GE toxic workplace update at meeting

Former workers of the General Electric plant in Peterborough and their family members are meeting this month to talk about what’s happening with their case.

On April 18 at 6 p.m. at the Peterborough Naval Association’s Navy Club on Whitla Street a meeting is being held to discuss updates on their cases and figure out where the situation is headed.

Hundreds of former workers and their families say chemical contamination at the plant between 1945 and 2000 gave hundreds of people cancers or respiratory diseases.

Workers and family fighting on the behalf of the diseased have filed hundreds of claims with Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB), many of which have ended up as rejections.

In September WSIB announced it would be reopening 250 denied claims.

Labour Minister Kevin Flynn said at the time those claims were “low-hanging fruit” which would be quickly passed while a longterm solution is explored. That solution is expected in 2018, Flynn said at the time.

But advocates working with the GE case are concerned with a looming June provincial election, and a possible change in government. They fear years of lobbying and advocacy could be reset.

Sue James, a former worker of 40 years who now sits on an advisory committee for other retirees, also says of the 250 reopened cases there’s a disturbing number of rejections.

So far 49 cases have been accepted while 58 were denied, she says.

James also says WSIB is only accepting cases where they can “scientifically prove without a shadow of a doubt” illness was caused by the plant.

But she and other advocates say due to the many types of carcinogens mixing and interacting it’s impossible to determine exactly what effects they would have on the body.

“They are still taking one cancer and linking it to one carcinogen instead of looking at the synergistic effects of all the toxins in there,” she says.

While the April meeting is meant to update people who have been participating in the case and get new people up to speed, there’s not much positive news to share.

“Nothing has changed” since March, said James, who notes retirees still face roadblocks in having their claims processed. She also says Flynn’s promises have led to very little results and a long-term solution still seems far off.

For people just starting to file claims now, representatives from the Office of the Worker Advisor and the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers are planned to attend to discuss how to access resources.

She also says the meeting serves as a reminder people are continue to lobby and aren’t going anywhere.

“We are still fighting,” James said.