GE worker’s health claim finally accepted
Roger Fowler got a gift on Thursday, a day before his 72nd birthday.
For years, the retired General Electric worker has believed his cancer was caused by 20 years of working with harsh chemicals in the local plant.
Fowler received a phone call Thursday telling him his Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claim — previously rejected more than once — has finally been accepted.
“It’s over,” he said in an interview, minutes after learning the news. “It’s for real!”
Fowler has been fighting for compensation from WSIB since 1992 and was rejected more than once. His case even went to a tribunal, where he was turned down.
“I was denied from day one — but they’re going to try to fix it now,” he said.
Fowler worked at the local GE plant for 22 years; he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at
age 46.
He said he’s had many surgeries over the years that have resulted in hernias, which he wraps in tape. A Toronto Star series on the plight of the workers featured a photograph of him grimacing in pain as he removes the tape.
Fowler said on Thursday he doesn’t know yet exactly how much money he can expect.
“I wouldn’t hazard a guess,” he said, adding that other former workers whose cases have recently been accepted have been discreet about the sums they are receiving.
Fowler is one of 60 former workers who contracted cancer or other illnesses from exposure to toxic chemicals at General Electric in Peterborough who are getting compensation from WSIB even though their claims were previously turned down.
Fifteen of those accepted claims are fresh: they’ve occurred since Feb. 28.
Meanwhile 66 claims have had their original rejections upheld.
That’s 21 more than there were on Feb. 28, and it means the number of acceptances now exceed the number of upheld rejections (in February, the acceptances and rejections were tied).
It’s all part of an ongoing process that began in September; that’s when WSIB reopened 250 claims from sick GE employees that had been rejected for lack of scientific evidence linking cancer to workplace chemicals.
In light of new scientific studies, WSIB is now reviewing the 250 claims (starting with cancer cases).
A rash of cancer diagnoses among former GE workers in Peterborough was first noted in the 1990s. Yet over the last 12 years, many workers who made claims to WSIB were turned down.
Meanwhile, new studies have emerged lately to link cancers to industrial toxins once used in the plant.
One was produced locally by retired occupational health researchers Bob and Dale DeMatteo, with help from several GE retirees and sponsorship from Unifor (the union representing workers at the plant).
It says that more than 3,000 toxic chemicals were used at GE in Peterborough between 1945 and 2000, before the plant was scrubbed clean. Of those 3,000 chemicals, at least 40 are either known carcinogens or are strongly suspected to cause cancer.
Now WSIB says it is done reviewing three-quarters of the 250 cases.
Aaron Lazarus, vice-president of communications for WSIB, said the review of all 250 cases should be done by the end of June.
Meanwhile there are two meetings for former workers of the GE plant and their families to learn more about how the reviews are progressing and to develop strategies to continue advocating for compensation.
The annual spring meeting organized by the Occupational and Environmental Health Coalition — Peterborough was held Thursday night at the OPSEU offices on Lansdowne St. W., in the Mapleridge Plaza.
A community meeting organized by the Unifor GE Retirees Occupational Health Advisory Committee will be held next Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the Naval Association on Whitla St.