Is your workplace this crazy?/

[rmarentette]

We have a sad history of poor labour relations and it's getting much worse...Layoff notices went out to 58 workers starting Sunday yet they have hired a bunch of retirees back as contractors. The ones getting laid off are quite capable of running the lines but human resources says head office is to blame!?? Safety is very big but if someone does a work refusal for unsafe work they become a target. We can be fired for violating the cardinal rules they set out but when WE have an issue there's big trouble for us. They intimidate us into not reporting injuries by having investigations that last for hours...a blister from new boots results in pictures being taken etc. They re-investigate until head office is satisfied with the answers.... The point is, these guys were targeted along with 4 others in the last few months who have been fired. They are sending a message to us to keep your mouth shut even if you think something is unsafe...we have one machine that guys are getting gassed when they run it, the fresh air intake sucks toxic gasses in..so they go home with numb lips and feeling very tired, not able to get up off the couch for a day..no one has had the nerve to refuse to use it..

 

Why not call the Ministry of Labour. Anyone can call anonymously. You have that right. Here's the toll free number -

 

1-877-202-0008

Everyone is concerned that if they make too much noise about health and safety companies will close. This is a threat that corporations hold over our heads all the time. Look what happened in London at Caterpillar. They tried to squeeze more and more out of those workers and they eventually left anyway. These managers are nothing but goons. I look at Holmes foundry in Sarnia where workers were exposed to asbestos, now those workers and their families have to live with the devastating health effects of mesothelioma. I've met too many families who lost loved ones to occupational disease. I have a close friend whose husband died at 36 because of asbestos exposure. Don't let your safety reps off the hook either, if you belong to a union and your local reps aren't doing their job, go to your national union. You can also contact the Occupational Health |Clinic for Ontario Workers - http://www.ohcow.on.ca/

 

 

848 Main Street East

Hamilton, Ontario L8M 1L9

Tel 905.549.2552 / 1.800.263.2129

Fax 905.549.7993

Email [email protected]

 

Edited April 25, 2012 by Rolly

[aplumma]

If the plant is unsafe and you don't take action it means you would rather have an unsafe place to work rather than a safe place to be fired from. Personally no job is worth knowingly getting injured at or possibly dieing for. A decision needs to be made by each the employees either force a change as a group or get picked off one by one both have the same down side only one has the advantage of change. Grumbling with no action is counter productive it makes you feel like you are doing something without good results. Take the # Rolly has posted and pass it out if there are enough calls they will send in a team and find out whether this is a "whinefest" or an unsafe place to work.

 

 

Art