Stepping up for Lake Winnipeg

After the 1997 "flood of the century," concerns about the impact of large-scale flooding on the health of lake Winnipeg were a catalyst for the establishment of the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium.

The Consortium, best known for operating the research ship M.V. Namao, coordinates and promotes independent scientific research on Lake Winnipeg. The Consortium's work helps determine what needs to be done to restore the health of Lake Winnipeg.

With Manitoba once again experiencing flooding larger in scope than we have ever seen before, the importance of the Consortium's research has once again been underscored.

Yesterday, I had the honour of participating in an announcement of new support for the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium. Manitoba's labour unions have decided to support the Consortium because the working families we represent have told us they are concerned about water quality issues in general, and the health of Lake Winnipeg in particular.
The Manitoba Government and General Employees Union is contributing $20,000 over 5 years to a new scholarship fund that will support graduate student research on the Lake.

The MFL and other unions are also making contributions to the scholarship fund and joining the membership of the Consortium.

We hope others in our community will join the effort to save Lake Winnipeg and support the important work of the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium.

Your vote and the safety of 1 million working Canadians

Earlier this month, I had the honour of joining with 150 workers committed to safer and healthier workplaces at the 30th Annual MFL Health and Safety Conference. 

While I was there I learned something very surprising and disturbing. While disabling injury rates in provincially regulated workplaces are falling, they are actually rising in federally regulated workplaces. The gap is shockingly stark. Over the past 5 years, disabling injury rates in provincially regulated workplaces have seen an average decline of 25%, while federally regulated workplaces have seen a 5% increase over the same period.

A recent report by David Macdonald shows very clearly that this depressing statistic is no accident. It is the direct result of two conscious decisions by the current Conservative government.

First, he shows that the federal government is scaling back enforcement of the rules meant to keep workers safe and healthy. The number of federal enforcement officers has been cut, significantly increasing the number of workers per officer.

Second, an announcement buried in the 2007 federal budget required the benefits of any new federal regulations over the private sector to be balanced against the cost to business. That's right, the Harper government now requires regulators to balance saving workers' lives and preventing injuries against potential profits for employers! Once again, we see the "war on red tape" for what it really is - a move "to redefine the problem of injured worked as a cost of doing business." 

These moves have been very bad news for the more than 1 million workers in federally regulated workplaces.

Manitoba has shown how a government that cares about workers and their families can make workplaces safer and healthier. By doubling the number of health and safety enforcement officers and by quintupling the number of workplace inspections, Manitoba's NDP government has reduced the workplace injury rate by 40% over the past decade.

Jack Layton and the NDP have also shown a strong commitment to safer workplaces.

On May 2nd, let's vote to make federally regulated workplaces safer and healthier so that workers can make it home safely to see their families when the working day is done.

Reflections on spilled oil ... and blood

Many media outlets gave significant attention to an important anniversary this week - the one year anniversary of the horrific Deep Water Horizon explosion and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The stories reminded us of the tremendous damage that was done to the environment. They reminded us of the outrage and shock we felt when we learned that, despite the advanced technologies that allow for deep water drilling, nothing could be done for months and months to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf.

The stories were also depressing because they underscored the degree to which so little has changed over the past year. Despite the horrors of the explosion and the subsequent spill, the appetite for offshore drilling appears to be as strong as ever. The public outrage of last spring and summer appears to have dissipated.

But what really struck me was that most media coverage completely ignored the significant fact that 11 workers were killed in the Deep Water Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010. These 11 workers never made it home from that job site:

