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The delay of the criminal case against companies involved in the deaths of two oilsands employees is bad news for Alberta workers, says the province's largest labour group.

"Justice delayed is justice denied – and the families of these workers have been waiting for more than four years for the court to hear what happened," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which represents 145,000 workers. "But this delay also spells danger for people now working in Alberta or who will be working here in the months and years to come," he says.

"The two workers who died in April 2007 at the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) Horizon project, and another four who were injured, were temporary foreign workers (TFWs) unfamiliar with Albertan workplace procedures and safety standards. The Alberta government failed to take the necessary measures to ensure our standards were being maintained – and the workers paid the price with their lives," says McGowan. "Alberta is on the cusp of another boom in bringing in foreign workers – we could have more than 100,000 TFWs here soon. We need to learn the lessons from this tragedy now in order to ensure the same fatal mistakes aren't made again. This trial delay makes learning those lessons more difficult," he says.

The number of applications to bring TFWs into Alberta approved by the federal government soared by 37 per cent between 2009 and 2010, rising by 11,655 to a total of 42,885. Add that to the 57,774 TFWs already working here in 2010 and Alberta could soon pass the six-figure mark.

A total of 53 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act have been laid against CNRL, Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd. and SSED Canada Ltd. The companies were to go to trial October 3, but the case has been put over until October 1, 2012.

"The Alberta government had a hand in the accident in 2007. Alarm bells should have gone off for provincial regulators when it became known that CNRL was hiring a Chinese contracting firm. Inspectors should have been at the site before ground was broken and should have made frequent visits to ensure our safety standards were being met – but that didn't happen," he says.

"We cannot ignore or fail to enforce our rules just because these are foreign workers. The government must be more serious about its responsibility to inspect worksites and enforce its rules, or more workers will die or be hurt," says McGowan. "We have to make sure that these foreign construction firms, whether they come from China or other countries, are not importing Third World labour and health and safety practices along with the temporary foreign workers that they use."

MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

The current safety blitz under way by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety is a good step in making construction sites safer, but the province's largest labour organization says a one-off isn't enough.

On Monday, Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk announced his ministry is increasing inspections of single and multi-family construction projects in Alberta, the third of three planned focused inspections for 2011.

"Throughout the province, we're beginning to see an increase in new home construction. We need to ensure safety on these job sites is a priority," said Lukaszuk. "I've said all year long that increased attention on residential construction projects was on my to-do list. Today's the day."

Given that OH&S has an office in Fort McMurray, ministry spokesman Barrie Harrison confirmed Wood Buffalo construction sites will "without question" be included in the provincewide campaign.

Last year, nearly 1,700 inspections of Alberta's residential construction sector resulted in 1,000 orders being issued. According to an OH&S statement, a lack of proper fall protection topped the list of infractions, followed by issues with hazard assessments, safeguards, and clear entrances, walkways and stairways.

Once the focused inspections and re-inspections are complete and the results are tabulated, the findings will be shared with Albertans. These will include the number of sites visited, the total number of inspections, and the number and types of orders issued, said the statement.

"Several officers will be wholly dedicated to this campaign for at least the next month," said Lukaszuk. "My message to Alberta's home builders and their contractors is that we are on our way."

However, the blitz of residential construction sites by inspectors is a welcome step in making worksites safer, but the Alberta Federation of Labour says this short, one-off campaign is not the solution to safety woes.

Employers have been warned inspectors are on their way and have been told how long the blitz will last, noted AFL president Gil McGowan.

They will make an effort to clean up their acts and follow OH&S rules for a few weeks but, once the blitz is over, they will be free to return to their dangerous ways, knowing that they are unlikely to see more inspectors until another blitz is announced.

"What is really needed to encourage permanent change in worksite practices are regular and random inspections that come without warning," he said.

"To make our workplaces safer, to save lives and prevent injuries, blitzes must also be backed up with more concrete action, including hiring more inspectors and giving them increased powers to issue on-site tickets for violations."

