Latest News and Updates
Workers’ Rights Should Know No Borders: OFL Statement for South Asian Heritage Month – May 2013
posted on May 3, 2013OFL STATEMENT May 1, 2013 Workers’ Rights Should Know No Borders OFL Statement for South Asian Heritage Month – May 2013 Across Ontario, workers are joining the South Asian community in recognizing May as South Asian Heritage Month. However, this year’s celebrations are dampened by news of the April 24 collapse of a Bangladesh garment [...]
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Without Justice, No Fallen Worker Can Rest in Peace: OFL Statement on Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job – April 28
posted on April 24, 2013OFL Statement April 24, 2013 Without Justice, No Fallen Worker Can Rest in Peace OFL Statement on Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job – April 28 Thousands of workers, friends and families of those killed and injured on the job will gather at ceremonies across Ontario this weekend to memorialize [...]
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Metron Manager to Face Criminal Trial for Toronto High-Rise Fatalities
posted on January 10, 2013FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2013 Metron Manager to Face Criminal Trial for Toronto High-Rise Fatalities (Toronto, Ontario) – The Ontario Federation of Labour welcomed today’s Ontario Court decision that Metron Construction Project Manager Vadim Kazenelson will face a criminal trial for the deaths of four workers and the serious injury of another in 2009. [...]
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Labour Movement Releases Mental Injury Tool Kit on World Mental Health Day
posted on October 9, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 9, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) has banded together with several provincial labour unions and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW) to launch a Mental Injury Tool Kit on October 10, 2012, in recognition of World Mental Health Day. This tool kit is part [...]
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Bad Gas Rip-Off Hotline: Report Wage Theft from Gas Companies 1-800-668-9138
posted on September 18, 2012On Saturday, September 15, Toronto gas station attendant Jayesh Prajapati was run over and killed during pursuit of an SUV driver who stole $112 worth of gas. In response, the OFL sent a letter to the Toronto Police Service calling for a criminal investigation into the policies of Shell Canada and the possible role they played [...]
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OFL Launches Hotline to Report Gas Company Theft of Worker Wages in Wake of Gas-and-Dash Tragedy
posted on September 18, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 18, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — Despite denial from the petroleum industry, the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) believes that the illegal practice of docking worker wages for gas theft may have played a role in Saturday night’s gas-and-dash killing of a Toronto gas station attendant. Today the OFL set out to [...]
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OFL Calls for Criminal Investigation into Role of Shell Canada Policies in Gas-and-Dash Killing
posted on September 17, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 17, 2012 (Toronto, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) today wrote to the Toronto Police Service to call for a criminal investigation into the policies of Shell Canada and the possible role they played in Saturday night’s death of a Toronto gas station attendant. Amid public outcry over the [...]
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WSIB Death and Injury Stats (Jan-July, 2012)
posted on September 13, 2012Twenty-seven workers reportedly died in workplace related accidents or from occupational disease in only one month, according to new Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) statistics. That brings the total WSIB fatality claims to 236, while over 140,000 injury claims had been made. When compared to the 435 workplace fatalities and over 240,000 injury claims made in [...]
Read MoreOFL Applauds Crown’s Appeal of “Manifestly Unfit” Sentence in Metron Scaffolding Tragedy
posted on August 21, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 21, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan today applauded Ontario’s Attorney General for appealing the $200,000 fine leveled against Metron Construction for criminal negligence claiming the lives of four workers and seriously injuring another on Christmas Eve 2009. Calling the sentence “manifestly unfit,” the Crown’s [...]
Read MoreWSIB Death and Injury Stats for the first 6 months of 2012
posted on August 14, 2012The latest death and injury stats from the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) report over 200 fatality claims and over 120,000 injuries. The tally for 2011 reached 436 workplace fatalities and 240,342 injury claims. It appears that the alarming trend in workplace tragedies remains unabated. 2012 WSIB Stats (to the end of June 2012) 209 [...]
Read MoreOFL Receives Appointment to Ontario’s First Prevention Council
posted on August 10, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 10, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) welcomed yesterday’s Ontario government announcement of the province’s first Prevention Council on Occupational Health and Safety. Included in the announcement was the appointment of OFL Secretary-Treasurer Nancy Hutchison and four other worker representatives to advise the government on measures to protect [...]
Read MoreOFL’s Sid Ryan live interviewed on CP24 about Metron Construction Fines
posted on July 14, 2012Watch this CP24 video clip of a live interview with Sid Ryan after Metron Construction was slapped with a $200,000 fine for the deaths of 4 workers and the critical injury of a third. Sid Interviewed Live by CP24′s George Lagogianes: The OFL has called on the crown to appeal the sentence because justice can’t be [...]
Read MoreOFL Calls on Crown to Appeal Metron Sentence: A Worker’s Life is Worth More than $50K
posted on July 13, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2012 (Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan is calling on the Crown to appeal the $200,000 fine leveled against Metron Construction today for the deaths of four workers and the critical injury of another. Ryan had harsh criticisms for a judicial system that continues to [...]
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OFL Expects Historic Sentencing of Negligent Company: Restitution Sought for Victim and Survivors
posted on July 12, 2012(Toronto) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is bracing itself for a historic verdict this Friday, when the sentence will be announced against Metron Construction. The company’s criminal negligence led to the deaths of four workers and the critical injury of another when scaffolding collapsed at a Toronto high-rise on December 24, 2009. While [...]
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Callous Assault by Employers on Cancer Victims and Surviving Widows
posted on June 26, 2012OFL Calls on McGuinty to Reinstate Compensation for Victims and Survivors (Toronto) — As a result of an employer-led legal campaign, victims of occupational disease and their survivors have been cut off of “loss of earnings” benefit payments by the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB). OFL President Sid Ryan sent an urgent letter to [...]
Read MoreLetter to the Premier: Compensation for Occupational Disease Victims and Survivors
posted on June 25, 2012Dear Premier McGuinty: I am writing to bring your attention to a serious attack on Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) compensation benefits for victims and survivors of occupational disease. This is an issue of grave concern to the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), the injured worker community, and indeed many Ontarians. By way of [...]
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No Jail Time, No Justice, Says OFL
posted on June 22, 2012(TORONTO, ON) — The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) expressed frustration that Metron Construction boss Joel Swartz won’t be facing jail time for the deaths of four workers and serious injury to another. While applauding the historic conviction of the company – the first in Ontario to face conviction for criminal negligence – the OFL made it clear that the $1-million fine sought by the prosecution doesn’t deliver sufficient justice to the victims and their families.
Read MoreHarassment Forces Some Workers to Choose Between Their Safety or Their Job: OFL Statement on Sexual Harassment Awareness Week, June 1-7, 2012
posted on May 31, 2012Studies show that the majority of working women will experience some form of sexual harassment throughout their working lives; however the harassment experienced in the workplace is not solely limited to sexual harassment. Harassment on the basis of race, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity/expression and various other forms of personal harassment, compounded with harassment due to gender can make the workplace, and indeed society, dangerous and even lethal for many vulnerable workers.
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