QUEBEC CITY – Dozens of road traffic control workers today held a symbolic funeral march outside the constituency office of provincial Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault in Quebec City.
“Too many deaths, too much silence,” the workers chanted during the demonstration held in memory of 22 people road traffic control workers who have died in work-related incidents in Quebec since 2008.
There is an urgent need for the Quebec government to act to prevent more fatalities and injuries, said Nathalie Perron, President of United Steelworkers/Syndicat des Métallos Local 9005, the union which represents more than 1,000 road traffic control workers in the province.
“We don’t feel that we’re taken seriously,” said Perron, who also works in road traffic control. “The serious incidents among our members are often avoidable. The Quebec government must do everything in its power to put an end to these foreseeable tragedies, but our repeated calls for action have gone unanswered. So we’ve ended up at the minister’s office, mourning our dead.”
Since 2008, 22 road traffic control workers have been killed on the job, including three fatalities in 2024. For almost a year now, the Steelworkers have called in vain for a meeting with the Transport minister and for greater safety protections for workers.
Denis Bolduc, General Secretary of the Quebec Federal of Labour (Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec – FTQ) participated in the demonstration and urged the Quebec government to work with the Steelworkers union to protect road traffic control workers.
“We’re confident the situation can improve if the government listens and actually imposed greater control over this industry. Complacency has already cost too many lives. We demand a serious response,” Bolduc said.
The Steelworkers are calling for better oversight and regulation of the road traffic control sector, which would include:
– Certification of employers
– Annual review and audit of employers’ equipment, permits and certificates of qualification, and regular inspections of operations
– The introduction of a comprehensive training program, providing certificates of qualification issued by a joint committee (to replace current training programs offered by various associations, often online).
“Let’s not wait for another tragedy to strike. The government must implement urgent measures to ensure that in 2025 we don’t experience a repeat of last year’s carnage. We have proposals to better regulate this industry and we’d like to discuss them with the minister,” said Dominic Lemieux, the Steelworkers union’s Quebec Director.
The United Steelworkers of the United Steelworkers/Syndicat des Métallos, affiliated with the FTQ, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers in all sectors of the economy.
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