The New Brunswick Feredation of Labour is disapointed with the report of the WHSCC independent review - 2008-07-14

A copy of the letter will follow below. Thank you.

MONCTON – The New Brunswick Federation of Labour wrote a letter to the Premier, Shawn Graham, expressing their disappointment over the to the WHSCC Independent Review’s Report entitled Strengthening the System.

“The New Brunswick Federation of Labour has many concerns over this Review and over the Report. In short, both the Review and the Report have been totally bad for workers.” Said Michel Boudreau, NBFL President “From the beginning of this process, we questioned the appointment of the Labour representative to the Review Panel and we questioned the Panel’s independence. If their Report is any indication, we were right to be concern.”

Boudreau goes on to say that: “The majority of the Report’s recommendations refer to the Commission for their implementation. In our view, this abates these recommendations. We are also concerned over the recommendations on governance, whereby the nomination to the WHSCC Board of Directors will fall into the control of the government.”

“We are appalled that New Brunswick will still be one of only three jurisdictions in Canada where injured workers will still face a waiting period for worker’s compensation benefits. We are extremely disappointed that the Review Panel did nothing to put an end to this gross injustice. We are also extremely concerned about recommendation 54 in the Report. We believe that one person determining if an appeal requires an oral hearing or should be heard by a single Chair is nothing short of undemocratic.” Explained Boudreau

“It is our sincere hope that the Premier and his government will take our letter seriously. The time has come for him to act on the needs of New Brunswick workers.”

For more information:

Michel Boudreau
President NBFL
381-8969 (cell) or 857-2125 (work)

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July 14th, 2008

The Honourable Shawn Graham, Premier
Province of New Brunswick
P.O. Box 6000
Fredericton, NB
E3B 5H1

Mister Premier,

I am writing in regards to the WHSCC Independent Review’s Report entitled Strengthening the System. The New Brunswick Federation of Labour has many concerns over this Review and over the Report. In short, both the Review and the Report have been totally bad for workers.

As you know, we have always been extremely concerned with your Government’s appointment of Robert Breen as the Labour Representative on the Review Panel. Mister Breen was not chosen by labour. The fact that your government appointed him, without consulting labour told us that his interests lied with the government and not with the workers. If their Report is any indication, we were right to be concern.

The majority of the Report’s recommendations refer to the Commission for their implementation. In our view, this abates these recommendations. The Commission is well known for its inactions, past and present, on major issues affecting workers and injured workers. We therefore questioned their willingness to act upon them in the interest of workers and injured workers. A good example of this is recommendation 23. Although the Independent Review Panel did a good job paraphrasing in the “What we heard” section on page 35 the concerns expressed over enforcement, recommendation 23 does nothing to reflect what the Review Panel actually heard.

We are concerned over the recommendations on governance. The nomination process to the Board of Directors that is recommended is unacceptable to the NBFL. If adopted, the nomination will fall into the control of the government. Therefore, the seats assigned to the NBFL will, in reality, not be ours since we will no longer directly chose our candidate. I will remind you that since our participation on the Board of Directors, the NBFL had designated seats, in order words, the seats belong to us and we have always selected who, within our organization, should be nominated for those seats. It is our intention to continue with the same process.

We are appalled that New Brunswick will still be one of only three jurisdictions in Canada where injured workers will still face a waiting period for worker’s compensation benefits. Injured workers in New Brunswick will still be unfairly forced to work through injuries or, to file for group insurance or sick leave benefits rather than report lost-time compensation claims. The WHSCC Board of Directors never had any plans to remove the three-day waiting period, and with no firm recommendation from the Independent Review Report, we don’t see that changing.

We are extremely concerned about recommendation 54 in the Report and we urge your government not to bring it forward. We believe that one person determining if an appeal requires an oral hearing or should be heard by a single Chair is nothing short of undemocratic. Injured workers must have an appeal system that is both fair and impartial. We strongly believe that a three-person panel, the Chair, the worker representative and the employer representative must hear all appeals.

Since the beginning of this process, the NBFL always questioned how “Independent” this Review would be. Appendix 3 of the Report is an Actuarial Report by Morneau Sobeco. This actuarial Report was done at the request of the Independent Review Panel to analyse the cost impact of potential changes. We question why Morneau Sobeco was chosen to carry out that task since it is currently the consulting and valuation actuary for the WHSCC Commission! How can there be no conflict of interest?

I hope this letter will give you an overview of the NBFL’s position on the WHSCC Independent Review Panel and its Report, Strengthening the System. We would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss this further.

Yours Truly,

Michel Boudreau, President
NBFL

C.C. The Honourable Ed Doherty, Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour.