= Truckers are often forced to
work 16-18 hrs. Norman Garcia

Ss I TOT twelve

hour days for truck drivers

In April the USW sent a submis-
Fars aa) aA

pr?
Ing Tor

drive. coordina

tor Ron Corbeil noted that driv-
ers’ peuormances cetenelate

after 8 h
federal regulations, ealliag, for
14 hour days, don’t deal with
fatigue or allow sufficient time
to rest and recover. Personal
health suffers and evidence

A A . ae a

9g
truck crashes.
THA

i

1 188 replica

NORMAN GARCIA

BC FOREST INDUSTRY KILLS MORE THAN ANY OTHER

BC deaths hit a 2 5 year high

THE DEATH COUNT in BC workplaces is
out of control. Last year there were 43 forest
industry workers who were killed in trau-

in th

ig the

as Debbi

facaas of the late "Turbo" Ted Gramlic, a a

Codd,

ce. And thi
ers have died as of late June.
‘0 commemorate the worst work death
count in 25 years, Steelworkers from Lower
Mainland local unions 5 (Locals I oe, 2052

Vancouver Island. Hlanked by Brother Hunt
and a close friend f Ted,

Ms. Geddes outlined some of the circum-
stances around Ted's deai

He was working alone, some 45 minutes
Com hic fall Frct aid 4

BE
Tn lon | bill heck

truckers’ h
12 per day, five days a week;
there must be 12 hours

and 1-350

Gnioiets fried and friends, who marched
through the streets of downtown ee

on Apa 28 - is Day, of Me

reduced to
t at |, ot

g

rest per get paid
by the hour and not trip; there
be expansion of the hauling

season nto 10 ponte in ee for-

th
inclusion of trucking in a full-
scale, independent review of
eva thin cot ayn

g fe}

contributed to forest industry

deaths. The union represent
ma (6) A

The symbolic procession ae at the
Vancouver Art Gallery and wound down
Georgia to Burrard, on northwards to the
Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre
where a huge rally took place.

The sombre atmosphere saw many of the
black mae supplied by the Teamsters’ s
Union, w.

“Viewing 188 coffins in procession is a

unt. “Things are getting worse. We know
ihre Roh An Fite} P

Interior regions of BC.

PP
in other industries and workplaces too.”

when his f p

him. Gramlich had been struck in an acci-

dent and lay bleeding on the hill. It took

some 2.5 hours from that time, for Ted to be

evacuated. He was pronounced dead on
rrival at the hospital in Duncan

"My message is that the system has been
broken and it has to be fixed," Geddes told
the crowd, adding that there has to be time
to plan logging and evacuation procedures
and have proper resources available, in the
event of accidents.

She thanked the Steelworkers and the
Vancouver Island Safety Support group for
their sree and said that labour, the WCB,

employ

o
“aL

"You do not realize what you have until
it's gone," she said.

16 | JUNE 2006 THE ALLIED WORKER