• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Injured Workers Online

Injured Workers Online

Working Together for Justice

  • Blog
  • Sign Up
  • About
  • Twitter
Working Together for Justice
  • Workers’ Compensation
    • History
    • Law Reform
    • Workers’ compensation bills
    • Chronic Pain Victory
    • Research and Education
    • Bancroft Institute
    • Meredith Conference: “No-Half Measures”
    • RAACWI
  • Issues
    • Appeals
    • Benefits
    • Experience Rating
    • Funding
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Return to Work
    • Stigma and surveillance
    • Universal Coverage
  • Community
    • Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG)
    • Workers’ Comp Is a Right campaign
    • Injured Worker Groups
    • IW Speakers School
    • Injured Workers’ Stories
    • Organizing and Action
    • Arts & social justice
  • Events
    • Calendar View
    • RSI Awareness Day
    • Day of Mourning
    • Justice Bike Ride
    • Injured Workers Day
    • December demo
    • Labour Day – a workers’ festival
  • Media
    • In the News
    • Press Releases
    • Fact Sheets
    • Headlines on workers’ compensation
    • Videos
  • Resources
    • Law and Policy Submissions
    • Reports, Articles & Papers
    • Practical guides & booklets
    • IWHP Bulletins
    • Library
    • Find Legal Help
    • Links
Home / Blog / Benefits / This shameful agenda must be exposed and reversed…

This shameful agenda must be exposed and reversed…

May 31, 2016

“WSIB’s Reforms: Smoke, mirrors and broken workers” / Orlando Buonastella & Kathrin Furniss (Rankandfile.ca, May 31, 2016)

While there has been recent widespread media coverage of the way in which the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board systematically ignores the opinion of injured workers’ treating doctors and health care providers, the issue of medical claims suppression is one that has been long raised by the injured worker community.

And it’s just the tip of the iceberg – the rosy picture of Board finances and injured worker well-being trumpeted by the Board is starting to show cracks. “The WSIB’s finances are only improving because injured workers have been attacked on all fronts: reduced claims entitlement, premature return to work, blaming pre-existing conditions, denying permanent impairments…”

Using the Board’s own statistics, the authors challenge the alleged performance improvements. Obsessed in speedily reducing the unfunded liability (UFL), the Board’s dramatic cutbacks in benefits paid to injured workers reflect increased claims denials rather than improved outcomes in workers’ health and safety. To add insult to injury, not only has the unfunded liability been reduced on the backs of injured workers (despite the McGuinty government’s promise to the contrary when passing Bill 135) but now – with WSIB expenditures also lowered – the Board has announced a windfall for employers. Beginning in 2018 they will receive rate cuts amounting to $2 billion annually, while injured workers face their mandated losses being made permanent with benefits administered in a way that reflects the reduced revenue coming into the system.

In recommending a way forward, swift and meaningful change requires some immediate reversals… [read full article]

Filed Under: Benefits, Employer premiums, Health Care, In the News

Primary Sidebar

Latest Tweets

Injuredworkersonline Follow

IWO_org
Retweet on Twitter Injuredworkersonline Retweeted
Injured Workers A4J @iwa4justice ·
22 Mar

For International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, 21 migrant injured workers called the WSIB President today to tell their stories of how the WSIB has failed them.

Diana’s message is an example of the issues these injured workers shared with the WSIB.

Reply on Twitter 1638361838105645056 Retweet on Twitter 1638361838105645056 10 Like on Twitter 1638361838105645056 15 Twitter 1638361838105645056
Injuredworkersonline @iwo_org ·
23 Mar

The evolution of blame... Now we see incident investigations that show that the worker failed to refuse the unsafe work, which makes it their fault .... https://www.thesafetymag.com/ca/topics/leadership-and-culture/the-evolution-of-blame/440347#.ZByRKaRbi98.twitter

Reply on Twitter 1638961837520609280 Retweet on Twitter 1638961837520609280 1 Like on Twitter 1638961837520609280 3 Twitter 1638961837520609280
Injuredworkersonline @iwo_org ·
15 Mar

Then & Now: Technology and the changing hazards in mining https://www.thesafetymag.com/ca/topics/technology/then-now-technology-and-the-changing-hazards-in-mining/439237#.ZBH4wPPGS2M.twitter

Reply on Twitter 1636048781316882432 Retweet on Twitter 1636048781316882432 Like on Twitter 1636048781316882432 1 Twitter 1636048781316882432
Load More...

Footer

Stay connected – get our blog updates
Copyright © 2023 Injured Workers Online
  • Accessibility
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

The information in this website is for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for legal advice. For legal advice, see Find legal help