Like many in my industry, I’m in mourning for Alexandre Paris, a 31-year-old construction worker who lost his life in a collapse on a Blainville worksite on May 20. Sadly, I can’t say I’m surprised, as I’ve often seen bosses pressure workers to always go faster and take more shortcuts. Even though safety rules are very strict in Quebec, in practice they are often forgotten as soon as the inspectors’ backs are turned. I once worked on a school site where my boss refused to let us take the time to fix the hydraulic platform we were working on to the wall. We ended up standing at the height of a 5th floor, on a platform filled with bricks, which wobbled on all sides and could have toppled over with a good gust of wind. It was clearly against safety regulations, but what mattered to my boss was that we saved 30 min here and there, no matter how much we risked our lives. He told me directly that if I didn’t feel comfortable, all I had to do was find another job, knowing full well that I was about to move to another city and needed all the hours I could get. He made it clear that under capitalism, workers’ safety is always less important than the bosses’ profits.
–François H., Montreal
