The union representing Workplace Safety and Insurance Board employees says services have been negatively impacted since the announcement of job cuts and local centres were being closed two months ago.
Ten WSIB locations across the province were closed and hundreds of jobs were cut, half in northern Ontario.
“Injured workers and their representatives report waiting two to three hours on the phone lines,” said Harry Goslin, president of the Ontario Compensation Employees Union at a news conference at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.
“Unassigned claims have increased 15-fold, leaving thousands of workers without support.”
He said since the locations closed and more than 500 positions eliminated, Goslin said the remaining workers have heavier workloads. That is having an impact on services for those who’ve filed claims with the WSIB.
“How can WSIB staff support injured workers when they themselves are working in a toxic and unsafe environment?” he said.
“The WSIB is in a crisis and is now offering overtime. You don’t cut hundreds of jobs and then offer overtime unless the work is still there … It is a direct acknowledgement that the WSIB no longer has enough staff to meet the service demands.”
“Despite promises by the WSIB that there’d be no impact to service, front-line staff report call times have increased from three to 20 minutes to as long as two to three hours,” said Sudbury NDP MPP Jamie West.
The Toronto news conference was organized by West and Lise Vaugeois, MPP for Thunder Bay-Superior North.
Vaugeois is the NDP critic for WSIB and Workers with Disabilities, while West is the NDP critic for Labour.
Both said the restructuring has had a major impact on northern Ontario since half the closed sites were in the region and all regional positions were eliminated.
“If all of those people are in southern Ontario -- and that’s assuming that they’re people and not AI chatbots -- they don’t know those circumstances,” Vaugeois said, referring to regional and industry expertise.
“We’ve heard stories of (WSIB workers in southern Ontario asking) ‘why don’t you just take a Go-Train?’ That, of course, is an absurd remark for anybody who lives in the north; such a thing doesn’t exist.”
Vaugeois said it’s important for WSIB workers “to understand those conditions,” such as the type of work, weather and roadways northern Ontarians deal with regularly.
The NDP has asked Ontario’s Auditor General to audit the WSIB’s restructuring and whether the decision was supported by “sound governance, effective government oversight, prudent financial management and adequate evidence.”
The WSIB is adamant there are still local teams providing in-person support in Sudbury and across northern Ontario, as well as both industry and injury experts on hand for assistance.
Aaron Lazarus, the WSIB’s vice-president of communications, told CTV News the restructuring was about providing value for Ontario businesses paying insurance premiums.
He said the WSIB helps “almost 9 of 10 people return to work within three months of that injury,” while at the same time reducing premiums for businesses by 50 per cent in the last 10 years.
“One person doesn’t have to lose in order for the other to win. We’re able to, as an organization, look at how we can help people return to work and be the most effective and efficient as possible to have the lowest premium rates as possible for Ontario businesses,” Lazarus said.
“We are doing great work -- we have an amazing team across Ontario, including in Sudbury, who are putting everything of themselves into helping people,” he said, adding “it’s a special place to work.”
“We hope you never need us, but if you do, because of an injury or illness, the WSIB is here to help.”
