Category: Union News

This Sunday, April 28, marks the National Day of Mourning, a time for all of us to stand together and remember the workers who have been killed on the job, suffered injury or illness, or experienced a workplace tragedy. We especially commemorate those members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, who have […]

This Sunday, April 28, marks the National Day of Mourning, a time for all of us to stand together and remember the workers who have been killed on the job, suffered injury or illness, or experienced a workplace tragedy.

We especially commemorate those members of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 793, who have lost their lives at work, and the loved ones they left behind.

Tragically on November 17, 2023, 31-year-old Local 793 member Mike Murphy was killed in a workplace fatality.  Brother Mike, a hydrovac operator, was a six-year member of Local 793.  He recently married and was just beginning his new life as a husband. Brother Mike leaves behind his wife, Hayley.

We operate in an industry where any error of judgement or slip in safety standards could lead to disaster. That is why my top priority as Business Manager has always been the safety and wellbeing of members.

It is also why Local 793 created the Everyone Deserves to Get Home Safe social media ad campaign late last year that educated the public on safety when travelling through a work zone. It is why we worked so long to push through new crane safety regulations that were finally brought in by the province at the start of this year. It is why we are now demanding mandatory training and compulsory certification for concrete pumps.

Today is also an opportunity for each member to restate their own commitment to upholding workplace safety – whether that is by always wearing the appropriate PPE and encouraging others to do so or by using their right under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to refuse work that could endanger themselves or others.

You are the eyes and ears of the Union, so I urge you to raise any and all safety concerns you may have with your Steward or Business Rep.

Please take a few moments now to read through the names below of those Local 793 members who have been killed at work. Their names are carved into the memorial on the grounds of the Oakville head office, standing as a permanent reminder of what can happen when worker safety is not prioritized.

We must all continue to work to ensure that the list does not grow any longer.

Yours fraternally,

Mike Gallagher
Business Manager, IUOE Local 793

LOCAL 793 MEMBERS WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF CONSTRUCTION SITE ACCIDENTS OR DUE TO OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESSES:

1. William Henry Munroe – November 4, 1970
2. Lambros Kordas – March 21, 1977
3. Joe Petrik – March 21, 1977
4. John W. Jr. Hunt – September 2, 1980
5. Bruce Norman Higgs – February 6, 1981
6. Roger Michael Sokoloski – November 2, 1984
7. Gerard Drapeau – August 5, 1987
8. Robert Jr. Baxter – September 25, 1987
9. Lynda Baker – September 14, 1989
10. Marc Roy – July 23, 1992
11. Elzear Dignard – August 4, 1992
12. Wallace Culp – November 16, 1993
13. Charles Barton – December 20, 1994
14. Robert Gerritsen – September 17, 1995
15. Donald Crawley – October 6, 1995
16. Earl Anness – January 17, 1996
17. Ronald Girard – May 17, 1996
18. Patrick Kelly – October 20, 1997
19. Edward Cox – June 14, 2001
20. Scott Mason – August 8, 2001
21. James Clement – October 26, 2001
22. Ryan Clement – October 26, 2001
23. Kenneth Gardiner – January 11, 2002
24. John Aarts – February 8, 2002
25. Allen Manchester – November 3, 2003
26. Michael Hipson – January 23, 2006
27. Kent Walker – May 15, 2006
28. Donald Duncan – October 13, 2007
29. Major Singh Dhadda – October 29, 2007
30. Giovanni De Francesco – January 1, 2009
31. Keith Gudmundson – January 19, 2010
32. Vince De Paepe – July 3, 2011
33. Patrick Gartlan – July 15, 2011
34. Kyle Knox – October 11, 2011
35. Maurice La Chapelle – March 9, 2012
36. Lee Antoniak – April 9, 2012
37. Renato Marchione – July 12, 2012
38. Jamie Drew Davis – July 12, 2015
39. Marc Normand – November 2, 2015
40. Claude Joly – December 15, 2016
41. Wayne H. McPhail – April 6, 2017
42. Eric Wheeler – May 6, 2019
43. Sylvio Paquette – July 10, 2019
44. Cody Proulx – February 24, 2021
45. James DiMarco – June 3, 2021
46. Ernesto Campoli – June 1, 2022
47. Mike Murphy – November 17, 2023

 

The Jack Redshaw Scholarship is now open and accepting applicants. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, September 13th, 2024. Dependents and grandchildren of Local 793 members can apply for the Jack Redshaw Scholarship as long as the Union member is in good standing at the time of selection. Log in to the Local 793 […]

The Jack Redshaw Scholarship is now open and accepting applicants. The deadline to submit applications is Friday, September 13th, 2024.

Dependents and grandchildren of Local 793 members can apply for the Jack Redshaw Scholarship as long as the Union member is in good standing at the time of selection.

Log in to the Local 793 members’ website to download the application form or contact any Local 793 area office.

Click here to see full details: https://iuoelocal793.org/why-join/awards/

Working for Marathon Underground, Local 793 members Liam Tracey and McGyver Barber help construct a 900-unit high-rise complex development on Carling Avenue in Ottawa. Brother McGyver operates a Liebherr LB 44-510 drilling rig and Brother Liam operates a Cat 420 XE backhoe loader. The project will see the construction of four buildings; two mixed-use high […]

Working for Marathon Underground, Local 793 members Liam Tracey and McGyver Barber help construct a 900-unit high-rise complex development on Carling Avenue in Ottawa. Brother McGyver operates a Liebherr LB 44-510 drilling rig and Brother Liam operates a Cat 420 XE backhoe loader.

The project will see the construction of four buildings; two mixed-use high rise buildings fronting onto Carling Avenue, and two mid-rise residential buildings fronting onto the adjacent local side streets.

