Here are links for a couple of the ways you can listen online (and it can also be found via iTunes and other podcast venues, plus it broadcasts on various community stations across Canada at different times through the week):
Ontario Expanding Cancer Coverage for Firefighters
https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002778/ontario-expanding-cancer-coverage-for-firefighters
News release March 3rd 2023
“When anybody is facing a work-related illness, we are here to help. Our team gets to work as quickly as possible to help people and this change will help us get started faster for firefighters and fire investigators with thyroid and pancreatic cancers. “
– Jeffery Lang
President and CEO of the WSIB
Canada Housing Benefit payment that is currently available to low-income folks.
Here is more information about this new, temporary housing benefit – rent subsidy.
one-time $500 Canada Housing Benefit payment that is currently available to low-income folks. Because so many injured workers live on a low income, they should check this out if they are renters or if they live in a room and board situation.
This benefit is a one-time payment of $500 to eligible lower-income renters who meet all the following conditions:
• have filed a 2021 tax return;
• be at least 15 years of age as of December 1, 2022;
• be a resident in Canada in 2022 for tax purposes;
• have an adjusted family net income of $20,000 or less for individuals, or $35,000 or less for families;
• have paid at least 30% of their 2021 adjusted family net income on rent for their principal residence in the 2022 calendar year (Note: if in a room and board situation where the amount is not defined as between rent and food, you can claim 90% of the payment as rent);
• be able to provide their 2022 address(es) and landlord’s contact information.
Eligible applicants can apply:
1. On-line through https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/uisp/hbw/ntr Applicants will need to know their Social Insurance Number, the name and telephone number of their landlord, and how much rent they paid in 2022. Payment will take 6 to 11 business days average payment processing time
2. through their Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) My Account. If applicants are registering for My Account for the first time, they will not need to wait for their security code in the mail; they can still access limited services in My Account and apply for this benefit immediately. Those who apply through the My Account and are signed up for direct deposit could receive their one-time top-up within five business days.
3. If neither of those methods work, you can apply by phone or teletypewriter: Telephone number 1-800-282-8079, TTY number 1-800-665-0354. To verify your identity, you’ll need your:
social insurance number (SIN), full name and date of birth, complete address, assessed tax return, notice of assessment or reassessment, other tax document. This method takes 7 to 12 business days average payment processing time
The last day to apply is March 31, 2023.
Please feel free to share widely. If anyone has problems with the application, their local legal clinic will likely be able to assist. (If all else fails, they can call my office!)
RB4 Dryden Town Hall Meeting – Air Emissions Project
Weyerhaeuser told the local building trade unions involved with the Dryden Mill that, unless they would do the job without the manifolds, the work would go non-union. There was not a lot of work in the area at the time, so the unions agreed (except the Ironworker’s union which was outvoted), but most of the workers on this job never found out about these circumstances until after the job was over. By then, most workers were reporting various symptoms they attributed to this job, the main ones being memory loss, stomach problems, heart problems and many more. Because of the work of one member of the IBEW and one from the UA (plumber/pipefitters), the Occupational Health Clinic for Ontario Workers(OHCOW) was brought in to do an intake clinic to see if there was a correlation between the job and the symptoms most workers were experiencing. OHCOW wrote a report stating that most of the workers had been poisoned. This clinic filled out Form 8s for all the workers citing CTE (chronic toxic encephalopathy) and submitted them to the WSIB.
Since that time, many of these workers have died, or been forced to retire because of health problems, and most have met a roadblock from the WSIB, trying to make workers prove they were sickened, which is something that can only be confirmed by an autopsy. Quite a few of these workers have given up fighting the WSIB, which is trying to make workers prove they have CTE.
For this reason, the Thunder Bay and District Injured Workers Support Group has set up a committee to collect, analyze and organize stories to bring to those in positions of power and get justice for these workers and their widows. If you, or someone you know has been affected by this job, they would like to hear these stories. Stories can be kept completely anonymous if requested. To share your stories, go to the Dryden RB4 “Contact Us” page https://thunderbayinjuredworkers.com/dryden-rb4/ and leave contact information, or a short version of your story. If you would prefer to talk to someone directly, let them know and someone will get back to you within a day or two. You can also just email the committee at drydenrb4@gmail.com. They would love to hear from you.
Join the upcoming Town Hall meeting
If you or someone you know worked at Weyerhauser between 2002 and 2004, find out more about the project at the upcoming Town Hall (Jan. 31st at 7 p.m.EST/ 6 p.m. CST). Join by phone or online:
Weblink: https://zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 898 0698 7071
Passcode: 536530
Call-in: 1-647-374-4685
Please download and share Town Hall Meeting poster.
If you cannot attend the meeting yourself OR you know someone affected by health problems that might be related to the project, please complete the referral form at https://www.ohcow.on.ca/about/referrals/
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Recent Articles:
ONIWG turns to the courts for fair cost-of-living adjustment for injured workers
Calling on injured workers to take part in Human Rights Commission survey on poverty
University of Waterloo seeks injured workers for study on retirement & poverty
Tony Mauro: the passing of a long time fighter for injured workers
Training for injured workers on accommodation law
In the Canadian Legal Newswire
Why WSIB cost-of-living adjustment is being challenged in court?
The Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups (ONIWG) has filed a court application challenging the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) cost-of-living adjustment for 2022
The Deeming Bill and ONIWG’s challenge to the WSIB’s 2022 COLA:
NO MORE DEEMING!
NO MORE PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS!
ACCEPT THE WORKER’S DOCTOR REPORT!
END THE STIGMATIZATION OF INJURED WORKERS
COMPENSATION FOR LIFE!!!!
NOT A LIFE OF POVERTY!!!!
THE WSIB DISRESPECTS INJURED WORKERS
RETURN THE $1.5 BILLION +
STOLEN FROM INJURED WORKERS
WSIB Issues: Loss of Earnings Rate and Deeming
MPP Wayne Gates re-introduced his bill to end ‘deeming’ for injured workers this week. Further details are included in the release below:
https://www.ontariondp.ca/news/gates-re-introduces-bill-end-deeming-injured-workers
| Gates re-introduces bill to end ‘deeming’ for injured workers Gates re-introduces bill to end ‘deeming’ for injured workers. QUEEN’S PARK — On Wednesday, Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates’ bill, the Respecting Injured Workers Act (Workplace Safety and Insurance Amendment), passed first reading in the legislature.. If passed into law, Gates’ bill would end the practice of ‘deeming.’ www.ontariondp.ca |
WSIB Surplus and Follow the Money!!!
Tuesday, January 24th 2023 at 10:00am
Thunder Bay and District Injured Worker’s Support Group welcome you to our Tuesday : Information and Advocacy sessions. this week we have featuring:
January 24 -Emmanuelle Lopez- Bastos, Human Rights, Equity & Diversity Coordinator
UFCW Canada | United Food and Commercial Workers Union
Strengthening Disability Inclusive Workplaces Through a Union Approach – Results from the 2022 UFCW Canada union membership questionnaire on Disability Inclusion
Thunder Bay & District Injured Workers Support Group 