By Jim Selby AFL Staff

Frank Pagnotta began his hunger strike against the Workers’ Compensation Board early Monday morning on July 26, 1999. Sitting on a sleeping bag in front of the WCB head office in Edmonton, Frank has vowed to starve himself in public until the Klein government responds to his demand for an inquiry into the operations of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board. He has locked one end of a pair of handcuffs to a post in case he needs to prevent authorities from removing him forcibly.

"I want an independent public inquiry into the workings of the WCB that examines in detail the Board’s dealings with injured workers," said Pagnotta. "I want the system to work for all workers in this Province and especially for all injured workers – both short-term and long term."

Pagnotta has already tried the normal routes for complaint. He even had a face-to-face meeting with Murray Smith – then the Minister responsible for the WCB – in 1997. But all of the assurances that his complaints would be investigated and that problems within the system would be addressed have proven to be false.

Frank Pagnotta is not one of those who wants to see a privately owned, American style, for-profit workers’ compensation in Alberta. "On its merits, it’s a good system," said Pagnotta, but it has eroded over the years and become corrupted from its original purpose."

Frank is particularly concerned about what he calls the routine denial of claims, and the high percentage of injured workers’ appeals that are turned down.

Pagnotta is himself an injured worker who has had problems with the system – but that is not his focus. "My own experience as an injured worker simply means that I am basing my demands upon real experience," he said. "But I want the flaws in the entire system fixed – that will address my problems and every other injured workers’ problems at the same time."

AFL endorses call for public inquiry into WCB

The Alberta government should act promptly to address the growing worker dissatisfaction with the Workers’ Compensation, says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"There are serious problems with the system," says AFL Secretary Treasurer Les Steel. "Workers who have been injured on the job are convinced that they are not being served well by the WCB. In recent years, we have been inundated with complaints of claims unfairly denied, and appeals that have been blocked by an apparent wall of bureaucratic indifference."

That’s why the Alberta Federation of Labour is strongly supporting Frank Pagnotta’s demand for a full and impartial public inquiry into the operations of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board.

"It is a real shame that the only way Frank Pagnotta feels that he, or any other injured worker, can get any justice is to chain himself in front of the Board and go on a hunger strike," said Steel. "If that alone doesn’t convince the government to do something about the WCB – then it will be clear that indifference in the Legislature is a big part of the problem."

"The Federation of Labour calls upon the Government to call a public inquiry into the WCB today -–before more injured Albertans are putting their health at risk in an effort to get fair treatment."