August 1,
2012 - No. 104
Alberta
• The People Must Hold Their MLAs to Account
• Federation of Labour Celebrates 100th
Anniversary
Stand
as
One
Against the Assault on Workers, Their Unions and Their Rights!
• Oppose the Use of Temporary Foreign Workers
as Strikebreakers -
Peggy Askin
• Support Monterey Place
Health Care Workers
• Government Declares Replacement Workers Have
"Right to Practical Anonymity"
- Rita Soto
• Injured Workers Fight for Their
Rights - Peggy Morton
For Your Information
• Workers'
Compensation Board
Bonus System
Alberta
The People Must Hold Their MLAs to Account
The First Session of the 28th Alberta Legislature
following the
April 24 re-election of Alison Redford's majority Tory government began
May 23 and adjourned a week later. The abbreviated session accomplished
very little and was roundly denounced by the people of Alberta who
rightly demanded that, with
the election completed, the members of the Legislature should get down
to business and start discussing and solving the problems faced by the
people, which is what they were elected to do.
The brief May session continued the trend of Alberta
Members of the
Legislative Assembly sitting shorter sessions and fewer days than most
other provincial legislatures. Premier Redford had originally planned
to cancel the entire fall 2011 session, but the Legislature sat two
days in October before adjourning
for a month. The Alberta legislature sat 47 days in 2011 or 13 per cent
of the year, with only New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador and
Prince Edward Island sitting fewer days. In 2010, Alberta MLAs sat 50
days; with only British Columbia and PEI sitting fewer. As the years go
by, the Alberta Legislature
has been sitting fewer and fewer total days.
The question arises that if Alberta MLAs sit in the
Legislature for
only 47 days a year, what are they doing the rest of the time? They
would likely reply that they are representing their constituents and
working to solve the problems that they face, but if this is the case
then they should be able to provide concrete
evidence that they are doing so. If there is unemployment in a riding
and working people's livelihoods are at risk, what is the MLA doing
about that? If a certain development is needed in a riding, for
example, improvement of a dangerous highway, what is the MLA doing
about that? If farms are going bankrupt
in a riding, what is the MLA doing about that? If public education is
under attack in a riding, what is the MLA doing about that?
One of the main activities to date of the MLAs of the
long-ruling
Tory party has been to swagger about their ridings like feudal lords,
giving orders and exacting tribute from their "vassals" in various
forms, such as high-priced dinners and similar kinds of events. This
tribute has even violated provincial laws,
for example, cash donations being made by post-secondary educational
institutions to the ruling party in hopes of obtaining increased
funding for education. An atmosphere has been created that to "get
something" from the ruling party the people in a riding must show
obedience and "give something" to those in power.
This is also used during elections to suggest that people should only
vote for the ruling party because candidates elected from other parties
or independents will be unable to make deals with those in power.
Another observation made by many is that the candidates
of the
ruling party seem to spend all their time in and out of the Legislature
serving the interests of the energy monopolies, completely ignoring the
interests of the people. This is not surprising as it is well known
that the energy monopolies are the real
rulers of Alberta and the Tory party is their current champion. Even
those Tory MLAs who try to serve the interests of their constituents in
some very small way that slightly restricts monopoly right are quickly
quashed by their own party and forcefully reminded that their role is
to serve the monopolies and not the
people.
There is a need for democratic renewal in Alberta, as in
all parts
of Canada. One important aspect is that elected officials cannot just
get away with making election promises but must be actually held to
account by the people. Democracy is far more than casting a single vote
and then waiting for the next election.
One way to begin holding MLAs to account would be to launch an
investigation into the question of what it is that the MLAs spend their
time doing, both inside and outside the Legislature. People could form
committees in each riding to lead the work of conducting the inquiry,
then report the findings and have
them deliberated on. A necessary condition for the renewal of the
political process is to have people participate in setting agendas and
exercising control over decisions which affect their lives. By
inquiring about the activities of MLAs, citizens and residents could
become better informed about the political system and how it functions.
Federation of Labour Celebrates 100th
Anniversary
On June 16, more than 3,000 workers and their
allies participated in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the
founding of the Alberta Federation of Labour at Fort Edmonton Park in
Edmonton. The day-long event was the culmination of centennial
activities right across the province which have taken place
over the last several months.