Members in the road building sector received a boost this week after the federal and provincial governments reached an agreement to move forward with the construction of the long-delayed Highway 413. The deal means the proposed six-lane, 52-kilometre highway project connecting Halton and York regions can proceed without a fully-fledged federal environmental assessment, which Ontario […]

Members in the road building sector received a boost this week after the federal and provincial governments reached an agreement to move forward with the construction of the long-delayed Highway 413.

The deal means the proposed six-lane, 52-kilometre highway project connecting Halton and York regions can proceed without a fully-fledged federal environmental assessment, which Ontario Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria said would have extended the delay by about five years.

The federal government had suspended work on the project in 2021 by using its powers under the Impact Assessment Act (IAA), mainly in response to concerns raised by environmental groups about the new route adding to urban sprawl and endangering at-risk species such as the western chorus frog.

After the Supreme Court cast doubt on the constitutionality of the IAA last year, the federal government softened its stance, paving the way for this agreement.

The two levels of government will now form a working group using its “collective expertise” to protect the environment and ensure impacts to species at risk are considered before the project moves into a design stage

As a result, the province now hopes that work on the new highway will begin within the next year.

Members of Local 793 are being asked to stand up for fellow skilled trades workers by sending a strong message to the federal government that they must ensure Canadian workers are not being sidelined in favour of international workers at the NextStar EV Battery Plant in Windsor. The $5 billion plant is owned by LG […]

Members of Local 793 are being asked to stand up for fellow skilled trades workers by sending a strong message to the federal government that they must ensure Canadian workers are not being sidelined in favour of international workers at the NextStar EV Battery Plant in Windsor.

The $5 billion plant is owned by LG and Stellantis. The companies promised the plant would employ thousands of local workers and then lobbied for, and won, $15 billion in federal and provincial government subsidies. Now, LG and Stellantis are bringing in international workers to do the work Canadian skilled trades workers were promised.

Local 793 is urging members to join the campaign run by the Provincial Building Trades Council, Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU) and the Essex and Kent Building Trades Council to ensure Canadian workers are prioritized at the new plant.

Next Steps

It’s easy and takes less than 2 minutes.

The CBTU has already drafted a letter of support for you. CLICK HERE to tell your local MP they need to make LG and Stellantis hire Canadian.

Please share this letter campaign with your Brothers and Sisters and encourage them to participate.

Below is the letter sent by the CBTU to Essex-Kent Building Trades Workers.

Deadline for applications for the Ray Goodfellow Scholarship Fund is Monday, April 22, 2024. To be eligible for this scholarship, the applicant must be a child or grandchild of one of the following: A Crane Rental Association of Ontario (CRAO) contractor company owner; or An IUOE Local 793 member in good standing who is employed […]

Deadline for applications for the Ray Goodfellow Scholarship Fund is Monday, April 22, 2024.

To be eligible for this scholarship, the applicant must be a child or grandchild of one of the following:

• A Crane Rental Association of Ontario (CRAO) contractor company owner; or
• An IUOE Local 793 member in good standing who is employed by a company that is an active member of the CRAO that works in the crane rental or concrete pump sectors.

To download an application to the Ray Goodfellow Scholarship Fund, or to see other scholarships & bursaries available to Local 793 members’ families, CLICK HERE.

While many people will be excited to experience the solar eclipse as it travels through much of Ontario today, Local 793 members are reminded that the rare event also presents a safety hazard. Across the province, the eclipse will start at approximately 2 p.m. before peaking between 3:15 and 3:25 p.m. in most major cities. […]

While many people will be excited to experience the solar eclipse as it travels through much of Ontario today, Local 793 members are reminded that the rare event also presents a safety hazard.

Across the province, the eclipse will start at approximately 2 p.m. before peaking between 3:15 and 3:25 p.m. in most major cities. While all of the province will see a partial eclipse, only certain areas will experience totality, including Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Fort Erie, Kingston, and Burlington.

While it may be tempting to look up as the moon passes between the earth and the sun, doing so could result in damaging your eyes.

Overexposure to UV light from the sun can cause blurry or distorted vision and blind spots and can also contribute to longer-term vision problems. There are no pain sensors in your eyes, so it is possible you will not know your eyes have been damaged by the sun’s rays for up to 48 hours after the event.

The only safe way to directly look at a solar eclipse is by using eclipse glasses or solar viewers that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard. It is not safe to watch the eclipse with regular sunglasses (no matter how dark they are), a welder’s mask with a filter rating below Shade 14, or a camera, telescope or binoculars unless they are fitted with specially designed filters.

Members could also face other hazards during the eclipse, such as distracted drivers on the roads and temporary darkness making fellow workers or jobsite obstacles difficult to spot. By following the safety guidelines, all members will be able to enjoy the solar eclipse safely.

Ontario’s path of totality of the solar eclipse of April 8, 2024

All times are local.
Source: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

IUOE Local 793 member Shanna Hodgins is the focus of a new video that was released by the Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen (OBCT), a committee established by the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO) to advocate for women in the skilled trades. In the video, Sister Hodgins tells her story of […]

IUOE Local 793 member Shanna Hodgins is the focus of a new video that was released by the Ontario Building and Construction Tradeswomen (OBCT), a committee established by the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario (PBCTCO) to advocate for women in the skilled trades.

In the video, Sister Hodgins tells her story of how she went from selling cranes to operating them, with help from IUOE Local 793 and the Operating Engineers Training Institute of Ontario (OETIO). The OBCT hopes her experience will show other women and girls that there is a route into the skilled trades open to them and that a career as an Operating Engineer can be both exciting and financially rewarding.

Watch the OBCT video on IUOE Local 793 member Shanna Hodgins: