Stop the Killing is a campaign to hold people criminally accountable for the health and safety of workers.
Over 1,000 workers a year are killed on the job.
Despite the power of the Criminal Code of Canada to hold corporations, their directors and executives criminally accountable for the health and safety of workers, as of 2024, there have been only eleven successful prosecutions under the Westray amendments – five in Quebec, four in Ontario, one in British Columbia, and one in New Brunswick. Those prosecutions resulted in the conviction of seven corporations and three individuals. Sentences have been relatively minor.
If people where held criminally accountable for their negligence, it would deter others from callously endangering the lives of workers.
Our campaign has four asks of our provincial/territorial government:
Led by the United Steelworkers, the campaign has support from towns and cities from across the country, law enforcement officials and professional associations.
In the early morning hours of May 9, 1992, a huge explosion ripped through the Westray coal mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. In a matter of seconds, the lives of 26 miners were extinguished. It marked one of the worst workplace disasters in Canada in generations. The mine, which was being organized by the […]
As we approach the Day of Mourning this year, no one could have imagined that we would find ourselves still in the midst of the global pandemic that first came to our attention in early 2020. While great progress has been made in tackling COVID-19, such as widespread vaccination programs, we remain vigilant in making […]
TORONTO – The Ontario Conservative government’s pledge that injured and ill workers across the province will benefit from leadership changes at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board must be backed up by decisive and meaningful action, the United Steelworkers (USW) union says. “Promises and pretty words are meaningless if they are not promptly followed by […]
BEAUCEVILLE, Que. – Following the death of three workers at the Bois ouvré wood-processing facility in Beauceville, the Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers union, which represents the plant’s employees, wishes to express its deepest sympathy to the families, loved ones and friends of the victims of the Sept. 20 explosion. Our union also wishes to express […]
