News

Monday Sept. 4 at 9:30 sharp injured Workers will be marching on the Labour Day Parade again this year! Come join us! Meet us at the corner of University Avenue and Armoury Street, just south of Dundas Street. It’s where the Staples Store is – across the street from the Ministry of Labour.

March with us, even for a little distance if that works best for you. We are happy to have you! Please note, there will be a car to help those with mobility challenges..
This is a day of solidarity and unity with labour!

If you are not in Toronto, find out about a Labour Day parade in your area by going to https://canadianlabour.ca/events/labour-day-events-2023/

IWC makes recommendations to the Consultation on Changes to the ASD (Appeals Services Division) Practice and Procedures document, a consultation contemporaneous with the ongoing appeals consultation on the KPMG value for money report and the WSIAT consultation on its appeals process… The IWC submission focuses on the proposed change of the WSIB’s default hearing method, and recommends the Board adopt the the Appeals Tribunal’s  (WSIAT) new practice direction which uses oral hearings as the default, respects injured worker preferences and was developed based on the principles of administrative justice to ensure a fair hearing. Appendix: WSIAT new practice direction #5.

Read full submission

IWC Submission addresses the lack of true consultation with those most affected – injured workers – on the major changes proposed and erosion of the right to appeal, based on recommendations of the KPMG Value for Money Audit of the dispute resolution and appeals process. IWC presents lessons from past WSIB policy and reform consultations that show a way forward in establishing a credible process where the issues can be properly explored… Read full letter

Submission to the WSIB Chair underscores that the auditor’s findings that make a number of errors which demonstrate a lack of understanding of Ontario’s workers’ compensation system. If adopted, the recommendations will negatively impact injured workers’ access to justice – many of the most vulnerable injured workers won’t be able to appeal their decisions and will not receive full compensation under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act… read full letter

In an opinion piece “Injured workers under threat again” published in the Hamilton Spectator, IWC’s Chris Grawey joined John Bartolomeo (co-director, Workers’ Health & Safety Legal Clinic), Maryth Yachnin (lawyer, IAVGO Community Legal Clinic), Patty Coates (president, Ontario Federation of Labour) in detailing why consulting company KPMG’s recent Value for Money Audit on the WSIB’s appeal and dispute resolution systems “manufactures a crisis based on a lack of understanding of the law and WSIB processes.”

If the current recommendations are legislated by the government, injured workers and their legal representatives will face yet more barriers in seeking justice in workers’ compensation claims. Read full article.

IWC’s community legal worker Francis Pineda responds in a recent Canadian Occupational Safety article to the WSIB’s assertion that lowering the deadline to appeal WSIB decisions from six months to 30 days will streamline the process without harming workers’ due process and access to justice. He rejects as outrageous the KPMG audit report recommendations which would suggest that injured workers and survivors are able to find legal advice and file an appeal within 30 days (and their worker representatives prepare submissions and gather the necessary medical reports), noting that this would create the shortest time limit in any Canadian jurisdiction… Read the full article.

In April the Thunder Bay District & Support Workers and IWC, following community consultation, issued a complaint to the Ombudsman. Information sessions continue to be held around the province on the negative impacts these changes, if implemented as recommended, could have for injured workers.

Yesterday, in a media conference, held on the eve of the annual Injured Workers Day, the Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG) and injured and ill injured worker allies called on the provincial government to stop the recommendations from the KPMG report.