Local workers are remembering those people who have lost their lives, been injured, or fallen ill at work.
April 28 is the National Day of Mourning.
Henri Giroux, President of the North Bay and District Labour Council, says the day is very personal to him, noting his brother Armand passed away on the job in 1982.
“It’s not just workers that get hurt. When there’s a death in the family it’s not just the workers, it’s the family, neighbours, friends, it’s everybody,” he says. “That was devastating, I was only 24 years old when that happened and he was only 30-something years old.”
A local ceremony takes place at 5:30 pm outside of North Bay City Hall and will include a tribute from Giroux to his brother.
This year’s theme is “Work Shouldn’t Hurt. Make Health and Safety a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work”.
Giroux says one issue they’re highlighting is a $1.5 billion Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) surplus and where it should’ve been spent.
“We feel that that rebate should have been given to injured workers, better wages when they’re injured because you don’t go to work to get injured. And also better benefits,” he says. “Instead the government decided to give rebates to big corporations.”
The Labour Council says more than 1,000 workers are killed at work each year with hundreds of thousands more injured or made sick as a result of their jobs.
