Kahnawake Labor Office ramps up activities

08/13/2024

The Kahnawà:ke Labor Office (KLO) wishes to announce its commitment to moving forward on initiatives that will provide political, social, and economic benefits to the community and, especially, to the local workforce. The timing of today’s announcement has its merits.

“With large-scale projects underway or in the planning stages (the new Cultural Arts building, the recently announced outdoor rink project, and the upcoming work to replace the Onake Paddling Club building), there is no better time to renew our efforts to improve and ensure the safety and health of our workers,” said Jeff Morris, the Director of the KLO.

The socio-economic benefits of adequate or improved health and safety cannot be underestimated. A safe workplace and better-trained workers ensure efficiency and less time lost to workplace injuries.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the Labor Agreement between Kahnawà:ke and the province (signed in December 2014), the KLO will begin an information/educational campaign to help give the community a better sense of the services that are already provided, and the important role that it plays.

“We need to create better two-way communication with the community, which includes a better awareness of the work that we do at the KLO,” Morris added. “We also realize we need to improve the levels of service provided to workers in the construction trades.”

“With the changing demographics in Kahnawà:ke, we can’t take for granted that everyone knows about the importance of the political work that has brought us to the point where we have jurisdiction over such matters as worker certification and Mohawk Self Insurance and, especially, worker safety and health,” said Ohén:ton Í:rate ne Ratitsénhaienhs Cody Diabo. “We need to build on those foundations. Having knowledge of where we’ve been gives us a better foundation of understanding where we need to go.”

A barbecue event is planned for later in the month to help familiarize community members with the KLO, its staff, and the work that it does.

In the coming months, the KLO will prepare to reintroduce a proposed Kahnawà:ke occupational health and safety law to establish, among other things, methods required to ensure that health and safety are a top priority for community workers.

“This law has been in discussion for many years and, as we mentioned earlier, the time is right,” Morris concluded. “To make it work, we will need to ensure we reach out to all sectors of the community – from the business owners to the workers, and to everyone in between.”