40 ceremonies will take place across B.C. including Williams Lake and Quesnel to mark today’s National Day of Mourning.
In 2017, WorkSafeBC accepted 158 work-related death claims in B.C in which 55 percent were due to occupational disease mainly from asbestos exposure decades ago.
“We must do better. We must ensure workers’ full, active participation in all aspects of health and safety in the workplace. We must hold employers to account when there is negligence, hold government and the regulator to account when there are weak laws and weak enforcement, and demand full compensation for workers and their families facing life-altering circumstances,” said Irene Lanzinger, president of the BC Federation of Labour.
“This year we are also turning our attention to workplace violence – because for too many workers violence and harassment, including sexual harassment and intimate partner violence, is a common occurrence on the job. We all have a responsibility to challenge workplace violence and harassment when we see it – the labour movement, employers, the regulator, and the government. Turning away perpetuates the problem, and works to silence the damage it has on people’s lives.”
Today’s ceremony in Williams Lake takes place at the Cenotaph at City Hall at 11 am. A ceremony in Quesnel starts at 12 pm at the Westside Memorial Park.