Union warning against Quebec bill on workplace health and safety

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) is sounding the alarm about a Quebec bill that could reduce occupational health and safety prevention in the health and education sectors.

The union’s president, Caroline Senneville, fears a “two-tier system.”

Last April, Labor Minister Jean Boulet presented his proposals for Bill 101, also known as the Act to improve certain labor laws.

At a press briefing, he specified that “special rules” would be put in place for health and education in order to “take into account their organizational capacity.”

According to Senneville, the bill excludes the public health and education sectors from prevention mechanisms in place in other areas considered to be at greater risk.

In concrete terms, this means that the hours allocated to union representatives for occupational health and safety prevention will be reduced.

They will therefore devote less time to committees whose mandate is to compile lists of workplace accidents, conduct investigations, and issue recommendations.

According to the Legault government, the labour shortage in these areas justifies this decision.

“One of the reasons there is a labour shortage is that many people are off work because they have had accidents,” Senneville said in an interview.

She says the government is taking a “short-term view” on this issue.

For example, the owner of a private seniors’ residence could have better prevention measures in place, with more resources and a broader mandate than someone doing the same work in the public sector, she explained.

The CSN decided to launch this message at the start of its National Occupational Health and Safety Week, which aims to promote prevention.

“Every time we fail to take preventive action, bodies and minds are harmed,” Senneville said.

The Ministry of Labor did not respond to a request for comment at time of publication.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews