&3 HIGHLIGHTS

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Union calls for
WCB reform

In heated debates, delegates to the convention
called for change to the Workers Compensation
Board in British Columbia and the enforcement of
existing regulations.

A motion calling for the more frequent inspec-
tions of plants was unanimously adopted. At pres-
ent the Board has no regular inspection schedule
for worksites.

The delegates also called for the re-establishment
of the Hearing Branch of B.C.

Harvey Arcand of Local 1-425 said that the
Hearing Branch and W.C.B. facilities have been lost

. in Williams Lake. Members from the local must
now go to Kamloops for hearing examinations.

Arecand expressed the frustration of workers in
his local who have waited up to 14 months for
hearing tests and, in many cases, have given up.
Arcand also said the W.C.B.’s intentions have been
to make the process miserable and difficult for
workers.

The union will also take action, requesting the
Board of Governors of the W.C.B. to amend W.C.B.
policy so that once a decision is made by a doctor
regarding an individual's ability to work, the deci-
sion shall not be overturned by a W.C.B. Adjudica-
tor and that the claim be paid without delay.

“The problem we have is that we find our guys
sitting at home, in many cases unable to get out of
bed, with a decision i their sae jee the Com-

tion Board which says, ‘our doctor says you
ego = work.’ When the patients doctor says he

arvey Arcand of Local

bed,” said
eae #4 is is one of the

1-425. “This is our problem.
ones we got.” 2 "i
“It’s rapidly becoming one of the issues we're
ither gonna address or we're gonna pay a. heavy
rice one of these days as a union for not doing it,
a d Arcand. Seri i
A resolution calling for full time first aid atten-
_ dants devoting peteelves SUC first
id work by the convention.
arre arse Togger’s Local 1-71 said that
ons such as camps with 30-38 people, a
may be hel by only one person who
working on the jobsite.

Discriminatory hiring practices
condemned by Convention

At the convention delegates unanimously
approved a resolution which calls upon IWA-CAN-
ADA to demand that the BC. government introduce
and enforce legislation that will prevent employers
from inquiring about a worker's past claims with
the Workers’ Compensation Board and also prevent
companies from investigating about a worker's
unrelated medical problems.

IWA-CANADA, according to the resolution will
also ask the government to prevent employer from
using W.C.B. file information for reasons other than
claim appeal purposes.

“Basically, when you get down to human rights,
you're not supposed to be able to fire somebody for
any physical disability that doesn’t relate to the
work being done,” said Local 1-217’s Jim Parker.

Local 1-80’s Bill Routley told the delegation that
when employment application forms are filled out

the worker is often left in a difficult position.

“What happens when a person comes to fill out
their application form, a lot of times they’re left
with a choice. Do I put down that I was off two
weeks for a strained back four years ago, or do I put
nothing down.”

Action must be taken on the resolution to pre-
vent men and women with past W.C.B. claims or
medical problems from being denied employment
in the forest industry.

Members who refuse to divulge past claims are
being terminated in a systematic fashion.

“It is outrageous to me that the province we live
in is so unjust and treats workers in such a poor
fashion,” said Routley.

Copies of the resolution will be forwarded to all
Federation of Labour conventions in Canada, the
CLC convention and NDP conventions.

Key OH&S resolutions pass

INJURED WORKERS ... the union demands
that the Workers Compensation Board and employ-
ers increase their training and retraining of injured
workers.

ANTI-SAPSTAIN CHEMICALS the IWA
demands that occupational health and safety com-
mittees have full input into the development and
implementation of anti-sapstain chemicals in their
operations.

WHMIS ... all WC.B. and/or enforcement agen-
cies responsible for the implementation of Work-
place Hazardous Information Systems will be told
to follow their mandates.

PCB'S polychoronated biphenyls shall be
removed from worksites and destroyed where possi-
ble or stored in a tamper proof site approved by
federal government agencies.

NOISE AND STRESS ... responsible govern-
ment agencies shall begin a comprehensive study
on stress and noise in conjunction with the IWA to
determine the total impact on workers due to stress
and noise.

WOOD DUST ASTHMA ... the union will lobby
the responsible provincial government agencies to
insure that wood dust asthma be classified as a
permanent disability and demand that compensa-
tion be paid to workers effected.

SAFETY TRAINING ... the convention will
pressure provincial governments to establish
government funded, union administered training
centres to educate safety committee members.

TOXIC FUNGICIDES ... in BC. the IWA will
lobby the Workers’ Compensation Board to launch
a full investigation into a toxic free fungicide agent
to be used on softwood lumber.

UNSAFE WORK ... delegates have passed the
demand that ‘the IWA will try to negotiate the
rights to refuse unsafe work into collective agree-
ments and once involked will also prevent other
workers from performing the unsafe work until the
problem is resolved.

INDUSTRIAL FIRST AID ... in BC. the union
will pressure the W.C.B. to revise and enforce regu-
lation for full time first aid attendants to devote
themselves exclusively to first aid work.

CONFERENCE ON FATALITIES AND INJUR-
IES ... the union will call on the forest industry
and provincial governments to sponsor a conference
of workers, employers, and government representa-
tives to discuss and formulate recommendations
for reducing fatalities and injuries in the forest
industry.

WORKPLACE DESIGN ... IWA-CANADA de-
mands that the responsible agencies establish a
joint workplace ergonomic committee in each
operation to identify and make recommendatiins
on workplace design.

FALLERS TRAINING .. . the union reaffirms its
position that mandatory certified fallers’ training
be implemented in the province of B.C.

© Delegates from Local 1-405, B.C. southern interior. The local submitted 12 of 33 occupational health and safety

resolutions.

LUMBERWORKER/NOVEMBER, 1990/13

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