Thus the Honorable Gordon Sloan, defined compensation in a report to the B.C. govern- ment in 1942. While this may satisfy those seeking semantic definitions of the term “‘workmen’s compen- sation” it will do little to answer the strong differences of opinion between worker and employer and government as to what constitutes impar- tial administration of the Workmen’s Compensation Act. Compensation was born gen- erally in the nineteenth cen- tury and was restricted to ac- cidents resulting from _ the negligence of the employer. Employees were obliged to - take their employers to court to recover any lost wages or damages. ‘ In 1902 the first Compensa- tion Act was passed in B.C. * under which the employee had the right to e¥Yect whether or not to sue his employer or - claim compensation: No medi- . eal aid was provided. The max- imum amount he or his estate » could recover was $1,500. in - the event of death, or $1,500 ‘compensation at the maximum rate of $20 per month. It was not until 1917—two years later than Ontario—that a Workmen’s Compensation Act was passed in B.C. which provided compensation for all: industrial. accidents irrespec- tive of responsibility, (subject to specific limitations set forth in the act requiring the use of certain safety equipment and * deliberate injuries). This act 3 also established the Work- men’s Compensation Board which continues today. The Board consists of three full-time members engaged by the government, a chairman, an employers representative and a labor representative. ~@ CANVASS of labor opin- A ion brings forth the al- most unanimous agreement that the B.C. Compensation Act is the best in Canada and generally meets the conditions required. What then does all the argu- ment centre around? It is in the administration of the Act that injustices arise says labor. Formidable docu- mentation backs up this alle- gation. The Compensation Act fund is constructed from contribu- tions from employers based on a general levy of 4% of their payroll. In effect this is taken from -wages, unions point out, since it is charged as a labor cost by employers, and work- ed into their price structure. However, in addition to the 4%, the Act provides for a system of penalties to employ- ‘ers if their accidént incidence’ gravitates above that deemed normal within the particular industry or for an industry as a whole. Thus, for example in the mining industry, em- ployers are levied an addition- al 7% of payroll costs for all workers working in under- ground operations or occupa- tions subject to silicosis dusts. It is from this seemingly logical method of financing the operation of the Act that the injustices arise. Employers of any substance now undertake large scale safety programs, in many in-} stances carrying on their pay- LABOUR DAY 1961 Congratulations to the “PT”’—champion in the fight for disarmament and peace. | EDMONDS CLUB GPG LABOUR DAY GREETINGS for Peace and Security from Broadway Club CPC 1961 —LABOUR DAY GREETINGS. from 4 Federation of Russian Canadians 600 Campbell Ave., Vancouver 4 Fraternal Greetings on LABOUR DAY = 1961 from: Polish aie ‘Association B.C. La | abor Demands Action On Compensation Administration Needs Changin By WILLIAM STEWART ORKMEN’S compensation is an insurance system devised to make good the loss of wages consequent upon a disability or fatal accident, and to make an equit- able distribution of that economic loss over large public groups. It is not unemployment insurance, it is not health insurance, it is not an old age pension; it is simply a form of insurance against a fortuitous injury.” roll full time safety directors. This is certainly to the good as any effort which results in the reduction of industrial ac- cidents is welcome. It must be recognized, how- ever, that company efforts are not prompted so much by hu- manitarian concern for the welfare of the employees as by the hard headed desire to keep compensation costs. in general and in particular to keep their own costs down. This is partially the objec- tive of the penalty clause in the Act, in addition of course to making the Act actuarily sound and equitable. The joker however, is that the self-same system encour- ages companies to keep their safety records as clean as pos- sible not only by the system of accident prevention but by discouraging workers from fil- ing legitimate claims through outright or more subile forms of intimidation. labor e N_ addition to this, abe that the Compensa- tion Board. is loaded in favor of the employer. Thus, they state that case after case com- ing before the Board finds the board chairman, a government appointee, and the company representative all lining up against the labor member of the Board to reject legitimate claims. — Observers of the labor scene who have studied the direction of decisions of conciliation], boards recently, which are composed similarly to the Compensation Board, will see that there is considerable weight to this contention. The Compensation Board has tended more and more to} consider that it is a law unto|| itself. Recent amendments have tended to consolidate its] arbitrariness rather than broaden out the democratic GREETINGS from University Billiards to all Organized Labour Head for the HUB for a complete selection of Union Made Men’s Wear‘ . - » Work clothes, dress clothes and furnishings, all on our FREE CREDIT PLAN. 45 East Hastings 100 Blk. East Hastings |} Vancouver 4, B.C. |] | REPAIRS WHILE YOU WAIT base of the administration. Thus for example, when sec- tion 54A was recently amend- ed to section 55 it reduced from 115 to 19 the panel of specialists to whom a worker could appeal a decision of the Board. In the place of the old section, which allowed the worker to select a specialist from this panel and under the terms of the Act his decision was conclusive (although the Board flounted such decisions consistently in spite of court rulings to the contrary). The new section sets up an appeal board of specialists exactly similar to the composition of the W.C.B. itself. A permanent chairman, employers repre- sentative and a labor repre- sentative. drawn from _ the panel of 19. Most unions have a _ heart- rendering file of rejected com- pensation, claims in which “Justice” has been done, but the claimant goes on to suffer. Millions of dollars in legal ‘fees have been expended by the labor movement to win legitimate claims of their members. Sometimes the ef- forts have been crowned with success, albeit over the dead bodies of the victim, as in the celebrated Zuko case. In other instances, for example the re- cent Battagglia case, the claim- ant died while the compensa-|and overhaul of ™ tion was still appealing a rul- men’s Compensaor ing in Hatiogslit'e favour to ministration in B. “LABOUR DAY GREETINGS from SAVOY ROOMS Upstairs — 258 East Hastings Hot and Cold Water Reasonable - the Spreme Court This case spent years in Canadian e One union officia up the attitude of of the Workmen’s tion Board as follo assume all workers # to 2M ie Board 0 money.” As far a8 concerned you are 8 you are proven inno Matters appear 10 ing a juncture wh cient administrati® Act is being hinde threatened by the wid ences held concer plication. The recent of the Vancouver L cit and the Mine Smelter Workers * Royal Commission gate into all aspects 0 : ministration of the ‘ seem to be well dire™ Certainly, no one consideration would an individual or fam ized by an industrial should be buffeted cause the interpre administration of a2 © sound Act stands } them and justice. As in all other ever, what labor win. Including an ‘hi 1961 LABOR DAY GREETIN TO OUR FRIENDS AND CUSTOM Concrete Work - Readymix - Expert Finish ELMER H. WALSKE Haney, B.C. Phone INgersoll 5-9 3823 Hastings St., North Burnaby . Cat’s Paw Heels Ladies’ Fine Shoe RF ae OHN SINKA, Prop. GREETINGS ! ROBERTSON’S HARDWA 4052 East Hastings, North Burnaby — CY 8-1255 “A GOOD PLACE TO SHOP” Ww LABOUR DAY GREETINGS fro" MAX ‘GOLDBERG. PLUMBING & HEATING SUPPE 404 iit Street, Vilhcanye 4, °B.C. MU M September 1, 1961—PACIFIC TRIBUNE