Safety

Auditor General finds Ministry of Labour health & safety enforcement lacking

December 5, 2019

As an injured worker advocate, I see many workers in economic vulnerability and in precarious and unsafe working conditions. I see workers who think of their workplace injuries every day, who think about “what if the factory actually kept to their safety…

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In the news … worker protections

October 12, 2019

Recent media coverage highlights a disturbing lack of progress on longstanding problems raised repeatedly by legal clinics, health and safety advocates and community groups regarding adequate worker protections and safety, compensation and rights. Temporary agency workers – outrage continues over the death …

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Injured workers denounce premium rate reduction & death at Fiera Foods

September 26, 2019

(Press Release, Sep. 26 2019) The Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG) is appalled that the Ford government and WSIB are giving yet another massive gift to employers in the form of a 17% premium rate reduction, especially with…

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Upcoming Bancroft: Sick & Tired – health and safety inequalities

September 24, 2019

Still time to register for the October 1 Bancroft session! Editor Stephanie Premji (associate professor, McMaster University) will be discussing the recently published Sick and Tired: Health and Safety Inequalities (Fernwood, Dec. 2018). The collection by experts from the fields of labour…

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Who’s left out? Calling for coverage for all

June 12, 2019

At a time when labour reforms for a changing workplace with increasingly precarious employment have been rolled back and recent funding cuts leave Ontario workers, especially temporary workers, with less protection from injury, there are renewed calls for universal workers’…

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Cuts to Prevention Office questioned

May 12, 2019

The line-by-line spending in the government estimates recently made public show a 13.5% budget cut ($16 million) to the Ministry of Labour’s Prevention Office charged with a mandate to improve workplace safety. Advocates note it makes no sense. While the Ministry…

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From the House floor

March 28, 2019

On Monday Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Judith Monteith-Farrell rose in the Legislative Assembly to present a petition and to address how principles underlying Ontario’s workers’ compensation system are being eroded. Her comments focused on the recent 30% cuts to employers’ premiums all while,…

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Italian delegation to share experience in dealing with the legacy of asbestos

February 20, 2019

From April 7-15 a delegation from Casale Monferrato, Italy, the small city of 36,000 people which has suffered more than 1000 mesothelioma cases from preventable asbestos exposure, will make a solidarity and educational visit to Ontario. This visit is part of…

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Feb 28 – 20th annual International RSI Awareness Day Conference, Toronto

February 1, 2019

February 28 marks the 20th anniversary of the International RSI Awareness Day. The annual event – established on the initiative of Ontario injured worker activist Catherine Fenech – aims to educate about repetitive strain injuries and their prevention. The cause of…

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Govt bill weakens labour law protections for workers

October 28, 2018

This has been a challenging week for legal protection of workers’ conditions of employment and safety on the job. On Tuesday the Ford government introduced Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018 to roll-back labour laws changes enacted in the…

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