker

Former Director (retired)

Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Health and Safety Department

Greetings from Canada, world’s second largest country by land mass, with Russia being the first, of course

Our population is tiny by comparison with yours

34 million in Canada

142 million in Russia

Your symbol is the fierce Russian bear

Our symbol is the little beaver

Nonetheless we have much in common as workers and trade unionists

Auto plant workers in Canada

Auto plant workers in Russia

Auto plant workers in China

Auto plant workers in Mexico

We have the same issues and the same problems

The world used to be easier to understand, didn’t it?

Two superpowers: U.S. and Soviet Union

The world changed in 1989

The Soviet Union imploded

Something significant happened in Canada in 1989 too

Does anyone know who this guy is?

Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Canada

Even though the majority of Canadians were opposed to it

Effective January 1, 1989

Its purpose was to benefit American corporations

Ronald Reagan and Brian Mulroney were implementing the corporate agenda of globalization

Corporate Agenda of Globalization:Characteristics

“Free” Trade

Privatization

De-regulation

Bad for public sector workers and bad for private sector workers

Unfettered capitalism

Attempts to destroy our solidarity

What is Free Trade?Karl Marx knew in 1848

“What is free trade under the present condition of society? It is freedom of capital. When you have overthrown the few national barriers which still restrict the progress of capital, you will merely have given it complete freedom of action. So long as you let the relation of wage labor to capital exist, it does not matter how favorable the conditions under which the exchange of commodities takes place, there will always be a class which will exploit and a class which will be exploited.”

What effect did the Free Trade Agreement have on the health and safety of Canadians?

Workers Suffered from Speed Up

What year was this picture taken?What are they signing?

Clinton signing NAFTA, 1993North American Free Trade Agreement

NAFTA effective January 1, 1994

The Mexican people knew what NAFTA was really all about; led to Zapatista uprising in Chiapas

What effect did NAFTA have on the health and safety of Canadians?

We surveyed our members in auto assembly and auto parts to find out

CAW -- McMaster University Auto Parts Study1,600 workers in 1995

Conditions are bad:61% said their workload is too much 40% said they worked in pain at least half the time 44% said their job is more tense than it was 2 years ago 55% said they couldn't keep up the current pace until age 60 53% said they worked as fast as they could most of each day 37% said they worked in an awkward position at least half of the day

CAW -- McMaster University Auto Parts Study1,600 workers in 1995

And they were getting worse:41% said their health risks at work were higher than 2 years before

45% said they were more tired after work than 2 years before

52% said their workload was heavier now than 2 years before

That’s the problem we faced: what did we do about it?

We fought free trade on the political front

We fought the effects of free trade in the workplace

Participated in broader struggle against globalization, FTAA and WTOQuebec City, April 2001

Our health and safety representatives and local union leadership fought speed-up and advocated ergonomics on a daily basis

We bargained contract language on ergonomics and time study

Companies should spend

As much money on making workers comfortable in their work as they do making customers comfortable in the cars

Large auto assembly plants:full time union OHS, Ergo and Time Study representatives

Chosen by the union (OHS usually by election) but paid for by the employer

In order to compel the employer to pay for the full time OHS rep, we have to bargain this in our collective agreements

“time as required”

We encouraged workers to refuse work that was likely to endanger them

Poster:

RSI Campaign -- Nationally

RSI Awareness Day, began on February 29th, the non-repeating day of the year; then on February 28th thereafter

In workplaces and communities the campaign had posters, leaflets, meetings, and education and training including one day educationals

Ergonomics Regulation Campaign Nationally to mirror what we’d bargained

We were successful in some provinces and in the national jurisdiction

Canadian workers have a long history of struggle over health and safety

Union campaigns on the injustice of child labour, including children killed and maimed at the workplace, brought us workers’ compensation in 1913

Asbestos: Killer dustCanada was the major source of asbestos for the world for decades

