Thread:

This Bill is a direct attack on workers in Alberta and more specifically, the traditional workers that support the UCP #ableg https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5791510

I used to work at WCB as a case manager. Specifically I spent most my time managing Oil & Gas claims. That industry is very dangerous work that injures a lot of workers. Most of those workers, prior to the changes implemented by the NDP, never came close to getting the same

compensation while injured as they did when they were working. That’s because the maximum compensation rate was very low in respect to Alberta wages. The NDP removed the cap to ensure workers were paid based on their actual earnings instead of a fraction of their earnings.

The changes proposed in this bill will place hundreds of thousands of workers in financial hardship as a result of getting injured while working some of the most dangerous jobs in Alberta.

The other change the UCP wants to implement is taking away the responsibility of these employers to find meaningful worker for the workers that injured themselves doing this very dangerous work. This is a truly awful change to the WCB Act. Workers in these dangerous industries

face enormous pressure from their employers to not report injuries. Reporting injuries can cause employers premiums to increase just the same as when you report an automobile accident to your insurance company. Prior to the changes the NDP made, employers were not obligated

to find meaningful work for their workers upon return from an injury. There was no penalty for employers who fired workers after they were off their WCB claim. So in O&G and construction, in order to make examples of workers who filed claims, those employers would often

fire workers within days of returning from a workplace accident. This would send a message to the other workers that if you file a WCB claim, you will be fired. The changes the NDP made were that employers had to provide evidence that a termination of an employee

after they returned from an injury within the first 6 month (or year, I can’t recall) had to be justified. If there was no work, they had to show that keeping them was a real hardship and not a perceived hardship. I pretty much exclusively managed O&G claims for my first 2 years

at WCB. I cannot begin to recall how many workers in that industry called me in absolute shambles within a few days after their claim was closed because they were fit for work and their employer “laid them off”. These workers had families that relied on them and these employers

could care less. The changes the UCP are trying to implement through Bill 47 will attack workers. This is not about the sustainability of the WCB. It is a very well funded Board. This is all about attacking workers and allowing employers to pay less for injuring their employees.

Further, this Bill will do absolutely nothing to address debt in AB. The AB WCB is completely funded by employers and is not a financial burden for the govt. This bill is about the O&G industry getting kick backs to earn money off the backs of injured workers. Disgusting. #ableg