In the News June 2

Ontario Injured Workers Day 2022

Women of Inspiration Hold Online Vigil

On the eve of Ontario Injured Workers’ Day the Women of Inspiration, a Toronto injured workers’ support group, held their 17th annual vigil. Before the pandemic these vigils took place overnight at Queen’s Park.

Janet Paterson, President of the Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups, opened the vigil with a land acknowledgement and moment of silence for all those who died because of their work, as well as those who died from COVID. She noted the loss of a number of injured workers activists over the past year who are on the minds of the participants.

Tebasum Durrani from the Women of Inspiration spoke about the history of the vigils which started when injured women, kept awake at night by their injuries and the difficulties they faced due to the unjust compensation system, decided to be sleepless together at the legislature to bring their situation to the attention of the Ontario government.

This year in preparation for the vigil injured workers were asked to complete the sentence “Workplace injury makes me sleepless because …” In their responses women included the pain of their injuries, the broken compensation system which causes suffering to injured workers denied just compensation and their fear for their tomorrows and the tomorrows of other injured workers. During the vigil women were encouraged to add their responses in the chat.

One of the demands around which the Women of Inspiration mobilizes is for universal coverage, that all Ontario workers must be covered by workers’ compensation. Presently Ontario has one of Canada’s lowest coverage rates, 77.21 per cent in 2018, with nearly 2 million workers left unprotected.

With this organizing in mind the vigil invited Janet Martell from the McIntyre Powder Project to speak about her experience in organizing for recognition and compensation for miners’ just claims for occupational diseases related to inhaling McIntyre powder and what lessons could be drawn from this to organize for universal coverage.

In February 2022 Martell was successful in having McIntyre powder-related illness added to the list of recognized occupational diseases in Ontario – the first new addition since 1994. She entitled her presentation “Taking on Goliath,” and spoke to going into the organizing recognizing that the Workers Compensation system had all the power and to challenge that power required going outside the present legal framework, listening to and mobilizing those affected, doing meticulous research, and building alliances with others in the fight. The McIntyre Powder Project is a founding member of the Occupational Disease Reform Alliance which is organizing across the province for recognition of and just compensation for workers made ill at work.

The Women of Inspiration will hold an online meeting on June 27 at 2:00 pm to discuss how to develop the fight for universal coverage, with further details to come.

Ontario Political Forum, posted June 2, 2022.