Cancel Bill 47! (Reprinted from Workers’ Forum)

“How to hold governments to account for their actions has, indeed, become the matter of greatest concern.”

"Reducing red tape" and "defending workers' rights" have been the mantra of the neo-liberal forces since the early nineties when they started restructuring state arrangements to step up schemes to pay the rich. The neo-liberal arrangements have been systematically smashing arrangements established in the 20th century which, to a limited extent, recognized workers' collective rights in exchange for labour peace. Any collective right is seen as interfering with the interests of big business to do what they please when they please and now that private interests are directly controlling the state power, they rule with impunity. Everyone knows it and working people en masse categorically condemn the arrogance of a government such as the United Conservative Party (UCP) government which does it because it can. How to hold governments to account for their actions has, indeed, become the matter of greatest concern.

The changes the government of Alberta is making to the Workers' Compensation Act in Bill 47 are based on the outlook that workers are disposable, and that "business decisions," not the rights of workers, should prevail. The sole aim is to reduce employer premiums and obligations through denying claims, reducing compensation, introducing arbitrary measures to terminate benefits, and making it harder for workers to make claims and appeal unjust decisions.

The government does not even try to hide the fact that the Workers' Compensation Board - Board of Governors (WCB - BoG) is a rubber stamp and that it uses dictate to control all "independent" boards and agencies and does so quite openly. The fact sheet issued by the government states that Bill 47 will cut benefits to injured workers by about $112 million a year plus a further $240 million through reductions in cost of living adjustment (COLA). The estimated cuts include "savings" from decisions which are the responsibility of the WCB-BoG which is said to represent the interests of "workers, employers and the public."

Employer premiums reflect the rate and severity of workplace accidents, and also the degree to which injured workers receive the compensation that is their right in return for an agreement whereby they will not sue their employer. It is the responsibility of any government worthy of the name to uphold the rights of workers to healthy and safe workplaces, and to hold employers accountable. Safe workplaces require the active participation of the workers in decision-making in all aspects of their health and safety in the workplace. But the government is blocking workers from participating in decision-making, depriving workers of compensation when they are injured, and providing employers with premium reductions as one of its pay-the-rich schemes.

This attack comes at a time when 28,000 workers across Canada have filed WCB claims after getting COVID-19 at work, a number which likely represents only a small fraction of those infected. Furthermore, workers are actively fighting to control the COVID-19 pandemic by demanding safety conditions at their places of work to control the spread of the disease and protect their own working conditions.

To legislate working conditions based on the most anti-human criteria and refuse to compensate workers when they are exhausted or injured or have family lives turned upside is a totally anti-democratic measure. It is unacceptable in the 21st century. It shows that the main problem facing the workers' movement in Alberta, as is the case across the country, is what to do when a government such as the UCP government denies what belongs to them by right. Doing so in the midst of the pandemic is all the more heinous. It will seriously aggravate the conditions of impoverishment and suffering into which they have been thrown, increasing the heavy burden of the anti-social offensive on everyone's back.

Prior to introducing Bill 47, the UCP government carried out a phony consultation from July 9 to August 14. The report of the consultation was issued on November 5, the same day that Bill 47 was given first reading in the legislature. The report stated, "Government priorities and input from red tape reduction submissions and workers' compensation system agencies informed a written submission guide." Notably absent is any mention of the right to compensation, or the principles upon which the workers compensation system is based.

The report states that 85 responses were received, including 32 from "invited stakeholders" who were mainly employers, 49 from "other interested Albertans," reported as overwhelmingly representing employers, and four submissions expressing support for another submission. This contrasts with the broad participation in the WCB Review Panel which began in 2016 and issued its report in 2017, acknowledging the "culture of denial" at WCB and the need for substantive change.

The report states that "Stakeholders were most interested in four topics: the maximum insurable earnings cap, the employer obligation to reinstate, presumptive coverage for psychological injuries, and accident fund surpluses", and notes the responses of employers and workers. On each of these four topics, Bill 47 carries out the demands of employers, as well as on other demands.

Workers' Forum congratulates the Alberta working class for resolutely defending the rights of all in the battles it is waging. Their fights reveal above all else that when the aim of defending the rights of all is taken up, the ways and means can and will be found to fulfil that aim.

