The Honourable Clint Dunford, Minister, Human Resources and Employment

Government of Alberta, Room 324, Legislature Building

Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6

Dear Mr. Dunford:

I am writing today to express my concern about some of the comments you made to reporters in the days following the recent death of 14-year-old Shane Stecyk. I am also writing to register my frustration with your government's ongoing refusal to more aggressively promote workplace health and safety.

Over the past few days, I have received dozens of calls from people complaining about what one person described as "your callous and dismissive" reaction to Shane's tragic death. After reading the news clippings myself, it's hard for me to disagree with those who have characterized your comments as insensitive. I was particularly concerned to learn that you see nothing wrong with children under the age of 16 working in dangerous places like construction sites.

You've pointed out that many young teens want to work and that they gain valuable experience from summer jobs. In general, I agree. But working on a construction site is not the same as delivering newspapers or selling jeans in the mall. Statistics show that construction work is much more dangerous than most other kinds of work.

We at the Alberta Federation of Labour believe strongly that adults have a responsibility to protect children from harm. And we feel the best way to protect young teens from being injured or killed on construction sites is to bar them from being there in the first place.

Most other jurisdictions in Canada have seen the wisdom of this approach. WE think its long past time for the Alberta government to do the same. At the very least, we think your government should most aggressively enforce its own rules requiring permits for young construction workers. This wasn't done in Shane Stecyk's case - and there are probably hundreds of other young teens working illegally on construction sites around the province. Are inspectors being sent out to find them and deal with their employers? If not, why not?

Unfortunately, the issue of young teens working on construction sites is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems with workplace health and safety in this province.

I think most Albertans would be appalled if they knew how little money the provincial government spends on things like workplace health and safety inspections. They would also be appalled if they knew how soft the government is on employers who break the rules and put their workers at risk.

As you probably already know, the Alberta government now spends only $4.61 per worker each year on occupational health and safety programs - down from $10.61 per worker in 1993. As a result, there are fewer inspectors, doing fewer work site inspections - even though the Alberta workforce has been growing dramatically. Here in Alberta, we now have about 1.6 million people working in nearly 70,000 work sites across the province. Yet we only have 58 inspectors - down from 69 in 1993. It's like trying to mop up an ocean with a sponge and a pail.

To make matters worse, companies are rarely prosecuted for contravening health and safety rules - and even when they are, the fines are too small to act as an effective deterrent. Your government's own figures show that only 6 companies have been fined for health and safety violations since 1996 - and the fines have averaged just $19,750 (all for incidents involving fatalities). This compares to the situation in Ontario, where General Motors was recently fined $325,000 in relation to a worker fatality at one of its auto plants.

All of this leaves me deeply troubled. Here in this province, we have a dynamic economy and a growing workforce. But instead of stepping up efforts to protect the health and safety of workers, your government continues to cut budgets and encourage employers to regulate themselves. In this environment, it's no surprise that workplace fatalities are on the rise. It's the tragic and predictable result of under-funding and a lack of political will.

If the Alberta government really wants to bring down the soaring rates of worker injuries and fatalities - and I think we can all agree that it is a worthy goal - we fell strongly that the following steps should be taken: 1) increase funding for inspections; 2) adopt a much more aggressive approach to enforcement; 3) levy much stiffer fines; 4) place tighter restrictions on the work that children under 16 can d0; and 5) require mandatory health and safety training for new workers (especially in hazardous industries such as construction.)

In relation to the Shane Stecyk's death, the last two points are most important. As adults, we have a responsibility to protect children from harm - and that means keeping kids under 16 away from dangerous places like construction sites. And for workers between 16 and 24 - who are nearly twice as likely to be injured or killed on the job than older workers - we need legislation ensuring that they get safety training before they start a new job.

We can never entirely eliminate accidents like the one that let to Shane Stecyk's death. But we can ensure that they happen with much less frequently by doing a better job to promote and enforce basic health and safety standards. If your government takes at least some of the steps listed above, then we might be able to avoid mourning the loss of another teenager at the beginning of next year's construction season.

Sincerely, Les Steel, Secretary Treasurer, Alberta Federation of Labour