Liberals showed workers 'total disdain' by holding election on National Day of Mourning, advocates say
Election day, April 28, is also observed annually as Day of Mourning for victims of workplace injury
The leader of a Hamilton community organization says the date chosen for the federal election shows a lack of concern for workers, given that it's widely known the National Day of Mourning is observed every year on April 28.
Darren Green, president of the Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council, said as early as March 13 when there was talk that the election could possibly be called for that day he made an appeal on social media for the Prime Minister's Office to consider choosing another day.
"It's about them actually being insensitive to the workers' needs. I mean, it's total disdain, it shows their lack of empathy and their disdain for the working people, of the working families of Canada," Green told CBC Hamilton.
"Somebody in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) should have known that April 28th is the International Day of Mourning. That it's just unconscionable that they would pick that day to have their election... Why that day? It's just insensitive."
The Hamilton Steelworkers Area Council is a community organization based in Hamilton, that's dedicated to supporting and advocating for steelworkers in the region.
CBC News has reached out to the PMO for comment but got no response by deadline.
WATCH | Injured on the job: 2 Hamilton workers tell their story:
At a news conference in Hamilton on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly told CBC Hamilton that the government values the rights of workers.
"We value their contribution to society and … we will honour them every single day," Joly said.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), the National Day of Mourning is a day to remember and honour lives lost or injured due to a workplace tragedy. It's also a day to collectively renew our commitment to improving health and safety in the workplace and to preventing further injuries, illnesses and deaths.
In 1991, eight years after the day of remembrance was launched by the Canadian Labour Congress, the Parliament of Canada passed the Workers Mourning Day Act making April 28 an official Day of Mourning, CCOHS said on its website. Today the Day of Mourning has since spread to more than 100 countries around the world and is recognized as Workers' Memorial Day, and as International Workers' Memorial Day by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC).
"It is the hope of CCOHS that the annual observance of this day will help strengthen the resolve to establish safe and healthy conditions in the workplace, and prevent further injuries, illnesses, and deaths," CCOHS said.
"As much as this is a day to remember those who have lost their lives, it is also a call to protect the living and make work a place where people are safe and can thrive."
'One of the most important dates on the labour calendar'
Meanwhile, Green said April 28 is "a sacred day and one of the most important dates on the labour calendar," not only in Canada but throughout the world.
"It's a day where we come together and remember those who have been killed or injured on the job or who've been made ill by workplace sickness," he said. "And the families of these workers that have been injured or killed or made sick, they commemorate the day."
'We are very upset and frustrated'
Marvin Mulder has been unable to work for the last 15 years after suffering a spinal cord injury while working for a moving company.
Mulder says he and others have long felt "forgotten" and having an election on the day set aside to honour lost and injured workers has only added to their frustration.
"We are very upset and frustrated with the day of the election," Mulder, who serves as spokesman for the Hamilton and District Injured Workers Group, told CBC Hamilton.
"This is supposed to be a solemn day. It's [one of] very few that injured workers or people who have died on the job are recognized.
"So, the fact that they've called an election this kind of says we're not a thought, in my mind, you know, that day is just a political day for them … and now that we have an election we're just, again, forgotten," he said.
Mulder said a lot of injured workers throughout Ontario have voiced frustration over the issue.
This is an extremely important date.- Teddy Bobrowski, Thunder Bay, Ont., resident
Thunder Bay Ont., resident and long time injured worker Teddy Bobrowski, said it "shows a total lack of respect" to hold the election on April 28.
Bobrowski told CBC Hamilton he "was literally furious" when the date was announced.
"I thought a lot of people aren't gonna notice this, but, you know, for the families that have lost members of their family due to deaths on the job, this is an extremely important date," he said.
"And then there's other ones like myself that are seriously injured, but not passed away, but still it's a very important date. We go out every year and celebrate this day, and we lay roses here in our epitaph that we have for workers killed on the job.
"So, for the government to just be so casual about it …. I don't even know if they realized it till after they called the election on that date that they had made a faux pas," Bobrowski added.
The Ontario Network of Injured Workers' Group, a provincial voice for injured workers, said calling a federal election on the National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job shows a lack of respect for the victims of workplace illness or injury.
"The government of Canada would never hold a national election on Remembrance Day, November 11th out of respect for the veterans and their families. That is why so many Canadians feel disrespected by calling an election on the National Day of Mourning for Workers who were killed or injured on the job," the group said in a statement to CBC News.
Commemoration ceremony planned for city hall
Meanwhile, Green said each community commemorates the day differently, with ceremonies held throughout Canada at different times and different locations.
In Hamilton, he said the Steelworkers Area Council will hold a meeting during the day. This will be followed by a vigil and commemoration at city hall at 5:30, organized by the Hamilton and District Labour Council, and the laying of wreaths at the injured workers monument at Main and Bay streets.
"For the steelworkers here in Hamilton, we have an area council meeting quarterly and we always meet on April 28th," Green said.
"We have guest speakers coming in to talk about the history of the Health and Safety Act and then we do a roll call of the people we've lost in the last year."
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With files from Saira Peesker