Reviewing labour organization for asphalt workers
Asphalt workers fix Quebec’s roads. It’s a truckload of work! And you’re under a lot of pressure to work overtime. It’s time to rethink your labour organization so you can get better working conditions.
Start construction on a regional basis
Weather slows down work on asphalt job sites. Delays start to add up and pressure on workers to do overtime builds. To have a little more flexibility, why not give the go-ahead to get started earlier in the spring in regions where the weather is good enough?
Planning for replacement workers
You have the right to eat and rest just like every other worker in Quebec! Your employer needs to plan ahead and give you morning, noon, and afternoon breaks and provide washrooms.
Keeping asphalt workers safe
Your work on asphalt sites is a seasonal job where the years go by but no two are quite alike. Some of you log 500 working hours while others hit 1,700. But job security isn’t always part of the equation. A job security clause that’s tailored to your situation would certainly make this trade more attractive. For example, raising the waiting period for having to hire a worker from 6 to 12 months.
Give a raise to gaugemen and racleurs
Gaugemen (gars de vis) and racleurs do tasks that have direct impacts on the quality of the work. The importance of the role they play should be recognized with a pay increase.
Working safely on asphalting sites
Roadwork sites are the most dangerous in the construction industry. We’ve been working with the Quebec ministry of transportation (le ministère des Transports du Québec) since 2019 to make workers on road sites safer.
Limiting exposure to asphalt fumes
Do you suffer from headaches, nausea, dizziness or eye or respiratory irritation? You might be affected by toxic offgassing from fresh asphalt.
High durability asphalt (bitume haute résistance) is being used more and more often but it’s more harmful to our workers because it contains higher amounts of chemical additives.
And we don’t have much information on the toxicity of this new asphalt. Until we get results from the lab department at the workplace health and safety research centre Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST), keep your guard up and try to limit your contact with high durability asphalt.
