IWACONVENTIONO1

Union’s safety
resolutions

get go ahead

DISCIPLINE FOR SAFETY - the union reaffirmed its
national policy around “discipline for safety”
which places the emphasis on education and
correction, as opposed to discipline, and places
the onus on the employer to ensure union
members are properly trained to work safely.

USE OF HERBICIDES - the union opposes the use of

herbicide spraying for brush control on
reforested areas and Bupperts the use of
mechanical brushing instead.

B.C. SAFETY ASSOCIATION - the union will continue
to participate in discussions to form a B.C.
Forest Industry Association and to ensure that
its structure will provide for full representation
by the union in its governance and
administration to all parts of the industry
where I.W.A. members work.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH CLINICS - the union
vigorously supports the establishment, in B.C.,
of a system of occupational health clinics similar
to those established in Ontario and Manitoba.

REPETITIVE STRAIN FOR SCALERS - the B.C. WCB
will be called upon to develop a database of all
repetitive strain injuries or musculoskeletal
injuries among log scalers, put together a
prevention strategy, and ensure proper
recognition and acceptance of these injuries.

WHOLE BODY VIBRATION - the union will call on
the WCB of B.C. to conduct a study on back
disorders on heavy eumpment operators exposed
to panels wane wapra tian and will bring the issue
forward to the board Occupational Diseases
Standing Committee to address its claims
pong ran cocontence of such claims under
le “B.

WCB GOVERNANCE - the B.C. government will be
called upon to restore full representative

overnance to the Workers Compensation
joard.

WCB AND GANGLIA - the I.W.A. will lobby the
B.C. WCB to nonapt ganglia claims with the six
week restrictive clause.

FIRST AID COVERAGE - the union will press the
WCB in B.C to change the minimum
requirements for first aid coverage in “A” hazard
jobs, over 20 minutes surface travel to a hospital,
‘to Level 3 unrestricted coverage from the current
Level 1 coverage and to make the same changes
if the hospital is less than 20 minutes away.

HAZARD CLASSIFICATION - in B.C., the union will
put pressure on the government to see that in
remanufacturing operations, under the Class
“B” hazard classification, which are both more
and less than 20 minutes of surface travel time
to a hospital, be upgraded to the “A” hazard
classification.

e Jim Parker, Local 2171

e National Safety Council Delegates Bob Hird, Local 1000 and Local 1-405’s Stan McMaster, read out
the safety resolutions on behalf of the committee responsible.

e Brenda Wagg, Local 2171

Fatality benefits need
to be nondiscriminatory

The union will lobby the B.C. government
and the WCB to change the WCB act to provide
fatality benefits at the equivalent of 100 per
cent loss of earnings, actuarially adjusted for
the life expectancy of the deceased worker,
which would be payable to the appropriate
dependent(s) or the worker’s estate.

Local 2171 safety director Jim Parker said
although compensation is supposed to replace
income lost due to injury, that does not happen
with death benefits.

He said legislation has been set up especially
to deny widows the right to full compensation
for the loss of their spouses.

In his local recently, a widow was advised by
the WCB that benefits would be reduced once
her kids reached age eighteen.

The local union looked at 1,449 claims over a
10-year period and saw that in 23 cases, no
compensation was paid. In about 200 cases, the
insurance payout was less than $10,000. Over
400 cases paid out over $100,000

“It’s very clear that it is much cheaper to kill
a worker than it is to compensate for somebody
who’s permanently injured,” said Parker. “In
fact, there’s a discount for death.”

He added that the system is “ripping off the
people who deserve the money the most.”

‘t’s unfortunate, because we want to prevent
deaths, but when somebody gets killed, those
people who are left behind deserve to be properly

compensated,” he said.

Sister Brenda Wagg, from the same local
union, said in B.C. 97 per cent of all fatalities
occur to men and the logging industry has the
most fatalities.

In the past decade there have been 257
fatalities in logging and 126 fatalities in
uckine

“Fatal benefits legislation was created when
women were considered to be not more than
chattel (property), and that legislation has not
changed since,” she said. “Benefits are provided
at a reasonable level only to widows with two
or more children.”

Survivors with one kid get less while widows
over 50 years of age get 60 per cent of their
deceased partner’s wage rate.

“When the children turn eighteen, the spouse
loses most of her benefits,” added Wagg. “If the
spouse is under 40, with no children, she is
offered a lump sum payment of $31,000 and
sent on her way.”

“Clearly the law discriminates, yet current
law says that this is differential treatment, not
discriminatory treatment,” she added.

Wagg said that treatment comes from the
false and discriminatory view that young
women have a greater opportunity of being re-
employed and more opportunity to get
remarried.

“J say this is bullshit!” she exclaimed.

LUMBERWORKER/DECEMBER 2001/13