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Increased workloads are getting in the way of providing quality services, say the people who provide support to injured workers.
(20 April 2012) - Delegates at the recent Conference of Canadian Compensation Unions in Ottawa discussed how increased workloads are having a negative impact on the provision of quality services to injured workers.
Episodes of violence and bullying are another major problem. Threats of violence from the public, threats of suicide from injured workers and workplace bullying all exact a heavy toll on workers’ mental and physical well-being.
“Injured workers deserve better” says Sandra Wright, President of the Compensation Employees Union (CEU) in British Columbia, an affiliation of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) through the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE).
“Workers are struggling to provide quality services under immense workloads. It’s high time employers stepped up to the plate and seriously addressed workers workload concerns,” says Wright.
Delegates heard that in the majority of cases employers do not take workers' concerns about violence and bullying seriously.
“Violence and bullying are not part of our jobs” says Harry Goslin, president of CUPE 1750, representing workers at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in Ontario.
Goslin says that to highlight the seriousness of the problem, NUPGE and CUPE will work together to develop a national strategy for compensation boards across Canada.
Together NUPGE and CUPE represent more than 8,000 compensation employees across Canada. The group meets every two years to discuss issues affecting both injured workers and employees of workers’ compensation boards.
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The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE