On August 8 CBC showed a documentary about the General Electric plant in Peterborough, Ontario, which mercifully was shut down two years ago. The program focused on the attempts of a group who called themselves the Coalition of Widows, to get compensation from Ontario's Workplace and Safety Board for the deaths of relatives who worked with toxic chemicals at GE, such as asbestos, cyanide and PVC, which they were told were not harmful.
Most of the deceased were long serving workers at GE, some of whom had questioned if their work was safe, but three Mayors of Peterborough took no action against GE, it being the Cities main employer.
Of the 250 claims submitted to the Board only 71 were compensated, causing one ex-employee to ask, ''What chance does a guy with a grade ten education have against a powerful corporation with all the resources in the world?''
Another said, ''As long as they were making money they didn't give a damn about the health of their workers.''
And that’s a lesson capitalism teaches workers over and over again.
Yours for Socialism,
SPC contributing members
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