Large numbers of volunteers were in the park from
early morning. At 11:00 a.m. the day's events officially began with a
march from the entrance gates through the park. Workers from one end of
the province to the other joined in, union banners and flags flying
high. Other organizations also participated, including
a contingent from CPC(M-L). As the march went through the park,
slogans rang out "Fighting for the Rights of All -- One Hundred Years
and More," "Whose Resources? Our Resources -- Who Decides? We Decide,"
"So, So, So, Solidarity," "Public Health Care Yes -- Private Health
Care
No!," "Education is a Right"
and many more.
The march ended by the Blatchford Hanger where
many of the day's events were centred. Banners were hung from the fence
and provided a festive and militant atmosphere. A large open tent
housed the booths of many unions and organizations. Throughout the day
people visited the displays and booths. Activists
and many youth from the United Food and Commercial Workers, all clad in
colourful anti-CLAC (Christian Labour Organization of Canada) t-shirts
circulated petitions making everyone aware of the anti-union Bill
C-377 which would force unions to publish all information about their
finances, reveal the state of their strike fund and what campaigns they
are
organizing, among other things that employers could use to undermine
them. Workers from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)
explained how public service cuts affect us all, and all day long
people were signing "pink slips" to
give their member of parliament. The Canadian Union of Postal Workers
(CUPW) had a big display that included photos from the 2011 rotating
strike
and lockout, and they explained their legal battle against the Harper
government's back-to-work legislation and their fight against the
Modern Post. Many other unions
representing workers from all the sectors of economy highlighted the
fights they are waging in defence of their rights, through information
booths, union T-shirts, caps and buttons.
The event was open to all workers and their
families, as well as other members of the community. During the day
many activities were organized for children, along with a seniors' tea
for retired workers and a beer tent where workers socialized.
An open convention took place in the afternoon. It
opened with a cultural presentation, including music from the Edmonton
choir Notre Dame and a slide show bringing
to life the 100 years of resistance and organizing, beginning with the
establishment of unions in the coal mines and the role of the miners
in uniting workers and farmers across the province in the establishment
of the Federation of Labour in Calgary in 1912. It highlighted some of
the significant fights which workers have waged in Alberta over the
past 100 years. Following the cultural presentation, Gil McGowan,
President of the AFL welcomed everyone
to the Convention. Barb Byers, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian
Labour Congress (CLC) brought greetings and congratulations from the
CLC. Past presidents of the AFL spoke of their experiences. Two awards,
the International Women's Day award and the May Day award were
presented.
One of the highlights of the day's events was a
musical performance by Maria Dunn, Shannon Johnson and Terry Morrison,
featuring a
centennial song, the smash hit "Here We Are" by Maria, a well-known
Edmonton singer-songwriter, commissioned by the AFL.
Close to a thousand people attended the dinner and
festivities and music continued long into the night.
Throughout the day the celebratory atmosphere was
so evident. Many people reconnected with former co-workers and with
workers from other sectors with whom they had organized
over the years. Worker after worker raised the war that Harper is
waging on the working class and that workers
must put an end to this nation-wrecking. Workers spoke of their
plants being bought out by arrogant U.S. monopolies who declare that
the workers should accept concessions or they will shut down their
Canadian factories and mills. They spoke about the devastation of mill
closures, raising the demand that the shipping
of raw logs be stopped and that instead Canadian manufacturing and
processing be developed. Big
oil should not be permitted to ship raw bitumen, they said. The need to
wage an all-out fight against the attack on Employment Insurance and
to change the temporary foreign workers program was on many people's
minds, as the monopolies
are demanding that governments act to lower wages and the living
standard of
workers and all Canadians.
Discussion took place everywhere, and what was
most evident was the consciousness of the role that the organized
workers' movement has played in defending the rights of all and that
only the workers' opposition can provide a new direction. The
celebration was an occasion to pay tribute to the fighting spirit
of workers over the past 100 years as workers give rise to what is
required now to uphold public right, stop Harper's nation-wrecking and
resolve the crisis in favour of the people.
Stand as One Against the
Assault on Workers, Their Unions and Their Rights!
Oppose the Use of Temporary Foreign Workers as
Strikebreakers
- Peggy Askin -
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE)
has filed a complaint against Park Place Seniors Living Inc., after it
was learned that the company is illegally using temporary foreign
workers to replace staff on strike at Hardisty Care Centre in Edmonton.
The union learned of the situation when a temporary
foreign worker informed the union.
