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Machinists Union slams government for employing "freelancers" to investigate worker's death |
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| TORONTO – The Canadian Vice President of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), Dave Ritchie, has told Ontario Labour Minister Brad Clark that he has no confidence in two “freelancers” employed to investigate the death of a worker killed on the job in St. Thomas last week. Duane Young, a member of the IAMAW, was killed in an industrial accident at the Dana Victor plant when he was crushed in a press. Ritchie says his information is that because of the unresolved labour dispute between the government and its employees, the investigation is being conducted by a manager from the Pay Equity Division of the Labour Department and that the other is a former Manager with the Ministry of Transport. “The family of Mr. Young, his co-workers at Dana Victor and indeed the working people of Ontario deserve a proper investigation by qualified investigators warranted under the Health and Safety Act,” Ritchie says in a letter to the Minister. “Safety and Health Inspectors have special training and special skills to deal with tragedies of this nature. That you would employ two people with apparently no training and no special skills to perform such a sensitive investigation demonstrates to me that you have no appreciation of the true value of your highly competent workforce. “Your government’s apparent inability to satisfactorily resolve issues in dispute between employees of the Ministry of Labour and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) is indefensible. Your government has let this strike drag on now for more than six weeks. As an employer you have the obligation demonstrate a much greater degree of responsibility in pursuit of a settlement.” the letter concludes. CONTACT: Dave Ritchie 416-386-1789 SOURCE: Neville Hamilton 613-731-6316 |
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