37th Ontario Injured Workers Day June 1
Injured Workers Fighting for Their Dignity and Rights
Injured worker activists' May 2, 2020 front lawn picket in London, Ontario during COVID-19.
June 1, 2020 is the 37th Ontario Injured Workers Day.
The day celebrates the collective strength of injured workers and
commemorates June 1, 1983, when more than 3,000 injured workers
forced a government committee looking at major changes in Ontario's
workers' compensation system to move their public hearings outside onto
the
steps of the Legislature so everyone present could participate.
 This
year, for the first time since 1983, because of the COVID-19 pandemic,
injured workers will not gather at Queen's Park and in other locations
across Ontario. Instead, the Ontario Network of Injured Workers' Groups
is calling on everyone to join them June 1 for an online rally
featuring stories, speeches, and messages of hope and
struggle. The Women of Inspiration vigil held each year May 31, on the
eve of Injured Workers' Day, will also take place online. (See calendar
above for details)
As on many fronts, the COVID-19 pandemic has made the
demands of injured workers for the renovation of the compensation
system as a public system that covers all workers for the full time
that they are unable to work, all the more necessary and urgent.
In their call-out for Injured Workers' Day the Ontario
Network of Injured Workers' Groups states "Ontario's health and safety
and workers' compensation systems are broken. Coronavirus has not
created these problems, but it has brought them clearly into focus, and
we cannot go back to how things were. This June 1st, we stand together
to
look towards the future. It is time to create meaningful change to keep
workers safe, and to show once and for all that WORKERS' COMP IS A RIGHT!
"We know what is needed to fix the system:
"Workers MUST be protected on the job;
Those who do get sick MUST be covered by workers' compensation without hassle or delay; and
The compensation board MUST end their harmful practice of deeming, or
pretending injured workers have jobs that they do not in fact have and
cutting benefits."
Injured workers' advocates point out that in addition to
workers already forced to fight for the compensation that is theirs by
right, many workers will need to file claims for compensation because
they contract COVID-19 at work. The families of workers who die from
workplace exposure to COVID-19 also have a right to be
compensated and taken care of by the compensation system. In the case
of COVID-19, rather than presuming that frontline workers have
contracted the illness at work, Ontario's Workplace Safety and
Insurance Board has so far insisted on adjudicating each worker's case
separately, which has resulted in the approval of just 513 out of
almost 3,500
submitted claims.
Compensation Is a Right!
Justice for Injured Workers!
Our Security Lies
in Our Fight for the Rights of All!
This article was published in
Number 37 - May 28, 2020
Article Link:
37th Ontario Injured Workers Day June 1: Injured Workers Fighting for Their Dignity and Rights
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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