1949 major strike among asbestos miners demanding reduced dust levels; fought the U.S. corporation, the church and the state

Major political effect for Quebec: Quiet Revolution

1970s, big strike wave over occupational health and safety

Once again, Quebec asbestos miners struck over need to reduce dust levels

Elliott Lake Uranium Mineworkers in 1970s

Dying from silicosis and lung cancer

As well as from hazardous falls of rock

Workers’ struggles have produced better lawsIn 1974-5 in Ontario, miners struck Elliott Lake uranium mines over health and safety issues

This led to a Royal Commission to study the problem in 1976

Recommended Occupational Health and Safety Act, became law in 1979

The new law had some strengths and weaknesses,and these continue today

Employers: responsible to provide a healthy and safe workplace; workers have little power

Workers Must Have a Voice

For it is they who suffer injuries and occupational diseaseWorkers know the hazards of the workplace best and they know the likely solutions bestThe new law guaranteed workers’ voice through the joint occupational health and safety committee system

Problem: Joint OHS Committees have no power

Ironically, despite OHS committees being composed of half employer representatives, these same committees have no power to make decisions, but must make recommendations to the employer

Solution:

Follow the examples of Sweden and Norway and give joint OHS Committees the power to make decisions which the employer must follow

Problem:If we give Joint OHS Committees the power to make decisions, committees may often stalemate

Solution:

Once again, copy Northern Europe where workers are in a majority on Joint OHS Committees

Other solutions to ineffective OHS Committees:

Copy the Australian states of Victoria & Queensland

Give workers’ health and safety representatives the power to write Provisional Improvement Notices

These act as posted orders on the employer for health and safety violations

The employer must comply within 7 days or appeal to the government regulatory agency

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004Provisional Improvement NoticeEmployer Health and Safety Representative

Name/Company Name First name Last name

Street no. Street name Name of Designated Work Group

Suburb or Region Postcode Union

Served to –

First name Last nameDate issued Compliance date

Position Must be at least eight Days After the issue date

In accordance with Section 60 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, I, the Health and Safety Representative named above, am of the opinion that you, the Employer/Person named above:(a) are contravening a provision of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and/or regulations;

or(b) have contravened a provision of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 and/or regulations in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention will continue or be repeated.The Provision of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 or Regulations or I believe has been contravened is:

The reason for my opinion is:

In accordance with Section 61 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, the measures I believe you should take to remedy the contravention are:

Signature of Health and Safety RepresentativeUnion:

Signature of person serviced to Date received:

Give Worker OHS Representatives the right to shut down hazards

This was originally contemplated, but then government caved-in to employer pressure and provided a bi-lateral right to shutdown, which is meaningless

But we’ve done this through practice in our workplaces

Give Worker OHS Representatives the power to approve or reject new equipment

The master agreements with General Motors, Ford and Chrysler give the union health and safety representatives the right to approve or reject new equipment

Problem:In non-union situations, the employer representatives often dominate the OHS Committee

Solution: Make it easier to unionize

Penalize employers who engage try to keep unions out

Prohibit strike-breaking

1970s in the auto plants: if the workers didn’t like something, they wouldn’t work; they were protected; they had our union

History of Struggle

We want workers to understand that our OHS laws were achieved through workers’ and unions’ struggles

Better regulations through struggleIn 1986-7, hundreds members of our union at Toronto area aerospace plants, McDonnell Douglas and DeHavilland refused to work for weeks over the right to know about workplace hazards (chemicals)

Cleaned up their workplace and set the stage for new law

WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System)

Tri-partite committee (labour, employers and government) drafted the WHMIS system

WHMIS became law in 1988 across Canada:

labelling of chemical containers

Material Safety Data Sheets (detailed information)

worker education and training

Our Canadian OHS system is far from perfect

We know we have a long way to go

Sweden and Norway have better laws than us

Employers and right-wing governments try to take away what we’ve won

And we know that fundamentally

The class struggle is never over

Thanks very much