GUELPH POLITICAST #185 - A Labour Day Special

Monday is Labour Day, which most people mark as the unofficial end of summer, but Labour Day has, and should, stand for something more. In this era where labour is struggling so hard, doing more work for the same pay, and in a perpetual state of stress, should we not take some to make sure we keep the "labour" in Labour Day?

Of course, the answer is "yes!" and on this week's podcast, we're going to focus on a specific area of labour rights that does not get nearly enough coverage, the plight of injured workers. Joining us to discuss this is Paul Taylor, who ran as a candidate for the None of the Above Party last year, and is the founder of Injured Workers of Wellington & Dufferin Counties. 

Even among workers' rights issues, it's hard to get a lot of press for matters involving injured workers even as the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada says that in 2017, there were 951 workplace fatalities in Canada, which was an increase of 46 over 2016. On top of that, there were 251,508 accepted claims for lost time due to a work-related injury or disease, which increased by 10,000 cases in one year.

It seems pretty serious, but for every claim that's approved, there are dozens whose claims are not-approved, and others who only get approval after sometimes struggling for years to get their benefits. Paul Taylor knows this struggle all too well as he's tried for over 20 years to get the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, or WSIB, to recognize his back injuries from a workplace accident while he was a delivery driver.

On this edition of the podcast, Taylor join us to talk about 20-year plus journey with the WSIB, the Ontario Court Systems and preparing a challenge to the Supreme Court. He also talks about the struggles of workers like him, and the way that businesses and the government make it harder for injured workers to claim their benefits. Plus, Taylor discusses why Ontario's cuts to legal aid are hurting workers too, and stay tuned till the end of the show for a political announcement!

So let's talk about the need of injured workers, and how we can best help them out on this special Labour Day edition of the Guelph Politicast!

You can learn more about the Injured Workers of Wellington and Dufferin at their website. The next meeting of the IWWD is Thursday September 12th from 4 to 6 pm at the UNIFOR Hall at 611 Silvercreek Pkwy north of Woodlawn.

Reminder: if you want to celebrate local labour, there's the Labour Day Picnic hosted by the Guelph & District Labour Council at Riverside Park from 12 to 3 pm on Monday September 2.

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Also, when you subscribe to the Guelph Politicast channel and you will also get an episode of Open Sources Guelph every Monday, and an episode of End Credits every Friday.