• Karl Kleppinger, 38, of Natchez, Mississippi, who left behind a wife, Tracy, and a 17 year-old son, Aaron.
• Adam Weise, who was mourned at a vigil attended by hundreds of people in his community of Yorktown, Texas, last week. “Adam was my baby, just 24 years old,” the man’s mother, Arlene Weise told reporters.
• Aaron Dale Burkeen, a 37-year-old resident of Neshoba County, near Philadelphia, Mississippi. A local paper reported that Burkeen was responsible for getting the other crew members to safety before leaving, but was unable to get off the rig in time. He is survived by a wife and two children, ages 14 and 6.
• Donald Clark, 49, of Newellton, Louisiana, was scheduled to leave the rig on April 21, the day after the explosion.
• Roy Kemp, 27, Jonesville, Louisiana, leaves behind two daughters, one three years old, the other three months old, and his wife, Tracy.
• Jason Anderson, of Bay City, Texas, also leaves behind two children.
• Stephen Curtis, 39, of Georgetown, Louisiana, is also survived by two children. He had been working in the oil industry for 17 years, following in the footsteps of his father, Howard, who worked as a diver-welder for 34 years.
• Gordon Jones, 28, of Louisiana, leaves behind a son and a pregnant wife, Michelle.
• Blair Manuel, 56, of Gonzales, Louisiana, worked as a chemical engineer on the rig. He had three daughters and was engaged to be married.
• Dewey Revette, 48, from State Line, Mississippi, worked for Transocean for 29 years as a driller, and was also a father.
• Shane Roshto, 22, was from Franklin County, Mississippi and left a widow, Natalie Roshto.

And this carnage was not an isolated incident. Another 69 workers have been killed on offshore oil drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico since 2001. Another 1,349 workers have suffered injuries on these rigs.

I am telling you this because workers continue to die needlessly at workplaces across the world. In Manitoba last year, 15 workers died on the job, and countless others died from occupational disease.

Next week, on April 28, we will mark the International Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job. I encourage you to take some time to mark this important day when we mourn the dead and pledge to fight for the living.

Events planned for Winnipeg include:

MFL Day of Mourning Candlelight Memorial Service

6:00pm, April 28, 2011

Room 2C, Union Centre, 275 Broadway, Winnipeg

Contact:  Manitoba Federation of Labour, 953-2563

A candlelight service to remember those who have lost their lives earning a living, and those who have become disabled from work.

SAFE Workers of Tomorrow Annual Day of Mourning Leaders’ Walk

11:45am, April 28, 2011

Depart from Union Centre entrance, 275 Broadway, Winnipeg

Contact: Allan Beach, SAFE Workers of Tomorrow, 992-2988

Join labour and community leaders in the Annual Leaders’ Walk to the Legislature to honour the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.

Time to Act on Accessibility Rights Legislation

Approximately 40% of complaints to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission relate to the rights of Manitobans with disabilities. That's a clear sign that the 170,000 Manitobans with disabilities are facing far too many barriers to full participation in our communities.

The Manitoba Federation of Labour supports the campaign by Barrier Free Manitoba for accessibility rights legislation in Manitoba. Modeled on the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act of 2005, such legislation would:

1) Establish a deadline for Manitoba to become barrier free for Manitobans with disabilities. Ontario’s law provided 20 years to achieve full accessibility.

2) Identify areas in which accessibility standards must be implemented. These would include customer service, transportation, the built environment, information and communications, and employment.

3) Establish a process by which recommended accessibility standards would be developed. That process would be led by cross-sector committees, involving all stakeholders, including members who are persons with disabilities or their representatives.

4) Make government responsible for determining which standards are implemented to achieve full accessibility.

5) Establish a pro-active  enforcement mechanism that includes regular reporting on compliance. This is in contrast with the current complain-driven system.

The time to act is NOW. Barrier Free Manitoba has organized a postcard campaign urging the Premier to introduce accessibility rights legislation in the upcoming spring session of the Manitoba legislature. Please support this campaign by sending in your message of support HERE.

For more information about Barrier Free Manitoba and accessibility rights legislation, click HERE.

To read the Province's discussion paper on accessibility rights legislation, click HERE.

Asset Building to Fight Poverty - Spread the word!

On Wednesday I Co-chaired the Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council’s Asset Building Committee.

The goal of our committee is to increase the availability of asset building programs for families on low or limited income.

I can best illustrate what an asset building program is by giving some examples.

Asset Building Programs

One of the reasons people on low incomes face difficulties trying to get ahead financially is that they lack assets which can be leveraged to improve their finances.  Paying for skills training, having a computer, or improving your home's energy efficiency to reduce your utility bills are all examples of investments that can help low income families get ahead, but that require an up front investment that low income families often cannot affford. Asset Building Programs were developed to address this problem.

"Get $500 of Free Money for your Child’s Education"

The Canada Learning Bond is probably the best known asset-building program. It makes it easier for low income families to save for their children's education by providing significant matching dollars to money invested in an RESP. You can learn more here.  

