Stop the Killing is a campaign to hold people criminally accountable for the health and safety of workers.
Over 1,000 workers a year are killed on the job.
Despite the power of the Criminal Code of Canada to hold corporations, their directors and executives criminally accountable for the health and safety of workers, as of early 2022, there have been only nine successful prosecutions under the Westray amendments – four in Quebec, four in Ontario and one in British Columbia. Those prosecutions resulted in the conviction of seven corporations and two individuals. Sentences have been
relatively minor.
If people where held criminally accountable for their negligence, it would deter others from callously endangering the lives of workers.
Our campaign has four asks of our provincial/territorial government:
Led by the United Steelworkers, the campaign has support from towns and cities from across the country, law enforcement officials and professional associations.
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. – Twenty years after the enactment of the Westray Law that holds corporations criminally responsible for workplace deaths and injuries, the struggle continues. At the end of March, 2004, 12 years after the tragic, needless and preventable deaths of 26 miners in the Westray Mine explosion in 1992, important amendments to the […]
The United Steelworkers union (USW) is expressing deep concern regarding the recent crane incidents and the recent crane collapses in Burnaby and Surrey and is joining calls for the B.C. government and WorkSafeBC to release the report from the deadly Kelowna crane collapse in 2021. “These incidents underscore the urgent need for a comprehensive examination […]
Julia McKay shares her experience as the USW labour representative updating the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in B.C. through the UNDRIP lens.
Jasper, Alberta – This week, the United Steelworkers union (USW), Canadian Football Players’ Association (CFLPA), and White Ribbon took the next steps in an important partnership to ‘Elevate Action’ and end gender-based violence in workplaces and communities across Canada. The first cohort of CFLPA players and USW members were trained as spokespeople and leaders in […]