SYDNEY, N.S. — Joseph Richard wants more than words from the Nova Scotia government when it comes to what they'll do to help workers like him during the COVID-19 crisis.
The 43-year-old works in the construction industry and could be called for work any day as it’s been deemed an essential service during the state of emergency declared by the province on March 22. But some of Richard's necessary training certificates (commonly called tickets) have expired or are going to soon. Unable to get them renewed because the courses are in-person, with classes of 10 or more people which is not allowed under the province's measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, Richard fears this will keep him from working.
“I also work in security ... and all the licenses we need for this, through the Justice Department, they have extended all of them until the COVID-19 (restrictions are lifted),” said Richard. "Why can't they do the same with our safety tickets?"
Another fear he has is how protected he’d be with these expired tickets if he was injured on a work site or was near an accident that happened on a work site, unless there was official documentation confirming extended dates.
"Companies want it in black and white. They don’t want to take chances to then be fined $5,000 or $6,000 if a worker has an expired ticket,” he said.
“If an accident happens on site, I and the 10 others around me are held to the highest safety standard. If our tickets are expired, will I be safe from prosecution? If it goes to court, will we have something in writing (to say the expiry dates were extended)?”
Richard said he has heard Premier Stephen McNeil say during press conferences that workers are going to be protected. But until the Sydney man sees that in writing, he is afraid the protections won’t materialize when needed.
“We need to see in black and white that we won’t get in trouble.”
Shannon Kerr, spokesperson for the Department of Labour and Advanced Education, said they understand things are different under COVID-19 restrictions and they will examine worker's cases individually.
“Training requirements under the OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) Act will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We appreciate that these are unprecedented times and we will consider circumstances such as access to training and aspects beyond the workplace’s control,” she said in a written statement.
“However, workplace safety remains the top priority and training is an important component of working safe. We encourage workers to contact the applicable training providers with questions they may have on extensions for recently or soon to expire training certificates.”
President of the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour, Danny Cavanagh, agrees with Richard — safety tickets and other licences should have their expiry dates extended, if they happened recently or are about to. He also agrees the government should be clearer about what exactly their protections for workers will be and make them official.
“The government does these press things ... and there’s not much being said on how they are protecting workers,” said Cavanagh who says he has received calls from many workers since restrictions started being recommended on March 12, when the province announced the first cases of COVID-19.
"One person called me concerned, they were a single mother and they were told if they didn’t come to work (because they were self-isolating) she’d be fired,” said Cavanagh
“The government is saying, you’re not an essential service, you should stay at home, but who’s protecting the employees when they try to do this, but their employer says no.”
Kerr said they have protections for workers who fear repercussions if they call in a complaint about their employers.
“Our 1-800-9-Labour phone line can be used anonymously. There is also protection under the OHS Act for any employee who brings forward a safety concern to the department, refuses unsafe work or insists on acting in compliance with the OHS Act,” she said.
“If an employee feels their employer is not complying with an order under the Health Protection Act, such as social distancing, they should report this concern to their immediate supervisor. If the issue is not resolved, they should report to their work’s joint occupational health and safety committee (if applicable), and if needed, contact LAE’s safety branch.”
Cavanagh thinks relying on workers to call and report won’t work.
“People are going to work when they are sick because they can’t pay their rent, they have no paid sick days or their boss says they can’t,” he said.
“Expecting workers to call the 1-800 number to report their employer isn’t realistic. These people are scared to death they’ll lose their jobs.”