The AFL has released a 10-point plan to improve safety with these and other recommendations including more prosecutions of problem employers, protection for workers who blow the whistle on unsafe practices, the posting of all safety records and violations online and mandatory joint worker-employer safety committees.

"This is not rocket science, nor is it revolutionary," said McGowan. "Most of these policies are already in place in other provinces. Alberta workers deserve at least the same level of protection."

He quipped Lukaszuk has become the minister of blitzes, having already announced focused inspections this year on commercial construction sites, young workers and forklift operators. Each time, despite employers being warned in advance, the inspectors uncover lots of problems.

Just imagine what the inspectors would find if their visits weren't broadcast in advance, offered McGowan.

"The AFL has been offering the same simple advice on how to save lives and prevent injuries for many years. It is disappointing that the minister says this issue is a priority, but lacks the will to take real action to protect workers," he said.

"It seems he prefers to play politics and create a false impression for the media that something is being done."

Fort McMurray Today, Wed Sept 14 2011
Byline: Carol Christian

A blitz of residential construction sites by inspectors is a welcome step in making worksites safer, but this short, one-off campaign is not the solution to safety woes, says the province's largest labour organization.

"Employers have been warned inspectors are on their way and have been told how long the blitz will last. They will make an effort to clean up their acts and follow Occupational Health and Safety rules for a few weeks but, once the blitz is over, they will be free to return to their dangerous ways, knowing that they are unlikely to see more inspectors until another blitz is announced," says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, which represents 145,000 workers.

"What is really needed to encourage permanent change in worksite practices are regular and random inspections that come without warning," says McGowan. "To make our workplaces safer – to save lives and prevent injuries – blitzes must also be backed up with more concrete action, including hiring more inspectors and giving them increased powers to issue on-site tickets for violations."

The AFL has released a 10-point plan to improve safety with these and other recommendations including more prosecutions of problem employers, protection for workers who blow the whistle on unsafe practices, the posting of all safety records and violations online and mandatory joint worker-employer safety committees.

"This is not rocket science, nor is it revolutionary. Most of these policies are already in place in other provinces. Alberta workers deserve at least the same level of protection," says McGowan.

"Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk has become the minister of blitzes, having already announced focused inspections this year on commercial construction sites, young workers and forklift operators. Each time, despite employers being warned in advance, the inspectors uncover lots of problems.

Just imagine what the inspectors would find if their visits weren't broadcast in advance," says McGowan.

"The AFL has been offering the same simple advice on how to save lives and prevent injuries for many years. It is disappointing that the minister says this issue is a priority, but lacks the will to take real action to protect workers. It seems he prefers to play politics and create a false impression for the media that something is being done."

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MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888

Occupational health and safety officers will be targeting Alberta residential construction sites in a month-long inspection blitz to make sure workers and employers are following workplace safety rules.

"There is a very good likelihood that one of our officers will be attending your job site, and be prepared and be aware of the fact that we are watching out and that we want you to comply with the regulations of occupational health and safety," Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said Monday.

Lukaszuk said the results of the month-long inspection blitz will be released to the public. Officers have also been told to file their orders with developers and site owners, as well as contractors and subcontractors.

"There is no excuse of not knowing what your subcontractors are doing on your job," Lukaszuk said. "At the end of the day, the responsibility flows all the way to the top."

Officials in Lukaszuk's ministry have started drafting new legislation which will allow officers to ticket workers and fine employers on the spot for safety violations. Currently, officers secure job sites and issue orders or stop work orders when infractions are found.

The Alberta Federation of Labour called the blitz a welcome step but said more needs to be done. Warning employers about the inspection blitz makes it easy for them to temporarily clean-up their act, said AFL President Gil McGowan

"The last thing he should be doing is what he did today ... because that's basically telling the employers to clean up for now and then you can go back to business as usual," McGowan said.

Last month, a CBC News investigation found a number of construction workers working without safety harnesses on the roofs of houses.

