During the Ontario election campaign, a grinning, glad-handing Doug Ford sought every photo op he could with workers, claiming he was on their side.
It was all a sham, of course, with the Ford government already demonstrating a callous indifference to workers and families who need them most – those grieving outrageous, preventable workplace deaths.
One of Ford’s election selfie stops included the Stelco steel mill in Hamilton, where he campaigned for votes from United Steelworkers members. He appeared unconcerned then, as now, to a tragedy playing out at another workplace down the road – the National Steel Car manufacturing plant, where three workers have been killed in 21 months, including on this past Monday, June 6. Each of these workplace deaths was preventable.
Since this most-recent death, the Ford government, including Minister of Labour Monte McNaughton have ignored our call for an emergency meeting. The Ford government failed to take action to prevent this latest tragedy and is refusing to provide the union with critical information on its investigations into the previous deaths.
Since 2018, the Ford government has refused demands from worker safety advocates for enhanced training for police and Crown prosecutors to ensure greater enforcement of Criminal Code provisions related to workplace fatalities, which would allow employers, where workers die on their watch, to face time in jail.
Where is the Ford government when workers need them the most?
Myles Sullivan
USW District 6 Director (Ontario and Atlantic)
United Steelworkers union
This letter by District 6 Director Myles Sullivan was published in the Hamilton Spectator on June 16, 2022
Click here to view the article on the Hamilton Spectator website.
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