AN asbestos-removal company is in court in Canada in a case which started on Monday facing accusations that it repeatedly exposed its workers to the deadly construction material.
Labour organisations in British Columbia are calling for jail time against Seattle Environmental Consulting Ltd. director Mike Singh and his son Shawn Singh. The B.C. Federation of Labour and the B.C. Insulators Union have released a statement saying the two men breached court orders on multiple occasions demanding that they not violate workplace regulations.
Court filings from WorkSafeBC allege the violations have taken place since a 2013 B.C. Supreme Court decision, which fined the company and the Singhs $15,000. B.C. Insulators Union spokesman Lee Loftus says jail time is appropriate when workplace safety rules are violated not just once but repeatedly.
‘It is intolerable, with asbestos being the leading cause of workplace deaths in B.C., that any contractor can violate worker health and safety regulations repeatedly and not face serious consequences,’ said Loftus. He said the union has seen hundreds of members die from asbestos-caused mesothelioma and other cancers due to exposure on the jobs.
‘We want to see the B.C. Supreme Court set a strong example that workplace health and safety laws and regulations must not be violated,’ he added. Asbestos is a substance traditionally used as a building insulator. Elsewhere, in Toronto, the Teamsters Union is informing the public and fellow hospital workers of several serious health and safety problems at the new Humber River Hospital.
Since the hospital’s opening last October, some 900 workers represented by Teamsters Canada Local Union 419 have noticed and documented dozens of hygiene issues such as the failure to use proper disinfectants in rooms and public spaces. Some of the issues documented by the workers and the Union include:
• Traces of blood, urine and other bodily fluids can be found throughout the hospital, usually on the floor.
• Workers had no mops, brooms or adequate cleaning supplies during the first ten days after the hospital’s opening.
• Faeces, urine and other bodily fluids can’t be cleaned properly because the microfibre mops aren’t made to wash certain surfaces. Furthermore, there is no vacuum cleaner in some departments.
• Tap water is used to clean some departments because workers lack proper cleaning products.
• Cleaning products used in some departments are not approved for use in hospitals.
• Trays with leftovers are left accumulating in certain areas.
• Meals are occasionally served below 74 degrees Celsius, despite safety standards, which could lead to food-borne illness.
• Patients sometimes cannot get hot meals.
• Mismanagement has created food shortages resulting in some patients not being served bread or milk with their bedside meals.
• Housekeeping workers are extremely overworked in most departments.
• Steaming is done in a way that may not kill all bed bugs. Bed bug removal protocols have been compromised by mismanagement.
• Garbage bags and linen bags don’t fit in the chutes and are left for days piling up in soiled utility rooms.
• The collective agreement is regularly violated because certain tasks are done by the managers and volunteers who aren’t properly trained.
• When the hospital re-opened with even more square footage, management did not hire enough new workers to adequately meet hospital standards.
• The collective agreement is regularly violated as certain tasks are performed by non-bargaining unit members who aren’t properly trained (such as well-meaning volunteers and middle-managers).
• Despite adequate hospital funding, absent workers aren’t always replaced. That puts more pressure on the rest of the staff.
• Robots have priority access to elevators; staff and patients must wait or remain trapped inside the elevator.
• Patients have been observed taking the elevator at the same time as workers with waste bins.
• Rodents have been observed in the hospital.
‘Mismanagement is a threat to the health and safety of patients and workers,’ said Tim Oribine, union representative at Teamsters Canada Local Union 419. It is my duty as a citizen and as a trade unionist to blow the whistle and warn the public of these serious issues.
‘The Teamsters believe the government should open an investigation as soon as possible to address and resolve these issues. Our members are very concerned and seriously question management’s decision-making process.
‘The managers have to listen to us because we could provide them with a game plan to deal with these issues once and for all. The Teamsters recommend that the public exercise caution when visiting the hospital.
‘Our members are very concerned and seriously question the competence of those who run the facility. Let’s not wait for an outbreak to come along before we decide to tackle these problems.’
Meanwhile, Canada’s Auditor Genera, Michael Ferguson, has released a damning report on the state of the Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) programme.
Among his findings:
• More than one-half of Canadians who initially applied for CPPD benefits were denied. In the 2014-15 fiscal year, that meant 39,707 or 57 per cent were denied.
• Canadians who wished to appeal their denial of benefits had to wait on average for almost 2.5 years or more than twice as long to get a decision under the Social Security Tribunal (SST) than the previous system.
The SST was set up under the Conservatives and has been a disaster. Since it was set up in 2013, backlogged appeals have grown to 10,871 cases.
• One in three Canadians who filed appeals to the SST in fact qualified for the CPPD benefits, even though they were denied at the first two levels of decision-making.
• Even terminally ill applicants found themselves waiting longer for a decision on benefit eligibility. Only seven per cent of terminally ill applicants had a decision within 48 hours in 2015.
‘Many Canadians with long-lasting and severe disabilities are waiting for years to see if they can even access Canada Pension Plan Disability benefits. It’s a disgrace,’ said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff.
Working Canadians, even the self-employed, contribute to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP). CPP Disability benefits are designed to support CPP contributors who find themselves no longer able to work regularly due to ‘severe and prolonged disability.’
The CPPD is not a government income support programme funded through taxes but a national, public long-term disability programme funded through worker and employer contributions. Canadians who paid into the CPP should be able to access benefits when they need it most.
Among CPPD applicants are Canadians who have terminal illnesses such as stage III or IV cancer, or grave conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and paranoid schizophrenia. However, applying for CPPD takes tenacity. Imagine living with a severe and prolonged disability and having to complete an application kit with eight documents totalling 42 pages.
Even if you are approved, CPPD benefits are modest and is only a partial replacement for income. For 2015, the average monthly CPPD benefit is $928.08 and the maximum monthly amount is $1,264.59, based on CPP contributions during the applicant’s working years. If you are also eligible for workers compensation or private disability benefits, the CPPD amount is often deducted from that.
Canadians who have exhausted all options to qualify for CPPD often have to turn to social assistance for help as a last resort. The long list of flaws in the CPPD programme penalises Canadians who are already vulnerable and need to draw on the national public long-term disability programme.