AUPE has filed a complaint with the
federal
government. Federal Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulation
Division 3 prohibits work permits when "the specific work that the
foreign national intends to perform is likely to adversely affect the
settlement of any labour dispute in progress or the employment
of any person involved in the dispute."
AUPE President Guy Smith said the rule protects
vulnerable workers from being exploited by employers in labour
disputes. "Canadians have the right to refuse to cross a picket line,
but if temporary foreign workers do so they fear losing their job and
their right to remain in the country. That's an enormous imbalance
of power ripe for abuse," said Smith.
The complaint sheds further light on the decision
by the Alberta Attorney General to try to appeal the Court's decision
in United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW) Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney General) as to
whether a
union can publish pictures of people crossing a picket line. The
Privacy Commissioner's attempt to ban publication of photos of scab
replacement workers or others crossing a picket line directly
serves the interests of employers like Park Place who illegally hire
temporary foreign workers to act as strikebreakers.
This disgraceful situation is yet another proof
that the temporary foreign workers program should be scrapped and
replaced with a modern immigration system on the basis of status for
all.
The Harper government has been making profound
changes to the temporary foreign workers program linked to its changes
in the Employment Insurance (EI) program to serve the demands of the
monopolies to lower the
living standard of Canadian workers and push wages down.
What further arrangements will be put in place to
serve the demand of the monopolies that governments act to drive down
the standard of living of all workers in Canada is a matter of
contention at this time. The monopolies complain that the form of
modern-day slavery known as the temporary foreign workers
program is "too costly" and the Harper dictatorship has responded with
new regulations permitting temporary foreign workers to be hired at
wages 15 per cent below industry standards. EI
recipients will be forced to accept work that is up to 30 per cent less
than their
previous job or lose their EI.
But this is not enough for big oil and other
monopolies who want direct control of immigration. Their vehicle of
choice would
be the provincial nominee program which in name gives the authority to
accept immigrants to provincial governments, but in reality hands this
power over to the monopolies. The Harper government
is not amenable to such arrangements and has responded that it has
already greatly increased the number of immigrants who come through the
provincial nominee program. Further, while each province sets the
requirements for provincial nominees, the Harper government is
implementing new rules effective July 1 that require applicants in
professions deemed semi-skilled or
low-skilled to pass language testing for listening, speaking, reading
and writing. Only nominees who are working as temporary foreign workers
as of July 1, 2012 and who are nominated by their employers by July
1, 2013 are exempt from the language
requirements.
These attacks on all Canadians with the aim of
lowering the standard of living and working conditions of all must not
pass!
Support Monterey Place Health Care Workers
On Tuesday, June 26, more than 90 Calgary health care
workers at
Monterey Place were locked out by their employer. Monterey Place is an
assisted living facility providing care to seniors and others requiring
this level of care. Owned by Triple A Living Inc., Monterey Place
receives
public funding to pay its staff
on par with workers employed by Alberta Health Services doing the same
jobs. As a private, for-profit organization, Triple A pays the workers
-- Licensed Practical Nurses, health care aides and general support
staff -- on average 27 per cent less than Alberta Health Services staff.
The workers explained that paying substandard
wages means Monterey
ends up with a shortage of staff, remaining staff that are overworked,
leading to a lack of consistent care for the seniors and other
residents. The workers emphasized that they care deeply for the
residents and are concerned for their welfare.
Despite the fact that residents were told to stay away from the picket
line, many residents and their families have joined the workers on the
picket line, expressing their support for the workers and indicating
that they miss the workers who have been locked out.
While Monterey has brought in "replacement workers," it
was pointed
out that they are in fact irreplaceable, that no one knows the
residents and the facility and their co-workers in the same way.
The workers are maintaining a very lively picket line,
with songs,
chants, and drumming, reinforced by the greetings from residents and
the families of residents who indicate they will tell their neighbours
and friends about their situation, phone their MLA, and so on.
Members of the general public can express their support
and visit the picket line, located at 4288 Catalina Blvd NE, Calgary.
Government Declares Replacement
Workers Have a "Right to Practical Anonymity"
- Rita Soto -
Alberta's Privacy Commissioner announced in June 4
that she will apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal
the recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal in United
Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney
General), 2012 ABCA 130. The Court of
Appeal ruled that Alberta's Personal Information Protection
Act (PIPA) is unconstitutional because
it infringes the Union's Charter right to freedom of expression and
gave the Alberta government one year to make changes to the law.
