IWA condemns ministry for
letting power company off

On January 16, an Ontario Court of
Justice ruled that a co-worker of the
late Lewis Wheelan was guilty on two
of five charges that contributed to
Wheelan’s injury when a tree he was
felling hit a powerline. In the accident
a 72,000 volt line struck a 19 year-old
Wheelan, burning him severely,
resulting in the
amputation of
two legs and
one arm at the
shoulder. It was
Lewis’ second
day on the job,
clearing brush
for $10 per
hour. In
September of
2003, the Great Lake Power Corp. was
let off with a plea bargain, paying
only a tax-deductable fine of
$250,000. Lewis’ life ended in tragedy
when he was discovered dead in a
Toronto apartment, a victim of
heatstroke during the August, 2003
power outage. “This young man had
his whole life ahead of him and for it
to end the way it did is a disgraceful
and unbelievable tragedy,” says
Norm Rivard, IWA national first vice
president. “The Ministry of Labour let
the power company off cheap in its
prosecution.” The judge's report
noted that neither Wheeler or
Campbell had a unionized structure,
which would have provided a
formalized, structured approach to
safety in the workplace.

Norm Rivard

PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA
= Atthe crewboat safety meeting
were, |. to r., Jimmy Watt, Tony
Petula, Neil Menard and Ron Corbeil.

SAFER reps met in December
to discuss vessel regulations
There is growing frustration about
crew boat regulations. “Why is it that
you have to be certified to operate a
Seadoo but crew boats, who carry
‘our members in some harsh weather
conditions, can be run by just about
any one?” asks IWA national safety
director Ron Corbeil. If you were reg-
istered for mandatory training by
July 30, 2003, federal regulations
give you up to April 1, 2007 to com-
plete the training. Most operators are
putting off training so they can beat
the 2007 deadline. With only a hand-
ful of trainers available, the program
is destined to get swamped at the

| last minute. “It’s a poorly written reg-
ulation that needs to be revised,”
Corbeil. The IWA hopes the
B regulation review process in
will assist. One of the proposed
ions involves crew boat oper-
“We hope the board can devel-
g e on the qualifications of

eriously hurt,” says Corbeil.

PHOTO BY NORMAN GARCIA
= In December of 2003, safety directors from local unions met in Burnaby to share information and discuss policies.

“WESTRAY LAW’ CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY FROM ‘ORGANIZATIONS’

An onus to protect workers

WHEN THE ‘WESTRAY BILL’ (BILL C-45) passed into
law last November, it was widely hailed by the labour move-
ment. Amendments to Canada’s Criminal Code would
make it possible for heads of corporations to be held crimi-
nally liable for deaths and injuries of employees in the work-
place if it could be proved that lower-level managers or
supervisors acted in a negligent way.

The bill, which came out of a judicial inquiry — following
the May, 1992 deaths of 26 miners at the Westray coal
mine, in Pictou Country, Nova Scotia — can be applied to
result in maximum fines up to $100,000 and jail time for
head honchos. The United Steelworkers of America and the
CLC, assisted by the federal NDP, were the major lobbying
forces calling for corporate accountability.

There is now a legal duty for people directing work to take
reasonable measures to ensure worker and public safety.
The bill attached criminal liability ifan “organization’s” rep-
resentatives have acted with careless disregard, or so care-
lessly toward others, that criminal punishment is warranted.

But the term “organization” does not apply just to corpo-
rations. It applies to a public body, body corporate, society,
company, firm, partnership, trade union or municipality.

IWA national first vice president Norm Rivard, the
union’s officer responsible for health and safety, says unions
are concerned about being dragged into the liability ques-
tion, as some IWA members are employed as lead hands in
operations. “We are curious about how Bill C-45 will be
applied and interpreted by the courts,” says Brother Rivard.
“We agree with the Steelworkers that any reference to trade
unions should have been left out of the legislation, even
though it’s a good bill overall. The responsibility for actions
of employees on the job, whether they be through supervi-
sors, managers, or lead hands, are directed exclusively by
employers. Companies exercise authority over their workers
— unions don't.”

Nonetheless, Rivard says union members must take all rea-
sonable measures to work safely and look out for the welfare
of their fellow workers, whether they are union members or
management. “We encourage our members to perform their
work safety and responsibly. This bill is and must be applied
to employers. The law must live up to the spirit that employ-
ers, as defined in federal and provincial statutes, are the ones
that must be hauled up on the carpet. They must think about
the Westray disaster and avoid acting negligently.”

Canada reads about woods deaths

A FEATURE ARTICLE IN MACLEAN’S magazine has
brought some focus to the high death and injury rate in the
B.C. forest industry. The story, entitled Blood in the Woods,
written by Ken MacQueen, points out that the forest indus-
try is the most perilous place to be employed in Canada.

“The carnage in B.C.’s forest industry rips apart bodies,
tears up families and cuts deep into the souls of tiny towns
that most Canadians haven’t
heard of. It’s chronic. It’s
relentless. Death and dismem-
berment are such constants in
B.C. forests that they've been
unremarkable,” writes
MacQueen. In the January 19
BLOOD IN issue he notes that “dead log-
Ww : gers rate just a paragraph or
two in urban dailies.”

Ron Corbeil, the IWA’s nation-
al safety director, spoke on the
lack of attention given to victims
of forest industry accidents.
“We're almost expendible. Police and fire departments unfortu-
nately have fatalities too, though nowhere near as many as us. But
when they happen it seems the whole world comes toa stop.”

The statistics, as the article points out, are devastating. In
the past ten years, some 250 forest workers have died in B.C.
alone. In Canada, 83 police and peace officers lost their lives.
Since 1950, the country has now had 107 peace keepers
killed on UN missions.

“We've got to continue to work to change our culture

around these issues,” says IWA National President Dave
Haggard, who, along with Brother Corbeil and IWA National
Safety Council Chair Les Veale, is a member ofa government-
appointed Forest Safety
Task Force, chaired by
| WCB Chairperson Doug
Enns (see photo left). In
late February, the task
4j| force, which also
includes WCB reps and
CEO’s, issued recom-
=) mendations to cut acci-
PHOTO BY BRUCE STELMAKER dents in half over the
= InJan.WCB chair DougEnns _ next three years. (sce next
(L) toured Frankdin River with IWA issue of The Allied Worker.)
safety director Ron Corbeil(r),here © Contributing factors,
with Steve Roberts. including resistance to

making change, extreme
climate and terrain conditions, and environmental pressures

(falling and handling timber in smaller clearcuts) must be
resolved to be part of the solution.

Former faller Dean Bergstrom says company procedures
are important too. “In every goddam investigation I saw,
they screwed it around to be faller error.” The article also
has quotes from Mel Camilli, a logger who lost both legs on
a Prince Rupert logging show, when he was 21 and Liberal
MLA Roger Harris, who nearly lost his hand when his saw
kicked back. Says Camilli: “Society as a whole must say this
pain is unacceptable. Until we make it a big deal for every-
one, it’s not going to be a big deal for anyone.”

MARCH 2004 THE ALLIED WORKER IF 17