Every year in the lead up to the holiday season, countless Ontarians look forward to gathering with their family and friends to share food, presents, and good company. For those forced into poverty by work injury or illness and related disabilities, comfort and joy is not so easy to come by.
Decades of cuts to injured worker benefits through practices like ‘deeming’ (pretending an injured worker has a job that they cannot get, and cutting their benefits), massive denial rates (especially in psychological injuries and occupational illness), cuts to healthcare, and ignoring the diagnoses and advice of an injured worker’s actual treating doctors have left many permanently injured and ill workers in financial and emotional ruin. These practices have created massive surpluses for the WSIB. Heading into a potential spring election, injured workers had begun to wonder out loud if some of their decimated benefits would be restored with all of the extra money the Compensation Board brags about having in their bank.
Imagine the shock, when WSIB announced that instead of restoring decades of cuts to injured workers, they are simply handing $2.5 BILLION to the very employers who have left workers injured, ill, and fighting for claim approvals.
Join injured workers in communities across Ontario to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Injured and ill workers and allies will gather on December 9, 2024, to present the Minister of Labour with a clear list of what that money should and could be spent on to address the very basic needs of legitimately injured and ill workers first, before simply handing it over to employers.
Toronto Demonstration
What: Join injured workers in Toronto as we rally & deliver our demands for 2025
When: Monday, December 09, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. ET
Where: Ministry of Labour, 400 University Avenue, Toronto, ON
Thunder Bay Demonstration
What: Join injured workers in Thunder Bay as we rally & deliver our demands for 2025
When: Monday, December 09, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. ET
Where: MPP Kevin Holland’s Office – 774 James St. N., Thunder Bay, Ontario
Windsor Demonstration
What: Join injured workers in Windsor as we rally & deliver our demands for 2025
When: Monday, December 09, 2024, from 4:00 p.m ET
Where: Windsor WSIB Office – 2485 Ouellette Ave, Windsor, Ontario
Study after study show that permanently injured and ill workers face poverty, stigma, and a cascading set of health effects that can cause people to lose their homes, their families, and the lives they once knew. Instead of addressing this known problem, the WSIB has chosen to make wealthy employers $2.5 billion wealthier as they head into 2025.
Please stand with the Unifor Health, Safety and Environment Department, the Ontario Regional Council Workers’ Compensation Benefits Committee, and injured and ill workers on December 9.