Interview Transcript:
Sebastien Sheldon: For this audio interview, I’m here with Don McConnell, who is a former worker of the GE plant in Peterborough as well as a former member of the Occupational and Environmental Health Coalition of Peterborough. So, Don, tell me a little bit about your relationship with John and how you knew him.
Don McConnell: Okay, well we both worked in the plant, we both started in the sixties, only I started ’62 and he probably started a little later. But anyway, in 1976 they formed the safety act, and well when they brought in [the safety act], they would have the right to bring safety [representatives] in the plants, and he was one of the four [representatives]. But I didn’t really real close to him in the plant, but after I retired in 2001 … in 1974 we formed an intake clinic. You might have heard of that already, a … centre for employees to go, and [Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)], and the union, and I think the compensation boards. The employees could come with problems and we would interview them and write down the problems they had and what they worked in and so forth. I think we had seen what’s around 700 at that time. But anyway, he and I got involved in, with OHCOW and the union. We did interviews of employees, and they told us all the processes they did and so forth, and that’s when I really got to know John then. And we worked together right until his health went bad and he passed away.
Sebastien: So in the time that you got to know John a bit better, what quality in him impressed you the most?
Don: Oh, his determination for justice, so that the employees would get help with the compensation board and that there should be something done about it. And then he was very vocal in the plant where there was hazardous work going on, and trying to rectify that to be a healthier place to work, which was the battle with the company, and the union of course, both where some people on the union were against it and some were with them.
Sebastien: And so, in his pursuit of justice that he was so determined in, what impact do you believe John’s work had on achieving justice for workers injured by exposures at the plant?
Don: Well, some, but not enough. Not near enough. The compensation board were turning claims down left and right, and he was doing his best to get people help financially for what they went through. And of course the compensation board was fighting the other way, and they weren’t testing all the chemicals and different materials that were in there that would cause the different cancers and so forth. But they seemed to be picking and choosing who they give claims to, and some never ever got claims. A lot of them didn’t.
Sebastien: Mhmm. Well, Don, it’s been wonderful having the opportunity to speak with you. I want to thank you for taking the time to do this interview and to be a part of this project.
End of Interview