Nova Scotia demolition workers strike after being forced to supply own safety gear.
But that is precisely what is happening among a group of unionised and non-unionised demolition operatives in Nova Scotia who have just taken their case to the local labour minister.
According to reports, workers typically pay for hard hats and safety boots, but at least one company is charging workers $4 for dust masks and deducting costs for broken equipment and vehicles from their pay.
“Your first (dust mask) is free, but everything after that you have to pay for,” said Marco Fakkeldy, who has worked for one large demolition company for the past six years. And, he said, “You break anything, you pay for it.”
To read the full story from the ChronicleHerald, please click here.
Alternatively, check out this video – The start of the interview seems unfortunately to have failed to grasp the true purpose of the protest but the union representative being interviewed eventually gets his point across:
In the meantime, Demolition News would like to invite its readers to show their solidarity with these workers by leaving them a message using the Comments link below. In our opinion, demolition workers are no different to firefighters and no-one would expect a firefighter to pay for his own safety equipment. We look forward to reading your comments.
