The B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 latest review of WorkSafeBC policies and payouts has taken a left turn toward recommendations made by organized labour a decade ago, B.C.B次元官网网址檚 large business organizations say.
Employer groups including the Business Council of B.C., the B.C. Construction Association and the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association wrote to retired labour lawyer Janet Patterson, the head of the B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 review Wednesday. They said the B次元官网网址渟elected issuesB次元官网网址� chosen by Patterson for review exceed the mandate they were expecting and match closely with her report 10 years ago commissioned by the B.C. Federation of Labour.
B次元官网网址淭he employer community is quite taken aback and dismayed with the extremely broad and far-reaching scope of these B次元官网网址榮elected issues,B次元官网网址� and after giving the matter due consideration and consulting with various representatives of the employer community, we have determined that we have no choice but to cease all participation in the reviewB次元官网网址檚 process, effective immediately,B次元官网网址� wrote Doug Alley of the EmployersB次元官网网址� Forum, representing the 46 business groups.
After the review was announced this spring, Labour Minister Harry Bains assured the Council of Construction Associations in June that it was narrow and focused on improving worker navigation of injury claims and improve performance, B次元官网网址渘ot to make wholesale changes to the workersB次元官网网址� compensation systemB次元官网网址� that employers fund, the letter states.
But a memo to employers last week listing the B次元官网网址渟elected issuesB次元官网网址� shows that they were contained in a 2009 report co-authored by Patterson entitled B次元官网网址淎dding Insult to Injury.B次元官网网址� The B.C. Federation of LabourB次元官网网址檚 submission to the current review in July called for the 2009 report to be considered.
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B次元官网网址淲e were willing to participate in a balanced an impartial process to review the system,B次元官网网址� Richard Truscott, B.C. and Alberta vice president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said in a statement Wednesday. B次元官网网址淗owever, the writing has been on the wall from the very beginning that the review lacked objectivity.B次元官网网址�
The 46 employer organizations made their own initial submission to Patterson in July, questioning terms such as B次元官网网址済ender-based analysisB次元官网网址� and moving to a B次元官网网址渨orker-centric delivery modelB次元官网网址� that were not clearly defined.
WorkSafeBC is responsible for 45,000 sick or injured workers and more than 4,000 spouses and children who depend on pension payments. It administers an insurance system paid into by 238,000 B.C. employers, where workers give up their right to sue employers for negligence in exchange for no-fault compensation that is independently administered.
Reviewing WorkSafeBC was one of the terms of the B.C. Green Party agreement to support the minority NDP government in 2017.
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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