GuelphToday has received the following letter to the editor from Paul Taylor, a Guelphite who is concerned about labour cuts and privatization.
As group leader of the Injured Workers of Wellington & Dufferin Counties and representative of those locally who suffer injuries and deaths in the workplace, I just wanted to comment on the very well written article published yesterday in the Toronto Star, by Sarah Mojtehedzadeh Work and Health Reporter. The article raised the downside of this Conservative government’s plans to
- Reduce the number of labour enforcement officers and
- Consider the privatization of the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board.
This Conservative government claims to be about saving taxpayers money by reducing taxes. However, this is the second time I have had to point out the obvious deceptions that this Conservative government are claiming -- how the Conservatives are not saving taxpayers anything, but are saving businesses money and in the process hurting hardworking taxpaying Canadians.
I pointed out that giving employers $2.3 billion back in premiums was not saving taxpayers and it was hurting Canadians. Now I am, again, forced to raise the alarm bells of the Conservative governments deceptions with their budget announcements involving labour.
The first issue is where they plan to cut the Ministry of Labour’s budget. Clearly the cuts are directed at the reduction in labour Enforcement Officers. These individuals who have a positive two-fold effect. The first is the fines they issue, all of which are deemed legitimate in a court of law and also generate huge revenues for the province and governments. For example, the employer who was fined $850,000 by the Court of Appeal for Ontario, where the four workers who fell to their death while working at a Toronto high rise, simply because adequate safety measures were not in place. One needs only to look at the Ministry of Labour website to see the volume of revenue collected from unsafe employers, which goes to taxpayers. Secondly and more importantly business only cares about money and taking money away form them will discourage them taking unsafe and dangerous shortcuts which is the main purpose of the ESO fines and our justice system in Canada.
The second issue is how this Conservative government plans a review of the WSIB system. Before this is even commenced I remind people of the irony of how it is the government that has full control over the Ontario’s workers compensation system budget, which includes the WSIB, the Workplace Safety & Insurance Appeals Tribunal, Fair Practices Commission, and the Office of the Worker/Employer advisor. A budget which is funded solely from employer premiums and is not funded in anyway by tax dollars.
So, then why, I ask, are injured workers forced to wait months for adjudicated decisions and waiting years in many cases for appeal decisions. If it is not funded by taxpayers should it not be properly staffed to provide a proper service? The staffing is so bad that WSIB workers are staging walk-outs because of overwork. The reason is simple and slowly coming to a reality as indicated in yesterday’s budget announcement. The Conservatives have announced that they will be considering privatization of the WSIB. Something which is now possible after the unfunded liability was setup, something that many were puzzled by, but now are seeing why!
Privatization is not better for people, it is better for business!
This announcement is nothing more than a slap in the face to those injured or who have died in the workplace, for the Conservatives to do this now in the month of April. Knowing the National day of mourning is April 28 – every year!
