(Quebec) The Legault government is preparing to allow carpenters to operate heavy machinery, without them having the necessary training.
This is what is supported by the Union of Heavy Machinery Operators, local 791, which denounces the principle of “versatility” enshrined in Bill 51.
At a press briefing in Quebec on Monday, its general director, Marc Leclerc, said he feared that untrained workers would find themselves in control of heavy machinery.
He asks to “exclude” the profession of heavy machinery operator from the principle of “versatility” to protect the health and safety of workers and the public.
“If I were a simple citizen on the street, close to heavy machinery, and we have reached a concept of versatility where anyone can jump on it, I would move further away,” declared Mr. Leclerc.
“Just hanging a lever, a simple centimeter, at the end of the machine, it can represent a meter with a force […] super high. […] In heavy machinery, […] everything is amplified,” he added.
Mr. Leclerc said that Labor Minister Jean Boulet had “listened” but not “heard” his arguments.
He was concerned about a possible increase in accidents if Bill 51 is adopted in its current form, which he said would not increase efficiency on construction sites.
“Work accidents don’t speed up the work. Work done by people with no experience does not speed it up,” argued Mr. Leclerc, who does not rule out recourse to the courts.
Bill 51, tabled on 1er last February, aims to modernize the construction industry, in particular by decompartmentalizing the trades, a long-standing employer demand.
Minister Boulet excluded certain trades from his bill for safety reasons (electrician, refrigeration engineer, elevator mechanic, etc.) – but not heavy machinery operator.
On Monday, his cabinet responded to the Operators’ Union’s exit, saying “there was never any question of putting the health and safety of construction workers at risk.”
“The assertions raised by the Union […] are inaccurate, because the concept of versatility only applies in the same work sequence,” said communications director Marie Barrette.
Bill 51 – which, according to Marc Leclerc, poorly defines the sharing of tasks – stipulates that three conditions must be satisfied:
- These tasks are linked to those provided for in the definition of the journeyman’s profession;
- They are part of the same work sequence and allow progress and continuity of work;
- They are both of short duration and carried out during the same working day.
According to Mr. Leclerc, Minister Boulet would be taking an irresponsible action by adopting Bill 51 in its current form.