In 2006 during a strike at the Palace Casino in
Edmonton, the casino management filed complaints with the Privacy
Commissioner that UFCW Local 401 was videotaping and photographing
people crossing a picket line and that this action was allegedly in
violation of the Personal Information Protection
Act (PIPA).
The Act makes sweeping
prohibitions about the use of "personal information" which can mean
literally anything. The definition of "personal information" is
"information about an identifiable individual." It includes information
that is in no way private, making no exception for activity carried out
in public places.
UFCW Local 401 on
strike at
Palace Casino, 2006.
|
The basic argument of the Privacy Adjudicator is
that people have a "right" to cross a picket line without being held to
account publicly for this activity. She ruled that the union was not
allowed to use the images to dissuade people from entering the casino.
She also ruled that the union was not allowed to use
the information in its posters and newsletters. The Commission even
declared it illegal for workers to post a satirical picture of a member
of the casino management.
The Alberta Attorney-General upheld this argument,
and stated that scabs or people who chose to cross the picket line to
go and gamble in the casino were entitled to "practical anonymity."
The Alberta government's actions reveal a great
deal about why laws like the PIPA are being
enacted. They have nothing to do with individual rights, but are aimed
at defending monopoly right, in this case to enact a ban on
exposing scabs and scab replacement workers to public scrutiny. The
state, political parties like the Tories, employers, security goons and
anyone acting for the monopolies can spy on citizens and residents, and
amass vast amounts of personal information which they can use for
purposes
which are not made public. At the same time, the false claim
of defending individual rights
is being used to assault the dissemination of information publicly,
without which there can be no creation of public opinion but only
disinformation.
The PIPA, like similar laws
across Canada, does not restrict the government and state apparatus in
any way. The police and all organs of the state are exempt. So are
registered political parties. A narrow definition of "journalistic
purposes" which excludes any other use is also included. This means
the monopoly press is exempt.
It has become well known that the federal
Conservative Party has a sophisticated data base. How it is
used and its significance in the Harper electoral coup continues to
come under close scrutiny. Information can be collected by all kinds of
means and without the elector knowing that they are providing
information to the Conservative Party. According to the Harper
government,
this is all just fine, while conducting a national census is an
"invasion of privacy."
The police have the "right" to photograph
picketers and use these photographs for who knows what purpose. The
extent to which police forces across Canada collect information and spy
on citizens and residents and the methods used to do so is a grave
concern of the people, together with other violations of civil
rights such as arbitrary arrests and police violence. People are
declared suspects and persons or interest and so on based on
their political stand and on the basis that they oppose the neoliberal
anti-social offensive against the people. All of this is considered
completely legal and is not even considered an invasion
of privacy. Its purpose is to keep the workers and people from
developing their own independent politics and stand and fighting for a
society in which they can exercise control over their lives.
At the same time, measures such as privacy laws
together with the destruction of means of providing objective
information that is publicly available to all means the state no
longer acts to provide information necessary to defend the public good,
but only to serve private interests. A collective of workers cannot
expose those who violate the collective decisions such as the decision
to strike to public scrutiny and accountability, despite the fact that
the photos are taken of people in a public place, crossing an obvious
picket line, in the face of warning signs that images are being
collected.
The Alberta Court of Appeal, in declaring the Act's
provisions
unconstitutional
referred
to
a
decision
of the Supreme Court
of Canada in the case of the Retail Workers Union vs. Pepsi (RWDSU
Local 558 v. Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages (West) Ltd., [2002] 1 S.C.R.
156, 2002 SCC 8) stating that
a picket line is an "expressive activity."
The Pepsi decision found an injunction barring
the union from picketing the hotel where scabs were being housed and
outside the homes of Pepsi management to be a violation of the Charter.
In making this decision, it declared a picket line an "expressive
activity" (i.e. a way of exercising one's right
to free expression.) Now even this minimal legality recognized by the
Supreme Court is under attack by the Alberta government.
A picket line of course is much more than an
instrument of free expression, and this decision provided a very narrow
conception of its purpose, which effectively
criminalizes activities which may be necessary to maintain an effective
picket line. A picket line is a means for workers to enforce
their collective economic power against the employer. To be effective,
the workers need to take measures to ensure that the company is not
able to carry on business as usual using scab replacement workers,
shipping product out of the plant and so on. A host of labour
legislation has been put in place to criminalize
actions taken to maintain an effective picket line. In Alberta unions
know that if people are delayed more than five minutes from entering
the struck premises the employer will apply for an injunction and the
Labour Board will come running to oblige. This token delay is permitted
for purposes of "communicating"
about the strike.