December 6, 2020 marked the 31st anniversary of the École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, one of the most tragic events to have struck Quebec and Canadian society. On December 6, 1989, an individual opened fire on 28 people, killing 14 women and injuring 10 other women and four men, before committing suicide himself. At least four people have ended their lives as a result of this tragedy.

It is to the credit of women and their organizations that on this occasion they reiterate their demand for the elimination of all forms of violence against themselves and their children, as well as in all of the society. The 12 Days of Action Against Violence were launched in Quebec on November 25, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as well as the 16 Days of Action internationally from November 25 to December 10, International Human Rights Day. Despite the pandemic, virtual meetings on Facebook, vigils, book launches and other activities are taking place during this period to remember and examine the struggle within today's conditions.

Women's starting point is not the self-serving viewpoint of governments which feebly oppose violence against women by presenting it as a matter of behaviour, to better pursue with impunity their n anti-social agenda of destruction and violence against society. Women and progressive forces reject this hypocritical vision that permits the conditions which contribute to violence against women to continue.

Women and progressive forces are waging a courageous and inspiring battle, demanding that the government assume its social responsibility towards them. In order to combat all forms of violence, it must guarantee their rights to security, housing, health care and education, including child care, along with all the necessary resources to combat all forms of violence. Women and the society have every right to demand a responsible society. As full-fledged members of the society and to fully participate in all spheres of life, women are fighting for the living conditions they deserve. This is all the more inspiring within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with all its imposed containment and isolation, and political, social, cultural and economic degeneration within society.

The organization of the 12 Days of Action in Quebec notes: "Months of a pandemic and weeks of quarantine in the Spring of 2020 have brought out violence that we thought was in the past. Other acts of violence have worsened, intensified, and transformed: Gender-based and sexual violence, but also the violence of not being seen or heard. The impact of this systemic violence is felt among all women, including among Aboriginal women, health workers, among national minority and immigrant women, among LGBTQ + people, among women with disabilities, among women confined, incarcerated, without status, sex workers, and among homeless women.

"As forms of violence multiply, the barriers to access to services are rising and have shown us how no right or form of protection should be taken for granted. And this systemic violence persists all the more insidiously as it grows in silence.”

Women's experience and struggles are light years away from government discourse, which no longer fools even the most gullible. For a long time now woman have been speaking out in their marches, speeches, demonstrations, demands and petitions for the elimination of all forms of violence. They demand a change in the direction of the economy towards a pro-social direction that requires new arrangements and the renewal of institutions that no longer function and are blocking society's advance.

Women are fighting for decision-making power so as to humanize society. A process is in place which is blocking discussion in order to keep women at the mercy of governments which are depriving the people of decision-making power that would enable them to end all forms of violence and to exercise control over all issues of concern to them. Women require new arrangements when they call for massive investments in health care, education and social programs, women's rights organizations, shelters, as well as when they call for an end to the ongoing violence suffered by women, especially Indigenous women, thousands of whom have gone missing or have been murdered.

On this 31st anniversary of the Polytechnique tragedy, we pay tribute to the 14 young women who lost their lives: to Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, to the missing or murdered Indigenous women and to the thousands of women and children who have been victims of violence in all its forms. We continue the struggle for its elimination!

• An individual grievance is a complaint that an action by the employer has violated the rights of an individual as set out in the Collective Agreement, law or by some unfair practice. E.g., discipline, demotion, timesheets etc.
• A group grievance is a complaint by a group of individuals all affected the same way, e.g., all employees in a particular department.
• A policy grievance is a complaint by the Union that an action or failure or refusal to act by the employer is a violation of the Collective Agreement that could affect all members covered by the agreement.

• Continued support of member Return to Work after a leave; file now closed
• Continued work on grievance for new IST hire around concerns related to Article 30 - Seniority. Requested informal discussions with the employer on another potential Article 30 grievance
• Continued work on the two grievances filed in September; one individual grievance settled without precedent or prejudice; other pursuing next steps
• Organized Grievance Committee meeting held on November 24
• Worked with co-Chairs on an iPhone survey to solicit feedback from members; worked with employer on setting up labour-management discussions on the iPhones
• Supported two members on Gradual Return to Work (GRTW) plans with the employer