Labour groups and independent safety consultants believe workers, and their employers, ignore safety laws because they have no fear of being caught.

According to the province, almost 1700 inspections of residential worksites led officers to issue more than 1,000 safety orders in 2010. A lack of proper fall protection was the primary infraction cited by inspectors.

CBC News, Mon Sept 12 2011

EDMONTON — The minister in charge of worker safety launched a month-long inspection blitz Monday, focusing on the province's booming residential construction industry.

This is the third and final inspection campaign this year from Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk, who earlier targeted workplaces that employ young people and workplaces that use forklifts.

"We put the industry on notice. We let them know that we perceive them to be problematic," Lukaszuk said.

But critics question the timing of Lukaszuk's announcement, saying he shouldn't have warned employers ahead of time.

"They'll keep their noses clean for the next month or two and then go back to business as usual," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "And business as usual means that an unacceptably high number of construction workers will continue to be put at risk."

Last year, Occupational Health and Safety officers conducted nearly 1,700 inspections in the residential construction sector and issued 1,000 orders. The most common infraction was a lack of proper fall protection, which can include guardrails or harnesses, followed by issues with hazard assessments, safeguards and clear entrances, walkways and stairways.

Bob Barnetson, a professor of labour relations at Athabasca University, said the numbers suggest a pervasive problem.

"If more than half of employers aren't complying in a very small number of inspections, I think that's good evidence of widespread non-compliance," he said, adding that there is no financial incentive for employers to ensure worker safety and little disincentive if they don't.

"There's not very much chance of them getting caught violating the law. And if they do get caught, there's basically no chance there's going to be any sort of penalty."

McGowan attributed the "abysmal" condition of residential construction sites to a hot economy, which has increased demand for housing while at the same time drawing experienced workers to the more lucrative commercial and industrial construction industry. He said if the province really wanted to improve conditions, it would conduct inspections more frequently and without warning.

Lukaszuk shot down the criticisms, saying "the warning is always out."

"You should not be safe because I'm sending officers out to catch you. You should be safe because you want to come home at the end of the night to your family and you don't want your workers to get hurt," he said.

Lukaszuk also announced Monday that he has ordered a draft of legislation that would allow occupational health and safety officers to ticket workers and fine employers on the spot. He also said a smartphone app is in development that would let anyone anonymously submit a photo and location of a safety violation. He also dismissed McGowan's call for whistleblower legislation that would protect the identities of employees who report violations at their workplaces.

"If everyone can report on anyone anonymously and all complaints are looked into, I don't know what is left out," Lukaszuk said.

Barnetson said the government's real test will be what action it takes after the blitz is over.

"Charitably, this is a warning to the industry to do something. Uncharitably, this is a PR stunt by the government," he said.

The Alberta chapter of the Canadian Home Builders' Association, which represents the province's residential construction industry, did not respond to request for comment Monday.

Edmonton Journal, Mon Sept 12 2011
Byline: Nicki Thomas

Eight months ago, three farm workers died in Alberta. Because of the Alberta government's rules on farm-related deaths, there has still been no investigation.

The Alberta Federation of Labour says that's unacceptable, and are calling for changes to safety legislation.

Currently, the Occupational Health and Safety Act has an exemption for farms. The argument has long been that farms are family businesses run out of homes, and can't be held to the same standard as other businesses.

The Federation's Nancy Furlong says that's no longer the case. The AFL says investigations could help prevent future deaths and injuries on Alberta farms. They add the change to the Act would be simple to accomplish.

So far their requests to the Alberta government have been met with silence.

iNews880, Mon Aug 22 2011

Workers on farms and ranches will mark the seventh annual Alberta Farm Worker Day tomorrow still waiting for the Alberta government to end its silence on a call to make their workplaces safer.

“Eight months ago, following the deaths of three farm workers, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) was among those who wrote to Employment and Immigration Minister Thomas Lukaszuk with a simple request – to allow investigations into all farm-related deaths, serious injuries, or injuries involving a child. That request has been met by silence,” says AFL secretary treasurer Nancy Furlong.

