VANCOUVER – A spate of Order in Council appointments made recently by Premier Clark’s government to the top decision-making body of the Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) shows extreme bias in favour of employers, says the BC Federation of Labour, with only one of nine WCB director positions filled by a worker representative.
BCFED President Irene Lanzinger says the surprise appointment of Louise Yako, CEO and President of the BC Trucking Association employer group, as a new “public interest” director smacks of patronage by the BC Liberals.
In a letter sent last week to the minister responsible for labour and the WCB, Shirley Bond, Lanzinger wrote that the patronage appointment perpetuates a growing imbalance at the Board. “The representative voice of labour at the senior decision-making level has been diminished significantly under the BC Liberals,” says Lanzinger.
“The mandate of a fair workplace injury compensation system should be to keep workers safe and alive on the job through comprehensive workplace safety rules that are rigorously enforced,” Lanzinger wrote. “If a worker is injured on the job, they should be fairly compensated, and employers whose negligence causes workplace accidents and injuries should be suitably punished.”
“But these objectives aren’t being achieved by the WCB under employer control. Worker safety is being compromised, injured workers aren’t fairly compensated and employers who kill or injure workers are let off with a slap on the wrist.”
“Workers must not be sidelined in the workers’ compensation system,” says Lanzinger.
Lanzinger says the BCFED will be lobbying the government and opposition in the New Year to restore greater balance and fairness at the WCB.
