Injured Workers' History Project
The Injured Workers History Project (IWHP) is a group of injured workers, advocates and researchers who are uncovering and writing the history of injured workers in Ontario.
To find out more contact: The Bancroft Institute for Studies in Workers' Compensation and Workplace Health and Safety (416-461-2411); Robert Storey, Associate Professor, Sociology & Labour Studies, McMaster University (905-525-9140, x24693; storeyr@mcmaster.ca )
Results of this active history project are shared through print (see bulletins below) and theatre.
IWHP Bulletins:
- 1 - Injured Workers' Day
June 1, 1984 was the first injured workers' day. But the naming of a day for injured workers did not come from the thin air. It came as a result of decades of struggle by injured workers for justice. - 2 - A merry protest
The "Christmas Day of protest", held annually since 1991, marks the ongoing struggle of injured workers for justice. The Bulletin presents a Dickensian tale of their past, present and future. - 3 - No more cap in hand
Cost of living protection as a right : In the 19th century Oliver was condemned for wanting more food. Early in the 21st century injured workers are being condemned to poverty and shame by employers and governments who claim that fully indexed benefits are far too costly. - 4 - Deeming - it's just wrong!
If you are unable to find a suitable job, the WSIB will deem you to have a job. The WSIB then has the power to reduce or eliminate your benefits by deeming you to be receiving the wages from a job that you do not have and have no real hope of getting. - 5 - Back to the future
Recent changes to the workers' compensation system in Bill 187 (2007) failed to get rid of deeming (with its phantom jobs) as promised - and in fact entrenched it even further. This bulletin reviews the history of "dual award" systems which have gone hand-in-hand with deeming, and provides an overview of injured workers' law reform efforts and the political response. - 6 - Experience? Rating?
Origins of Ontario's experience rating system, introduced though no evidence linked such programmes to improved workplace health and safety. Bulletin traces the negative effects of experience rating in promoting a more adversarial climate that treats injured worker claims with suspicion, and that discourages employers from reporting accidents. - 7 - Miracle at 200 Front Street : a play
A glimpse of how a fair, just and effective workers' compensation system could be...claims are handled promptly, relations between injured worker and adjudicator are open and cordial, experience rating and deeming are ghosts past, benefits no longer keep workers in poverty, time for healing is a reality! - 8 - "The Historic Compromise"
History and financial consequences of the compromise of Ontario's form of no-fault workers' compensation system as proposed by the Meredith Commission when workers gave up the right to sue their employers in return for guaranteed compensation. In times of economic crisis, should injured workers, among the most vulnerable, face reduced benefits at the same time as employers are shielded by lowered assessment rates? - 9 - Meredith's Principles
As head of the Royal Commission (1910-1913) charged with recommending a workers' compensation system for Ontario, Sir William Meredith aimed to ensure a fair system - one that would prevent injured workers from falling into poverty, that did not unduly burden employers, and that would not "shock the conscience" of the public. Read how he balanced the views of worker and employer to make principled decisions on who would pay for the system, who and how would workers be covered, who would administer the system and what kind of benefits would workers receive? - 10 - The Politics of workers' Compensation
Recent developments regarding workers' compensation "make it difficult not to conclude that they add up to a renewed assault on injured workers .. in which they are blamed for the economic troubles of the workers' compensation system". Bulletin looks at historical political pressures and mobilization. - 11 - Justice : speedily and humanely rendered
This bulletin discusses, in light of the current Funding Review, the need for a public process and details two relevant topics prominent in previous Royal Commissions : experience rating and the social aspects of workers' compensation. While employer and employee may interpret the Meredith Principles differently, a reading of the record shows Meredith's vision was both economic and humanitarian.