In the face of this desperation of governments
like those of Harper and Redford to stop all forms of political
discussion and public dissemination of information, people are taking a
stand from coast to coast to defend the public good and oppose the
politicization of private interests.
Injured Workers Fight for Their Rights
- Peggy Morton -
Workers from the Canadian Injured Workers Association of
Alberta held a picket outside the annual general meeting of the Alberta
Workers' Compensation Board on June 14 at the Oasis Edmonton Conference
Centre. A number of injured
workers obtained tickets to attend the meeting
in order to question the CEO and smash the silence on the savage
treatment of so many injured workers by the WCB and to expose such
practices as the corrupt bonus system.
TML spoke with the injured
workers who are working hard to establish their organization and demand
that the WCB uphold the rights of injured workers. The workers
told TML that the biggest challenge facing
injured workers is how to hold the WCB to account. They have no control
over this body which has such a profound affect on their lives. Instead
they are faced with the arrogant refusal of the WCB to uphold their
rights. Injured workers whose claims are denied or who are wrongly
deemed fit to return to work are basically told that WCB can do as it
pleases because it has the power. Appealing
a decision is a complex and lengthy process, made especially difficult
for a worker whose health is compromised and who has been denied
benefits and has no means of living.
In a modern society, the basis for a Workers'
Compensation Board must be to safeguard the health and well-being of
injured workers and uphold their rights. These rights include the
maintenance of the living standard the worker had before injury,
suitable retraining for those who can no longer work in their
old occupation, enforcement of the duty of employers to accommodate
injured workers and full coverage for all their health needs.
The WCB does not even recognize that providing the
rights of injured workers with a guarantee is its proper and necessary
mandate. Instead, the WCB has adopted the capital-centred outlook that
workers are a "cost of production." Consistent with this outlook, WCB
sets its goal as returning an injured worker
to work, or more precisely, declaring a worker fit to return to work
instead of returning the injured worker to optimum health. Success is
measured by how quickly workers go back to work, reduction of
employer "costs" and how quickly it can close the file on an injured
worker. In the past ten years, the average
length of time a worker receives WCB has fallen from 58 days to 36
days.
Returning workers to work on "light duty" is one
way to accomplish this goal, workers told TML. In
many cases there are no light duties at the workplace, and they are
often pressured to simply return to their former duties. In other
situations, the workers are still taking pain medication which affects
their ability to do their job, for example operating heavy equipment,
but are still expected to return to work. Another issue raised is that
workers are told their problems are "psychological." Such opinions are
given by doctors with no medical experience in this field, often
over the opinions of the worker's own
doctor.
Injured workers point out that the issue of who
decides is the crucial question. "Medical" decisions made by case
managers and "independent" medical examiners and panels routinely clash
with the conclusions of a worker's physician and specialists to
whom they have been referred by their own family physician. The
opinions of the "hired guns" are
accepted over the informed opinion of the physicians actually
caring for an injured worker.
Further, the workers explained, the WCB has put
into place a system in which the organization operates in a corrupt
manner from top to bottom in pursuit of its mandate to "reduce costs"
for employers. WCB has established a bonus or incentive system for case
managers and other WCB staff and for health care
providers which rewards a decision that a worker is fit to return to
work, ending WCB benefits. Health care providers get "incentive
pay" and WCB staff a variable eight per cent of their salary which is
dependent on how quickly workers are declared fit to return to work.
One of the objectives of the action at
the annual meeting was to expose this corrupt system, which WCB
deliberately tries to hide from public scrutiny and accountability. In
fact during the annual meeting CEO Guy Kerr repeatedly denied that a
bonus system is in place, even though he was forced to admit that the
system existed in a recent appearance
before a legislative committee.
WCB deliberately presents statistics on reduced
employer costs and shorter claim periods as proof that its safety and
return to work programs are a success. According to the WCB, "Employers
who invest in solid safety and disability management programs continue
to achieve great returns on their investment
through the lowest average WCB premium rate in Canada." The WCB reports
that in 2011, Alberta's average industry premiums dropped 7.6 per cent
to $1.22, the lowest in Canada.
But the stark reality is shown in the fact that
123 workers died as a result of workplace injuries or occupational
diseases last year. Alberta's workplace fatality rate is the highest in
Canada and more people work in dangerous occupations -- almost a
quarter of Alberta's workers work in the four most dangerous
occupations. This shows that it is not injuries and even death rates
which are falling, but the compensation received by workers injured on
the job.
