Addressing all the injuries that workers face…

A message from President Hesse and Secretary Treasurer Stewart

Today is the National Day of Mourning. On this day, we pause to reflect and mourn those workers who have lost their lives on the job.

Let us be clear, losing one person on the job is one too many. So, it is crucial that we face this difficult day head-on and look for ways to protect workers.

Protecting workers’ lives can take many different forms. Your union is committed to protecting you in every way that we can.

UFCW Local 401 has expanded our Workers’ Compensation Board Department to ensure that workers who are injured on the job are properly supported and compensated as they recover.

Every day, our WCB Advocates fight for and win substantial victories for our members that put money directly into their pockets.

We are also fighting to protect workers’ lives at the bargaining table. Your union is now engaging in the most aggressive negotiations we have ever coordinated to make you safer and ensure you are able to provide for your family through wage increases and benefit improvements. 

At the end of May, we will be hosting the second of our successful Ready, Set, Go! Bargaining Conferences to empower our members around pushing employers to do the right thing at the bargaining table, whether it comes to wages or worker safety.

Health and safety are major issues in bargaining for our members. Retail grocery workers have experienced substantial abuse at work in recent years and often struggle with repetitive strain injuries.

Our food processing members continue to perform some of the most physically demanding and dangerous work possible, with line speeds that push them up to and beyond their limits.

All of our members throughout the province are faced with difficult decisions about workplace safety every day as employers cut corners by putting profits over people.

None of this is acceptable, and your union is working to close those loopholes at the bargaining table, in health and safety committees, through the Labour Board, and with government agencies like OH&S, WCB, and others.

However, a troubling trend is also occurring below the surface for many of our members.

While we are always keenly focused on preventing physical harm, we are also gravely concerned with the mental and emotional struggles with which our members have reported struggling.

Between the health pandemic and the following affordability crisis, a great many workers are also caught up in a mental health crisis that is inflicting another kind of harm on them and their families.

The Workers’ Health and Safety Centre reports that:

• 1 in 5 Canadians experience a mental illness every year.
• 500,000 Canadians miss work due to mental illness every week.
• Over 60 per cent of reported stress cases are work-related with recent surveys pegging this up to 80 per cent.
• Mental health-related disability claims now account for 70 per cent of workplace disability costs, up from the 30 per cent previously reported.

Know that your union is here to support you if you are experiencing challenges with your mental health.

Fighting for major improvements to mental health supports is a key bargaining priority as we negotiate with employers. If you need assistance and want help determining what resources are available to you, please do not hesitate to reach out to your union.

On this difficult day, let’s remember that we are not alone. Let’s remember that an injury to one is an injury to all.

Let’s remember that when we stand together to fight for what is right, we can win. And let’s remember that every worker deserves to come home safe at the end of every day.

Posted on: April 28,2025