SEED Winnipeg is offering a workshop to help families learn how to access the Canada Learning Bond. 

Asset Building Programs in Winnipeg

SEED Winnipeg's Asset Building Programs assist low-income participants to save for productive assets or household necessities.  Learn more about SEED Winnipeg's asset building programs here. 

The Winnipeg Poverty Reduction Council is working with Red River Community College to develop a program for future students and is working with the Assiniboine Credit Union to create a program that would be available for their staff. Once these new pilot projects are launched we hope other Winnipeg Businesses will explore setting up similar programs for their employees.

Identifying Barriers and addressing them.

The Committee also spends time looking at the challenges that low income people may face and explores ways to overcome them.

Something as simple as obtaining identification can be a real challenge if you don’t have the money to get your birth certificate or social insurance number. The committee has worked with Government and SEED Winnipeg to streamline and financially support people to make this easier.

There is a lot more to be done.

There are many initiatives being taken to try and address poverty. The biggest challenge is making people aware of what is available and how they can access support. I commend the many organizations that work hard every day lending assistance to those who could use it.

I hope you all make some time to talk about some of the supports and organizations out there to help spread the word.

Scapegoating Public Sector Workers - Food for Thought

There has been a spike in recent Canadian commentary attacking public sector unions. See for example last Thursday's Winnipeg Sun, Dan Lett's February 18 opinion piece, or Margaret Wente's rant last week in the Globe and Mail.

These articles take it for granted that there is political advantage to be gained by any politician who chooses to fan the flames of resentment against public sector workers and their unions.

As I noted in my response to Dan Lett's column, Canadian public attitudes towards unions remain very positive. The pollster we work with, Viewpoints Research, regularly surveys western Canadians on their views towards unions and consistently finds 85% agreement with the statement that “employees should have the right to choose to join a union without any interference from the employer.” It finds that 2/3 of the general population agrees that “overall, unions are beneficial for working people.” In 2010, a major national poll, found that 60% of Canadians approve of labour unions while 67% of non-union members agreed that despite inconvenience, strikes are part of democracy. It is not clear at all how Lett can credibly assert that, “unions, public sector ones in particular, have become vilified institutions,” or that unions are “less and less popular.” 


But the biggest fly in the ointment for those who think public sector unions are an easy mark for politicians is the reaction to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's attempt to remove the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers. To put it mildly, Walker's bold attempt to blame public sector workers for his state's problems has backfired. Right across America, not just in Wisconsin, the public has taken the workers' side in the Wisconsin dispute. The polls show it. Ongoing rallies against Walker's union-busting bill have been massive, including 12,000 people this past weekend in a rally that spanned 20 Madison city blocks:

Even Forbes magazine, a bastion of conservative thought, admits the union-busters are losing.

The point isn't that workers and their unions are scoring a moral victory. The point is that picking on public sector workers is hurting the Republicans politically. Check out this morning's polls, which show a clear turn away from the union-busters. Public sector workers, the so-called easy targets, appear to be turning the political tide in the US, a tide that had been ebbing strongly to the right for more than a year.

If Mayor Katz or other Canadian politicians are considering the pundits' advice to scapegoat public sector workers and their unions, they might want to have a closer look at what's really going on in Wisconsin.

Solidarity, Canadian Style!

Solidarity in Wisconsin:

Solidarity in Canada:

What the heck is Brother Rebeck talking about? That's surely what you're asking yourself.

At the Manitoba Federation of Labour Executive Council meeting this week, the MGEU advised us that their sister union in New Brunswick represents the Moosehead Brewery workers who are locked out. The company has a limited stock of Moosehead beer in inventory. So, the union wants to create an environment where the workers are needed back at work now. Our solution: let's ensure those workers are needed back at work by drinking up all available Moosehead beer!

In Wisconsin, the labour movement is under attack in an unprecedented way. The Governor is proposing to strip away the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers. Workers across America have been angered, joining Wisconsin workers in protest. In poll after poll, Americans are saying they're on the side of workers' rights, by a two to one margin. I'm proud of the collective actions being taken by Wisconsin workers and citizens, and send them a message of solidarity.

In Winnipeg, I plan on doing my part for the New Brunswick workers too.... Cheers!