Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Health & Safety
Yesterday, the Pallister government introduced Bill 12. In introducing these proposed changes to the Workplace Safety and Health Act, they focused on the fact that the bill would double the maximum amount for penalties for offenses.
But what they neglected to say was that they have consistently declined to apply the maximum penalties at their current, lower, levels, so we have no reason to believe they would enforce higher maximums. Higher penalties can only serve as a deterrent if government is willing to invest the needed resources into enforcement, and follow through with stiff penalties on offenders – so far, this government has failed to do either.
The reason they wanted to focus on this yesterday was to mask the other bad elements of the bill.
After receiving reports from the now-eliminated Minister’s Advisory Council on Workplace Safety and Health, as well as from stakeholders in labour, business, health and other areas, the Pallister government has elected to ignore the advice it received and barrel ahead with its own agenda of putting workers’ safety last.
Unfortunately, this bill makes the following changes that will weaken the rules that protect workers’ safety and health on the job:
Weakening the safety and health rules that protect workers on the job is a concerning trend for the Pallister government, and this bill comes on the heels of:
A strong MFL is more important now than ever before. Premier Brian Pallister has already passed a law that makes it more difficult to join a union; undermined the collective bargaining process; and made cuts to public services – like healthcare and education – and laid-off workers. All this despite promising to protect public services and the people who provide them. We are fighting back and you can too. Learn more about why unions matter and get involved in your union or unionize your workplace.
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