Protesters rally outside North York industrial bakery in wake of death of temp worker. If you have any Labor law questions, please contact Angel Ronan Lex Scripta. Your question will be answered. 1-914-539-7655. Email: w.a.Lyon.angelronan@mail.com. Issues involving the death of an employee on the job can be addressed in the Law of Tort. There is a duty of care with respect to safety owed to employees and temporary workers. If this duty is breached resulting in harm or death to the employee, then the person who suffered the breach is entitled to seek an award for damages in Court; by Warren A. Lyon.
Protesters rally outside North York industrial bakery in wake of death of temp worker
It was a protest underpinned by a simple question: how many vigils are necessary?
A crowd made up of around 100 labour advocates, union organizers, and legal clinics rallied outside a North York industrial bakery Wednesday — one week after a workplace accident at the factory claimed the life of a cleaner the Star has identified as 57-year old Enrico Miranda.
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He was the fifth temporary employment agency worker to die at Fiera Foods or one of its affiliate plants since 1999.
“We are here not only to protest the death of yet another worker, but to protest the conditions that continue to face the workers inside,” said Deena Ladd of the Toronto-based Workers’ Action Centre.
“We are here not just to send a message to Fiera Foods, but to send a message to the Ford government who failed again to protect temp agency workers.”
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In an emailed statement, Fiera’s general counsel David Gelbloom said the company understood “the lasting impact last week’s tragic workplace accident will have on all who were touched by it.
“As a company, we are heartbroken and have been focused foremost on supporting the family and our employees through these first few difficult days. At the same time, we are fully co-operating with Ministry of Labour inspectors as they review the accident.”
But despite the display of banners and signs Wednesday, the factory itself was quiet: two workers told the Star employees were told not to come to work because daytime production had been cancelled. The workers said they were not being paid for the cancelled shift.
Gelbloom did not answer the Star’s questions about whether the plant was operational on Wednesday.
A worker, who the Star is not naming to protect them from possible reprisal, said the factory did not close down when Miranda died last week. When the Star arrived at the factory at around 7:30 p.m. on the night of the accident, which had taken place some five hours earlier, there were shipments leaving the plant and workers on shift.
Miranda’s family is fundraising to help pay for funeral costs following the tragedy.
On Tuesday, organizers from the United Food and Commercial Workers union handed out pamphlets about unionizing to workers entering plant. A worker and the UFCW organizers, who were positioned within view of the main entrance, told the Star security guards made workers throw away the flyers before entering.
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Gelbloom did not respond to the Star’s questions about whether workers were stripped of the material.
The Ministry of Labour is investigating last week’s accident. During Wednesday’s rally, a ministry vehicle arrived at the plant and two employees entered the factory.
Asked whether the factory was ordered to halt production at the time of the accident, spokesperson Janet Deline said she was “unable to discuss the specifics” of the case due to the active investigation.
Four other temp agency workers have died in industrial accidents at Fiera Foods and its three affiliated locations, including 23-year-old Amina Diaby who was killed in 2016 after her head scarf became entangled in an improperly guarded machine. The company pleaded guilty to occupational health and safety charges related to her death and was fined $300,000.
The Ministry of Labour has also recently laid charges against Upper Crust, a Fiera affiliate where a temp agency worker died in October 2018 after being hit by a tractor trailer.
Last year, Ontario’s previous Liberal government initiated a measure that would have ensured all companies who use temps are liable for their injuries at the workers’ compensation board, which workers’ advocates have long argued is a key financial incentive to protecting temps.
But the Liberals did not create the regulations necessary to enforce the new law before being booted from power last year. The Ford government has not moved to implement the measure.
“As long as temp agency workers don’t get the same protections, and the client company is not held fully responsible for their injuries, these kinds of deaths and these kinds of injuries will continue to happen,” Ladd said Wednesday.
Gelbloom said that for 30 years Fiera had “remained committed to providing good, well-paying manufacturing jobs here in the GTA.”
“Improvement is always possible and this tragedy has motivated us to fully review our operations, seeking out and identifying potential vulnerabilities. We will have more to say on our efforts to continuously enhance health and safety standards in the coming days,” he said.
In the wake of the latest death, critics are now calling for a criminal investigation into the tragedy.
“People go to work and try their best to provide for their family,” said Butterfly GoPaul of the grassroots community group Jane Finch Action Against Poverty. “Companies like Fiera Foods need to be held to account.”
“The laws and rules have to change to provide incentive for companies to protect their workers,” said NDP MPP for Humber River-Black Creek Tom Rakocevic, who attended Wednesday’s rally. “This is not a pro-worker government.”
Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a Toronto-based covering labour-related issues. Follow her on Twitter: @saramojtehedz
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