By Carol Mulligan, Sudbury Star
A union mounting a campaign to get prosecutors and police to hold corporations responsible for workers’ deaths on the job got a boost from a motion unanimously adopted by city council.
The motion presented Tuesday by Coun. Joe Cimino came from United Steelworkers, which is running a national drive called Stop the Killing, Enforce the Law.
The drive urges Canadians to sign petitions urging attorney generals and labour ministers to ensure Crown attorneys are educated, trained and directed to apply the Westray amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada.
It is more than two decades since 26 men were killed in a the Westray mining disaster and a decade since the criminal code was amended to hold corporations, their directors and executives criminally responsible for the health and safety of workers.
USW Local 6500 tried to get the Ontario attorney general to enforce the Westray provision of the Criminal Code two years ago after its year-long investigation into the June 8, 2011, deaths of two men at Vale’s Stobie Mine.
Family members of at least one of those two men killed, Jordan Fram, attended the council meeting at which USW made a presentation to council.
Tomorrow is Election Day in British Columbia and there’s too much at stake for Steelworkers to sit this one out. Across our province, working families are facing real challenges. Forestry communities are fighting to protect jobs and keep mills running. Mining workers need stronger safety protections and training. Canadian jobs are threatened by outsourcing, and […]
KAMLOOPS, B.C. – United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 7619 has issued 72-hour strike notice to Teck’s Highland Valley Copper (HVC) operation near Logan Lake, B.C., following unsuccessful negotiations to reach a fair collective agreement. The notice was served Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 6:30 p.m., with the union preparing for potential strike action if an agreement […]
The jobs of thousands of USW members have been plunged into uncertainty due to U.S. tariffs, outsourcing and offshoring. In 2025, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund (SHF) has supported initiatives that help build union-to-union solidarity, which is critical to ensuring workers have a voice. Over the years, the USW has supported the efforts of the Mexican […]