Fix Workers' Comp Now!
Ontario Injured Workers Hold Spirited Rally at Ministry of Labour
Injured workers and their allies rallied at the
Ministry of Labour on December 9 demanding the Ford government stop its
attacks on injured workers and take two immediate actions to fix
problems in the Workers' Compensation system as well as the provincial
regulations governing workplace safety. Their first demand is that the
government pass
private member's Bill 119, currently before the legislature, which
would end the practice of deeming. This practice impoverishes injured
workers by cutting their benefits based on considering them to be
employed at non-existent jobs. Secondly, they demand that section 83(4) of
the current Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, which holds employers, not
the temp agencies responsible when temp agency workers are injured or killed at their places of work, be brought into force.
The injured workers' call to Fix It Now! is also a
demand that the Ontario government end the situation where millions of
dollars are handed to employers through lower WSIB premiums while
injured workers are denied benefits. To Fix It Now! also requires
implementation of the other demands of the Workers' Comp Is a Right!
campaign: listen to injured workers' treating physicians, not paper
doctors; reverse the cuts to legal aid; and end the denial of claims on
the grounds of so-called pre-existing conditions.
This year's action was organized by the Ontario Network
of Injured Workers' Groups (ONIWG) together with the $15 and Fairness
Campaign. The organizations who participated included the United
Steelworkers, Workers Action Centre, the OFL Power of Many campaign,
injured workers legal aid clinics, Injured Workers Action for Justice,
Canadian Federation of Students, and the Workers' Centre of the
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). "Workers' Comp Is a
Right" ponchos were donated by the railway workers union. Both new and
seasoned injured workers' activists participated in the spirited
action, with two new members proudly hoisting the ONIWG banner in the
steady rain.
The annual Christmas actions, which have taken place for
the past 28 years, highlight the hardships faced by injured workers and
their families during the holidays, as well as their impoverishment
throughout the year. This year has been particularly difficult with the
brutal attacks of the Ford government on social programs relied upon by
all
Ontario workers, as well as cuts to the funding of specialized legal
clinics on which injured workers depend for legal assistance and
advocacy for their rights.
 
 
 
Actions also took place in Sudbury and Windsor. In
Sudbury a small but lively information picket took place, while the
main rally was rescheduled to December 16 due to poor weather.
Windsor
Sudbury
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