The Kahnawà:ke Labor Office (KLO) is encouraged by the responses it has received so far at Kiosks being held in the community to provide information on the proposed Kahnawà:ke Labor Code, and to gather community input on the various aspects of the proposed law. Most important, visitors to the kiosk have been consistent in their support for a Kahnawà:ke-based law that reinforces community jurisdiction over occupational health & safety; workplace accidents & occupational diseases; and labor standards.
“The amount of support we have received has given us the confidence to prepare for the next steps in creating a Labor Code,” said KLO Director Jeff Morris. “In a job market survey conducted earlier in the year, there was a question on whether participants would support legislation asserting Kahnawà:ke’s own jurisdiction on labor standards and workplace health and safety. In that survey, over 75% of respondents indicated that they would support this, with less than 4% saying they wouldn’t. The remaining 20% were unsure.
This continuation of this trend was indicated at recent kiosks held in the past several weeks.
“Since that time, it seems that support has actually grown,” Mr. Morris continued. “The numbers of ‘undecideds’ and those ‘against’ dropped, while the ‘support’ numbers increased to over 90%. We didn’t announce this information earlier, in order to avoid influencing participants’ opinions,” he added. “But the support is more than encouraging, as it clearly shows that we are on the right path. Gathering community input is incredibly important as we move towards creating a draft that reflects the community’s wants and needs as it pertains to, especially, improving the health, safety, and rights of Kahnawà:ke’s working people.”
A Technical Drafting Team has been formed to begin the task of creating a suitable draft.
“The most important goal is to ensure that the community’s feedback and ideas are incorporated in a law that will reflect both fairness and strength for both the workers and businesses in Kahnawake” he concluded.
Further kiosks and focus groups are scheduled in preparation for the Community Decision Making & Review Process hearings begin in the months to come.