“Farm workers put the food on our tables and fuel our economy. They deserve the respect of a response on this important issue. The families of the 160 workers who have died on Alberta farms in the last decade deserve a response,” she says.

In January, the AFL wrote to Lukaszuk asking that the Farming and Ranching Exemption be amended to allow for investigations into all farm-related deaths, serious injuries, or injuries involving a child. This could be accomplished by extending section 38 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act - which permits a Minister to convene a board of inquiry into the circumstance of an accident - to apply to the farming and ranching industries.

This change to the Farming and Ranching Exemption could be accomplished by a simple Order-in-Council and would result in a legal avenue for investigation into serious incidents involving paid farm workers. The information that would be obtained from these investigations would be invaluable in preventing future deaths and serious injuries on Alberta’s farms.

Today, the AFL has written a new letter to Lukaszuk, asking him to make this change – or explain to Albertans now why he won’t.

The AFL continues to urge the inclusion of all workers under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Workers’ Compensation Act as the only equitable course of action. In 2008, after investigating the workplace death of Kevan Chandler, Justice Peter Barley recommended that farm workers be included in Alberta’s legislation to prevent future workplace injuries and deaths.

“Amending the Farming and Ranching Exemption would be a good first step towards making farms safer. It is inconsistent to say the government wants to improve farm safety when it does not investigate accidents to establish how they happened,” says Furlong.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Nancy Furlong, AFL Secretary Treasurer @ 780.720-8945 (cell)

An increasing number of workplace complaints has prompted the provincial government to hire more people to investigate employers across the province, a step that can only help Lethbridge workers, according to the president of the Lethbridge and District Labour Council.

Richard Merrick said the council, which works with local unions, fields at least one complaint daily about employers who are not following Alberta's Employment Standards Code, usually by withholding vacation or overtime pay.

"For too long, employees have had the cards stacked against them, even locally with students (who find) a lot of employers aren't paying holiday pay," he said. "It's really hard for them to get any kind of justice. The Employment Standards (Code) is unfair to a lot of employees."

Alberta's department of Employment and Immigration announced Wednesday it will put more time and effort into resolving a climbing number of workplace complaints. The department plans to hire six new employment standards officers and bring in independent auditors to investigate payroll records in addition to government auditors already swamped with cases. It also plans to offer more training on how to use the employment standards legislation and has put out a guide for employers.

Merrick said the efforts will make a difference to Lethbridge's workforce.

"Locally, it's going to help the employees and that in turn helps employers because it makes a more level playing field and helps to improve the relationship between the parties," he said. "We have plenty of grievances with employers where there's a union group, so that suggests to me that there's lots of problems here locally about how employees are treated."

More Albertans are making formal complaints about their employers, a fact the province attributes partly to its online complaints system, introduced in December 2010, which allows employees to submit complaints 24 hours a day over the web. Nearly 20 per cent more complaints were lodged in 2010-11 compared to the previous year, rising from 5,454 complaints to 6,484.

Jay Fisher, a spokesperson for the department, said the government has also tried to educate people about their rights as employees with a "Tell Your Employer Where to Go" information ad campaign, displayed in every Alberta city including Lethbridge.

"Those campaigns are also helping increase the number of complaints because people are more aware of employment standards," he said.

To keep up, the government is bringing in third-party auditors who will join government auditors in investigating complaints, with the expenses billed back to the employers.

"They're experts at it and can do those sorts of things quite quickly and our guys are spending their time on the complaints and the investigations, following them up as opposed to poring through some payroll records to see who's owed how much in overtime," Fisher said.

Although the Alberta Federation of Labour lauds the government for trying to enforce the employment standards, it scoffs at the notion that the province is doing enough to make people aware of the regulations and of their rights.

"Having six new people helping to enforce labour standards is a good thing. It's a drop in the bucket and it's the wrong focus, but it is a good thing," said Nancy Furlong, the Federation's secretary/treasurer. "The focus should be on education. Somehow we have to find a way to make sure that workers and employers know what the rules are."

