As the Ford/Fedeli Conservatives government proposed reforms to WSIB, life will be worse for the workers, and better for their friends the big corporations.
One of the recommendations that the PC government is looking at is to give the big corporation a 5% drop in the premium, costing the WSIB fund about $168 million dollars per year.
However, there are far better options than putting the surplus back into the economy. As Deena Ladd of Workers Action Centre said, “Workers are finding it harder and harder to get medication paid for. They are getting told they are ready to return to work long before they actually are. That surplus could be used to help improve things for the workers.”
The Ford/Fedeli Conservative government would rather grease the pockets of rich corporations.
What has happened to taking care of the people? That is not what we see in these reforms.
As the North Bay and District Labour Council executive board members interview some injured workers in the area, we hear time after time the battles that they are facing each and every day. They feel that they are a burden to society. They don’t have enough funds to pay for their rent, medication, or enough to put food on the table.
We also heard some are struggling with their mortgages, losing their homes or having to sell their vehicle and other stuff in order to make ends meet.
For decades now, injured workers faced the short end of the stick with cuts to their benefits and wages.
Remember that an injured worker on WSIB didn’t decide to go to the workplace and get injured. Injuries occur every day and you could be one month, one day, one hour or one minute away from being that injured worker.
Therefore, I believe that we should all lobby the Ford/Fedeli conservative government to make the right choice. Instead of giving rich corporations a reduction of premiums, they should look at the small guy, the worker, and give them a break where it's badly needed. To this, we say YES.
Henri Giroux
President North Bay and District Labour Council
Powassan
