Activists rally to support rights of injured workers

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Toronto – June 2, 2016 – UFCW Canada activists from across Ontario joined injured workers and social justice allies at Queen's Park on Wednesday for a major rally in support of injured workers’ rights.

The action was one of many that took place across the province on Injured Workers' Day – June 1, to protest against benefit cuts and policy changes by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (WSIB).

Hundreds of activists gathered to protest WSIB cuts and austerity measures that have left many injured workers in poverty and struggling to get by. The group, comprised of social justice activists, as well as workers who have been injured or sustained a disability through workplace hazards, marched in solidarity to the Ontario Ministry of Labour offices advocating for changes to the current WSIB system.

Many at the rally also raised concern over the WSIB's decision to lower premium rates for employers while cutting benefits for injured workers – the same people the system is supposed to protect.

Activists also called on the Ontario government to put an end to the poverty facing injured workers; to extend WSIB coverage to all workers in the province; and to restore the benefits of injured workers with a full cost-of-living increment.

Injured Workers Day serves as an annual reminder that every worker has the right to a safe and healthy workplace. As Canada's leading union, UFCW Canada has called on the Ontario government to provide stricter enforcement and inspection under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation, a more just WSIB system, and criminal prosecution of employers who ignore their safety responsibilities.