Furlong said her organization gets dozens of calls a week from residents inquiring about their rights as employees.

"That's the bigger issue as far as I'm concerned," she said. "There are lots of people who a) have no idea what their rights are and b) they're afraid to challenge their employers anyway, because although they are protected under the code, it's not an easy thing to take a chance on losing your job to enforce your right to overtime or your right to hours of work."

Lethbridge Herald, Thurs Aug 11 2011
Byline: Katie May

report that came after an inspection blitz focused on young worker safety is grim, said the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

The report doesn't deal with violent crime, one of the biggest threats faced by the group, according to the AFL.

The union called the report "grim" adding that more than 70 per cent of convenience stores and restaurants in the sample of 118 work sites inspected found to be in violation of at least one section of the Occupational Health and Safety code.

The report would have been even more disturbing if it looking into the vulnerability of young people working alone on the night shift in fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations, said AFL president Gil McGowan.

"If the government was really serious about improving workplace safety and protecting young workers, they would follow B.C.'s lead and impose a ban on working alone in those industries where we know workers are easy prey for criminals," he said. "That list includes fast-food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations."

The issue of attacks on night-shift workers started to be more prominent in the province 11 years ago when Subway restaurant worker Tara Macdonald was bludgeoned to death in Calgary. She was working alone at the time.

Canadian Safety Reporter, Fri Jul 8 2011

Yesterday's government report on safety for young workers fails to deal with one of the biggest threats faced by young people working in convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and gas stations: And that's the threat of violent crime.

The report was grim enough: More than 70 per cent of convenience stores and restaurants included in the sample of 118 worksites were found to be in violation of at least one section of the Occupational Health and Safety Code.

But the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) president Gil McGowan says the report would have been even more disturbing if it had looked into the vulnerability of young people working alone on the night shift in thousands of fast food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations around the province every day of the year.

"If the government was really serious about improving workplace safety and protecting young workers, they would follow B.C.'s lead and impose a ban on working alone in those industries where we know workers are easy prey for criminals. That list includes fast -food restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations."

The issue of violent attacks on night-shift workers rose to prominence in Alberta 11 years ago when Tara Macdonald was bludgeoned to death while working alone at night in a Subway restaurant in Calgary. Despite the conviction of her killer, no law or regulation has been put in place to prevent something similar from happening again.

Violent robberies, attacks and sexual assaults continue to occur across the province to workers who are working alone, but industry refuses to take the obvious steps to prevent this, citing economic concerns for not adding additional workers.

John Dooks, one of the detectives that investigated MacDonald's death, is on record acknowledging that these working people are being preyed upon.

"These kinds of attacks are much less likely to happen if there is more than one person on duty," says McGowan

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians between the ages of 15 and 24 years are 15 times more likely to be victims of violent crime than older Canadians. Furthermore, 13 per cent of all robberies in Alberta occur at gas stations or convenience stores; and about half of all robberies include the use of a weapon.

"British Columbia responded to this problem by imposing a ban on working alone in gas stations," says McGowan. "There is no reason why our government here in Alberta couldn't take the same kind of reasonable precautions."

"The Minister has been directing his staff to conduct safety audits in a wide range of industries – and everywhere they look they're finding an unacceptable number of violations," says McGowan. "I'm frankly getting tired of hearing the minister say he's shocked and appalled. We're all appalled. The big question is: What is he going to do about it? In the case of workplace safety for young workers, a ban on working alone would be a sign that the minister is willing to put his money where his mouth is."

Statistics show that, as of July 2010, there were 3,167 fast food restaurants in Alberta, 1,353 convenience stores and 2,254 gas stations. If three per cent of these worksites become the target of robberies or other violent acts (as the government's own spot audit suggests) that would translate into more than 200 violent incidents province wide.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Gil McGowan, AFL president, 780-218-9888