From November 2017
Update: November 15, 2017 – CIWAA would like to thank MLA Chris Nielsen for tabling the petition yesterday. Chris was passionate and expressed the concerns of injured workers to the members in the house at the legislation. We want to thank those injured workers that came to support themselves. They came from Calgary and Drum Heller . Hats off to all of you.
For those of us that heard every word MLA Chris Nielsen spoke we are extremely grateful and impressed that he understood WCB is still unjust and legislation needs to be changed immediately. CIWAA members still feel that there has not been any recommendations or provisions for those injured workers that have been denied their legitimate injuries because of personal opinion from the paid for WCB chosen doctors. Government needs to re- open up those claims ,start from scratch using medical evidence , clinical evaluation , treating specialists and physicians evidence instead of paid for personal opinion that helped WCB deny the injured workers rights and natural justice.
CIWAA was live today on CBC radio . We must continue to pressure the government to seek the truth be hands on and investigate claims that were closed on personal opinion of the WCB chosen paid doctors. WCB spends millions of dollars on medical investigation (opinions ) in order to deny an injured worker when they could spend a pittance accept medical evidence and give a person back a life worth living after injury.
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ChrisNielsenNDP/videos
Injured Workers Rally 2012
Film & Speaker Night 2013
From December 2016
The Be Human WCB Campaign was featured on Alberta Prime Time – view the clip here!
Be Human WCB Campaign Launches!
Campaign puts a human face on those neglected by WCB system
BeHuman WCB encourages workers to tell their stories to government review Edmonton – A coalition of workers’ rights organizations is urging the WCB review panel to make the Workers’ Compensation system more human.
This fall, the provincial government is conducting a review of Alberta’s Workers Compensation Board. In order to ensure that workers are heard during this review process, the Canadian Injured Workers Association of Alberta and the Alberta Federation of Labour have partnered to create the ‘Be Human WCB’ campaign, which encourages Albertans to share their experiences with the WCB.
“We’re putting a human face on those who are being chewed up by a system that has become heartless,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “Injured workers are ill served by a heartless WCB system. They need a system that treats them as humans, not numbers or liabilities.”
Workers’ Compensation exists to help workers who are injured at work. Whenever possible, the system is supposed to get workers healthy enough to return to their jobs. Unfortunately, Alberta’s WCB system has not been working as well as it should.
“It’s not just my experience – I’ve spoken to worker after worker after worker who has had a terrible time dealing with the WCB,” injured worker Donna said. “The system doesn’t treat workers like people – they get denied legitimate claims and face a bureaucratic nightmare that never gets resolved. The life they knew is over. The system needs to be more human.”
When WCB turns down a legitimate workplace injury, that individual worker and their family end up paying. But the costs extend beyond that, as these injured workers end up in the public healthcare system costing all of us more money.
“Too often, the WCB has treated employers as the client instead of injured workers,” McGowan said. “They’ve focused on denying legitimate claims from injured workers in order to keep employer premiums low. That cannot continue.”
To learn more about the WCB, or to write an e-mail to the WCB review panel, visit www.BeHumanWCB.ca
From October 2017
***To read the Canadian Injured Workers Association of Alberta Response to the Final Report of the Alberta Workers Compensation Board Review Panel, click here.***
The Report and Recommendations of the of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) Review Panel was released by the Alberta government in early July.
Congratulations to all injured workers, their advocates and allies who presented their stories, evidence, and experience to the panel. Together our work helped to smash the silence on the failure of the WCB system to provide what injured workers need and its obsession with reducing employer premiums, not caring for injured workers. We spoke out in defence of our rights, our right to be treated with respect and dignity, to the maintenance of our standard of living, to retraining when needed, and to have our health and medical needs taken care of.
The Panel began its work in early 2016. Many injured workers actively took part in the panel’s review, responding to the injured workers questionnaire, giving written submissions to the Panel, participating in meetings organized between the panel and injured workers in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge, as well as “engagement sessions” in which CIWAA participated. We thank our allies and advocates including the Alberta Federation of Labour, many unions and other organizations for their hard work and for the assistance they provided to us.
Many of the 60 recommendations of the Panel, if implemented, will make a positive difference for injured workers. Now we must ensure that what is missing is also included, and continue to work for new legislation which upholds our rights. Stay tuned for discussion of the next chapter of our work!
(To read the full 192 page report, go to Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) Review www.alberta.ca/wcb-review.aspx)