Worker’s death from asbestosis takes lasting toll on his family
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/04/2015 (4029 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Henry Lawrence’s family mourned his death long before he died of asbestosis.
“For the last 20 or 30 years, I saw him go down bit by bit by bit and suffer,” said his son, Earl Lawrence.
Earl spoke about his father, who succumbed to the disease in December, during a gathering at Brandon City Hall Tuesday on the National Day of Mourning to remember those killed by acute hazards and occupational illnesses.
“My dad’s world was turned upside down because he was doing his job,” he said. “He wasn’t careless.
“It’s so hard to think that part of the joy in his life was work and through no fault of his own, he got exposed to something that caused his death.”
The Lawrence family is still dealing with the emotional and financial fallout of the death and continues to fight for compensation.
Dan Robertson, Brandon director of the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba, spoke during the ceremony, though he didn’t reference Lawrence’s file specifically.
“Despite continuing calls for workplace safety, fatalities are still a sad reality in Manitoba,” he told the crowd of about 30.
“Losing a loved one to an unnecessary and preventable workplace incident is devastating … I call on each one of us to commit ourselves to making our province safer for all our workers.”
According to Safe Workers of Tomorrow, 26 workers were killed or suffered fatal diseases while on the job in Manitoba last year and each of the names were read out during the Brandon ceremony.
Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres), president of the Brandon District Labour Council, criticized the federal government for its lack of progress on workplace health and safety — specifically regarding asbestos.
“It refuses to move forward with a registry of buildings containing asbestos,” she said. “The single largest cause of workplace death continues to be exposure to asbestos, yet our federal government refuses to listen.”
During the event, Brandon East NDP MLA and Municipal Government Minister Drew Caldwell issued a “call to arms” for people to actively participate in the federal election in the fall and provincial election next spring.
“There’s a lot of issues at a national level that are transforming this country and not in a way organized labour … would feel comfortable supporting,” Caldwell said, tying the federal government’s attitude toward workers’ rights in with the recent changes to Canada Post and cuts to the CBC.
This year’s National Day of Mourning had a focus on new workers in Canada, of whom Brandon continues to see an influx.
“We need to pay special attention to them as we build a safer and safer workplace,” said Brandon Mayor Rick Chrest.
» gbruce@brandonsun.com
» Twitter: @grjbruce