Speech at June 1, 2023 Injured Workers Day in Toronto

 

       To begin with I bring you greetings and solidarity from Sue James in Peterborough who is the principal spokesperson for the Occupational Disease Reform Alliance (ODRA).  What is ODRA?  It is a coalition of occupational disease victims, the widows of occupational disease victims, trade unionists and workplace health and safety activists.

      The ODRA was formed in response to the emergence of clusters of occupational disease cases in cities across Ontario resulting in the deaths of large numbers of workers.  One of these clusters was located in the city I am from, St. Catharines, where dozens of workers employed by GM died of diseases like mesothelioma and lung cancer due to prolonged exposure to asbestos in their workplace.  For me, this has meant representing workers dying of these diseases and meeting with them in cancer wards of hospitals, hospices and in their homes after they were sent home to allow them to die in familiar surroundings with family members by their side.

      My experiences are only too familiar to the members of ODRA.  Collectively these experiences, fuel our activism and our outrage at the murder of workers by employers.  But what particularly enrages us is the knowledge that only a small percentage of the workers who develop occupational diseases will file a WSIB claim in response and get their claims allowed.  This means they are being denied justice.  This is what must change.

      This means that the legislation pertaining to workers compensation and the WSIB’s Operational Policies must be changed to finally enable the allowance of far more occupational disease claims at the WSIB.  This can be done.  It has been done with respect to Firefighters and, as a result, the number of occupational disease claims successfully filed for Firefighters has substantially increased.  The same thing must happen for all Ontario workers.

      That is why ODRA has four demands:

1.     Award compensation for workplace diseases that far exceed the disease rate occurring in the general community population.

2.     Award compensation for cancers associated with working with cancer causing chemicals and other agents rated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 1 and or Group 2 carcinogens.  This means making a presumption that they are occupational in nature.

3.     Award compensation for diseases where workers were exposed to several carcinogens and other chemicals that may promote cancer development or enhance the toxic effects.

4.     The WSIB abandon its impossible search for absolute certainty and consider multiple sources of scientific evidence available including medical and community and worker-based research.

If these demands are met the situation will change and it will change for the better delivering a lot more justice for workers with occupational disease.

One last thing must be said.  Over a year ago the ONDP tabled Private Members Bill 125 in the Ontario legislature which, if passed, would make the changes we advocate the law.  We call on the ONDP to re-introduce Bill 125 in the legislature and we demand that the Ford government fully support it.  If it does. we will finally see more justice for workers with occupational diseases because the WSIB will be legally compelled to change its Operational Policies to incorporate our demands.

      Our fight on these issues has been a long, hard one. But we are determined to continue it until we win.  We will not fight to compromise with those who won’t hold corporations that murder workers to account.  We will only fight to win. Fight to win!