Justice for injured workers

"On that fundamental principle of justice...we have an obligation to move heaven and earth to put the injured worker in the position that the injured worker would have been in had it not been for the accident". (Meredith, Final Report, 1915)

Provincial workers' compensation systems came about due to rising discontent when workers were being cast into the streets, forced to become dependent on other families and charity. The courts were found to be too slow and out of reach to be able to deal with it.

Ontario and Nova Scotia were the first to set up a compensation in 1915, Newfoundland was the last in 1950. All were based primarily on the exhaustive study by Sir William Meredith, carried out from 1910-1913. Meredith traveled the world, held countless meetings and thought. He came up with a system to protect workers and employers called the Historic Compromise [read the full report here]:

Employers: would not get sued, and social stability would be the result;

Workers: no-fault system, no delays; non-adversarial, no harassment; an impartial independent public board;

Inquiry system: help the worker, give them the benefit of the doubt;

Employers to pay (as they are protected from lawsuits): the burden was not to fall on the injured worker, their family, or society in general;

Payment was to occur for as long as the disability lasts;

Payment was to be based on the concept of lost wages.

These are all excellent principles, but changes in the past few years are undermining the system designed to take workers off the street. As Meredith said, "Workers' compensation is not a charity to be more or less generous depending on whether these are economic good times."

In Ontario, we need a workers' compensations system that fully compensates and supports those suffering a workplace injury or illness, helps workers in returning to employment with dignity, and effectively promotes workplace safety.

See [click here] elements of a fair system as outlined in the discussion document prepared for debate at the 2004 Platform for Change conference.