Originally Published: 2008-06-08

“Why are we still here doing battle after 25 years? And how many tears need to be shed by mothers who don’t have enough money to feed their children? And for how much longer will workers have to get up in the morning knowing that they have no guarantees if injured on the job? Look at the building behind me. That’s where decisions are made. Things can change in a moment, but it’s 25 years that we’re fighting for injured workers’ rights and nothing has changed.” The speaker is Nancy Hutchison, who is responsible for national job safety for the union of metalworkers, who last week participated at a rally in front of Queen’s Park on behalf of Injured Workers’ Day .
For 25 years, June 1 has been a national commemoration day for those injured on the job. And every year in Toronto, association representatives gather in front of the Ontario Parliament to ask for justice, dignity, and security, but there is still a long road ahead. Each time, there are new stories exemplifying the injustices suffered by about one third of Ontario workers who are not covered by any form of job casualty insurance.
This year, one of the speakers to take the podium was 13-year-old Neeky Dalir. The long dark-haired girl shaded her head with a yellow umbrella full of holes – a symbol of a worker safety system that “leaks” and is full of loopholes. Her message was simple and straightforward: “It’s not right. The government does not guarantee any kind of protection, but things have to change.” She knows this full well since her mother Maryam Nazemi had suffered an on-the-job injury three years ago and had to stop working. She has only one small disability pension, which is not enough to support her family.
“My husband works two jobs, otherwise we would not be able to feed our kids,” said Nazemi. “I can’t work any more. I’d like to but my doctor has ordered me not to. Eight months after the injury, I received a small disability pension, which isn’t even enough to pay half the rent. In reality though, that money is the contributions that I have made to the government since I started working. At the school where I worked – a private institution with no insurance – I got nothing.”

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