The extent of the system in place to harass
workers and deny their claims is shown by the fact that claims benefits
amounted to only 72 per cent of the WCB budget. Payments made to
medical reviewers selected by the WCB, which are really administrative
costs, are included in the amount deemed as worker benefits,
so the real amount spent on administrative costs is actually
significantly higher than reported.
The continued reduction of employer premiums and
length of time benefits are paid represents a stepped-up attack on
injured workers. Stand as one with injured workers to demand that their
rights be provided with a guarantee and to hold WCB and its political
masters, the Redford government, to account!
For Your Information
Workers' Compensation Board Bonus System
The Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) has made great
efforts to hide the corrupt
bonus system it uses to reward WCB staff and medical
practitioners for declaring workers fit to return to work. On February
8, 2012, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts dealt with the
reports of the Auditor General (2011) and the 2010 annual report
of the WCB, as well as other reports of the
Conservative government dealing with the WCB. TML
is publishing excerpts from the Hansard
report of the meeting.
This system was first put in place by former WCB
CEO John Cowell. Dr. Cowell is now Chair of the Health Quality Council
of Alberta, a body which is supposed to safeguard patient safety and
health service quality. In his new role, Dr. Cowell pushes the same
distorted and anti-social version of "success."
For example, "success" is measured by how fast patients are discharged,
even if they are sent to placements where care is inadequate. Abject
failure to serve the public good becomes success simply by providing a
bogus definition of what success is, a definition consistent with the
pay-the-rich outlook that looking
after the needs of Canadians is a "cost."
Excerpts from Transcript of Standing
Committee on Public Accounts
- February 8, 2012 -
Heather
Forsyth,
Calgary
Fish
Creek: I have
several questions, but one of the things I need to say and get on the
record is that all of the questions that I'll be asking today are
questions that have come
from constituents from Calgary-Fish Creek and others that have some
frustration with WCB. The first question I've been asked that I'd like
to ask you, if I can, Mr. Kerr, is: are bonuses still given for the
medical service providers for return to work following treatment plans?
Guy
Kerr, CEO, Workers' Compensation Board: Return-to-work providers
are compensated in a couple of ways. One, we
negotiate fees with all of them across the province, and for some of
them we have incentive payments for achieving sustained return to work.
So, you know, we can use different words to
call it, but what we look at and what we're all interested in is having
meaningful and short return to work, right? We want people to get back
to work. One of the ways we focus our providers on that is to have
incentives for them to achieve those results.
Ms.
Forsyth: ...[W]hy would we need an incentive for
a medical practitioner to encourage someone to go back to work when
they sign an oath that their practice is to ensure that the patient is
healthy and well enough to be able to return to the workplace?
Mr.
Kerr: Just to be clear, we're talking about
people who are providing rehabilitation and those kinds of services.
Those are the professionals we're taking about that have these kinds of
things. What it does it makes sure they understand that for all of us
the best outcome is return to work. So I think it incents
the right thing. It's guided in the right direction. Of course, there
are checks and balances and controls on that to make sure people aren't
doing the things you say. They aren't sending them back to work too
early: they aren't sending them back to work inappropriately. I think
there's a good system of checks and balances
in there to make sure that doesn't happen. You know, you're right.
Those people have an obligation to look after the best interest of
their clients, and I think they do that.
George
Groeneveld
(MLA,
Highwood): Could you please
explain in further detail the other cash benefits line that the WCB
staff receive and specifically the performance awards.
Mr.
Kerr: We have corporate objectives that we set
around fairness and return to work -- and they're part of our balanced
scorecard -- and if we achieve those objectives, then staff are
eligible
for some pay at risk of 8 per cent. So that's what that number is made
up of in terms of that.
You know, it's a program we've had for a number of
years.
Brian
Mason
(MLA,
Edmonton
Highlands
Norwood): ...My
question goes back, also, to what Mrs. Forsyth said. You're incenting
health care professionals in a way that may contradict their
professional responsibilities. Have you ever gotten a legal opinion as
to whether or not you're placing health care professionals
in a conflict of interest through that policy?
Mr.
Kerr: All of the contracts that we would have
with our providers would have been run through our legal department.
So, yes.
Mr.
Mason: Can we see it?
The
Chair: We're going to move on if you don't
mind, please.
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