Organized by the Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG) http://injuredworkersonline.org/
Panel Discussion: Fighting Back Against Unsafe and Toxic Work.
Date: June 1
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: OCAD University Auditorium, 100 McCaul St, Room 190.
Featured speakers include:
- Janice Martell – Founder of the McIntyre Powder Project
- Sue James – Retired worker from the Peterborough General Electric factory
- Heather Neiser – Healthcare worker and activist with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU)
- Len Elliott – OPSEU Executive Board Member, Region 1 and Health and Safety inspector
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1960098277553292/
Barrie Injured Workers Day
Date: June 19
Time: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Barrie Public Library – Painswick Branch , 48 Dean Avenue
All are welcome to attend the Barrie District Injured Workers Group Meeting.For further information contact the [email protected]
Bright Lights Meeting
Date: June 8, 2017
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: 815 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
The Bright Lights meeting will include a report on the provincial injured worker strategy meeting, July picnic plans and more. All are welcome.
The Institute for Work and Health Plenary
Date: June 20
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.,.
Location: 481 University Ave, Ste 800, Toronto
The Plenary will include an evaluation of an integrated return-to-work planning program in workers’ compensation assessment clinics. The featured speaker is Dr. Aaron Thompson from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
To RSVP your attendance, or for information on how to watch and listen via a live stream, please contact Albana Canga ([email protected] or 416-927-2027 ext. 2160).
Peel Injured Workers Day
Date: June 1
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Milestones of Labour monument, 8870 McLaughlin Road, Brampton
Featured speakers include:
- Catherine Fenech (President, Peel Injured Workers)
- Jim McDowell (President, Peel Regional Labour Council)
- Orlando Buonastella (Injured Workers’ Consultants)
- Lawrence McBrearty (Past National Director for Canada, USW)
For more information, contact [email protected]
Download the event flyer here peel_june1stflyer_2016.pdf
A message from the Disability Rights Caucus
On June 1 every year, we commemorate the historic actions taken by labour activists and ordinary citizens who collectively fought for and organized injured workers rights in Ontario. On June 1, 1983, more than 3,000 protestors gathered on the lawns of Queen’s Park and on the steps of the legislature to successfully oppose the government’s proposal to eliminate disability insurance for workers who had been permanently disabled on the job. We rally on this day to pay tribute to these activists and countless others who created a new standard for workers' compensation in Canada. We recognize the generations of workers who have galvanized and inspired a movement for injured workers rights across Ontario.
On Injured Workers Day, 2017, we highlight the chronic mental health conditions excluded from coverage under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA). Invisible disabilities and psychosocial factors, not just physical causes can contribute to workplace hazards. Psychosocial factors include precarious work, high job demands, discrimination, harassment, and bullying in the workplace. All of these factors are preventable. But the injuries sustained can leave a worker disabled for life.
Under the legislation, workers with physical injuries must show that workplace conditions are “a significant contributing factor” in the development of an injury. But in the case of a mental health, a workers’ injury must be “an acute reaction to a sudden and expected traumatic event.” For further information, read the excellent Ontario Human Rights Commission Consultation paper, Minds that Matter
A worker with a mental health condition may not be entitled to benefits after years of being subject to harassment from co-workers or supervisors, but a worker may be compensated where the worker witnessed a workplace accident. Workplace actions such as the decision to change the work performed or working conditions, to discipline the worker or terminate employment are also not compensable under the current legislation.
In 2014, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) found that the restriction on chronic mental stress injuries in the WSIA to be unconstitutional.
However, the DRC notes that the WSIB still does not compensate for workplace injuries as a result of psychosocial factors and there has been no remedial action on the part of government bodies like the Ministry of Labour following this decision.
On this Injured Workers Day, the DRC demands changes to the WSIA and the policy provisions governing workplace insurance benefits so that workers who experience mental health disabilities receive equality of benefits. The DRC also supports the community activists and legal clinics who have filed a complaint with the Ontario Ombudsman, and who are calling for an investigation into the WSIB for its treatment of workers with chronic mental stress injuries due to workplace trauma. For more information, see http://injuredworkersonline.org/documents/law-and-policy submissions/Complaint_OmbudsmanOntario_20161109_mental-stress_brief.pdf
Download the DRC Invisible Disabilities poster here 2016-11-invisible_poster-e.pdf
The DRC calls on all OPSEU activists to participate in Injured Worker Day Events across Ontario,
Injured Workers Day Events across Ontario
Injured Workers Day Rally
Date: Starts 1 June, 2017
Time: 11:30 a.m.
Location: Legislative Assembly at Queen’s Park
The 2017 Injured Workers Day Rally focuses on precarious, unsafe and toxic workplaces. Injured workers and activists demand full compensation for workers subject to workplace violence, harassment, and chronic mental stress and call on the Liberal government to take action.
Accessibility options will be available so that those with mobility difficulties will be able to join the march. 
Organized by the Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups (ONIWG) http://injuredworkersonline.org/
Panel Discussion: Fighting Back Against Unsafe and Toxic Work.
Date: June 1
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: OCAD University Auditorium, 100 McCaul St, Room 190.
Featured speakers include:
- Janice Martell – Founder of the McIntyre Powder Project
- Sue James – Retired worker from the Peterborough General Electric factory
- Heather Neiser – Healthcare worker and activist with the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU)
- Len Elliott – OPSEU Executive Board Member, Region 1 and Health and Safety inspector
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1960098277553292/
Barrie Injured Workers Day
Date: June 19
Time: 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Location: Barrie Public Library – Painswick Branch , 48 Dean Avenue
All are welcome to attend the Barrie District Injured Workers Group Meeting.For further information contact the [email protected]
Bright Lights Meeting
Date: June 8, 2017
Time: 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: 815 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
The Bright Lights meeting will include a report on the provincial injured worker strategy meeting, July picnic plans and more. All are welcome.
The Institute for Work and Health Plenary
Date: June 20
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.,.
Location: 481 University Ave, Ste 800, Toronto
The Plenary will include an evaluation of an integrated return-to-work planning program in workers’ compensation assessment clinics. The featured speaker is Dr. Aaron Thompson from the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB).
To RSVP your attendance, or for information on how to watch and listen via a live stream, please contact Albana Canga ([email protected] or 416-927-2027 ext. 2160).
Peel Injured Workers Day
Date: June 1
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Milestones of Labour monument, 8870 McLaughlin Road, Brampton
Featured speakers include:
- Catherine Fenech (President, Peel Injured Workers)
- Jim McDowell (President, Peel Regional Labour Council)
- Orlando Buonastella (Injured Workers’ Consultants)
- Lawrence McBrearty (Past National Director for Canada, USW)
For more information, contact [email protected]
Download the event flyer here peel_june1stflyer_2016.pdf