The outcry over the fifth death of a temporary worker at Fiera Foods is putting pressure on Premier Doug Ford to fix the laws that place temp workers in harm’s way. Temp workers need to have equal rights and protections under the law because employers, like the owners of Fiera, will never provide them voluntarily. Continue readingThese men make the wounds: Fiera Foods CEO Boris Serebryany
injured workers
On Wednesday afternoon, 125 labour and community activists assembled outside of Fiera Foods for a solidarity rally organized by Fight for $15 & Fairness and Jane and Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP). Last week, Enrico Miranda, a 57 year old father of two, was killed at work. As Toronto Star journalist Sara Mojtehedzadeh reported: “He Continue readingNo More Deaths: Rally at Fiera Foods
By Rachel Gnanayutham, Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic In April, the Ford government announced a devastating 30% cut to legal aid funding, as part of its first provincial government. Yesterday, Legal Aid Ontario implemented the cuts to legal clinics. Many clinics providing services to marginalised, discriminated and vulnerable people in Ontario are facing drastic cuts. Continue readingLegal aid cuts hurt workers and low-income Ontarians
By Zaid Noorsumar Since March 21, Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) staff members across Ontario have been staging walkouts over systemic workload problems that are causing tremendous stress and impacting the organization’s ability to serve injured workers. The rolling protests began with about 100 people demonstrating outside the downtown Toronto office and will cover Continue readingUnderstaffed and overworked at the WSIB
By Haseena Manek “Nobody cares about you”: Ongoing case of migrant farmworker Ralston Maise shows how system treats migrant workers as disposable. During Injured Workers Week in Ontario, reports ran detailing the complete failure of the Workers’ Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) to address the needs to injured workers. RankandFile.ca spoke to Ralston Maise about Continue readingInjured migrant workers: no healthcare and a ticket home
By Scotty Hertz Who killed Joshua Remigio? Will we ever find out who did it? Sadly, he will be blamed either partially or fully for his own demise last week at the age of 29 while working on an electrical panel in a greenhouse in Leamington, Ontario. There was far more information released about what Continue readingSeventy Killed. Suspects Known. No Charges Laid.
By Willy Noiles The recently announced cut in WSIB employer premium rates by almost 30 percent is a good indication that in the eyes of the Doug Ford government injured workers aren’t part of “the people” they claim to govern for. In what was Labour Minister Laurie Scott’s first major announcement since being appointed to Continue readingFord’s WSIB: Premium cuts for employers, austerity for injured workers
By Aidan Macdonald and Sarah Neath For injured workers the reality is clear, the WSIB in Ontario is broken and the loss and pain is on the backs of injured workers. So every June 1, injured workers and their allies rally at Queen’s Park for Injured Workers Day, to highlight the flaws of the compensation Continue readingAll out for Injured Workers’ Day
By Orlando Buonastella and David Newberry The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) recently announced that it will no longer reduce certain kinds of benefit payments for injured workers as a result of non-symptomatic pre-existing conditions. The change comes as a result of a long struggle by of injured workers, labour activists, and legal representatives, Continue readingChanges to WSIB pre-existing conditions policy a cautious step forward
By Bob Barnetson What is the effect of the workers’ compensation changes in Alberta’s Bill 30 (An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans) on receiving and maintaining compensation? Occupational Diseases It is often difficult for workers to get occupational diseases accepted by the WCB for compensation. Diseases often have long latency periods, Continue readingAlberta’s Bill 30: Psychological Injuries, Deeming, and RT
By Bob Barnetson Last week, Alberta’s government introduced Bill 30 (An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans). This legislation replaces the existing Occupational Health and Safety Act as well as amended the Workers’ Compensation Act. As the changes in Bill 30 are significant, I’ll be making a series of posts over Continue readingAlberta’s Bill 30 and the right to refuse
The WSIB’s horrific practice of deeming By Zaid Noorsumar In September 2007, Mark Winegarden damaged his vertebrae while working as a paramedic in Simcoe County. Attending an emergency call, he had to carry a cardiac-arrest patient down the staircase of his home when he felt a ‘pop in his back.’ His life would never be Continue readingThe phantom jobs of injured workers