Ron Franklin finishes his final term on the Board of the Workers’ Action Centre: After many years of volunteering as a Board Member at the Workers’ Action Center (“the WAC”), Ron Franklin’s second and final term came to an end on July 24, 2010. The WAC is a worker-based organization committed to improving the working conditions of workers in precarious employment (e.g., low pay, high risk, unstable). Since its inception, the WAC has been at the forefront of law reform in Ontario and has literally forced the Ministry of Labour, government and politicians to take workers’ interests into account. WAC has had many victories. For example, it was instrumental in getting the government to raise the minimum wage and enact Bill 139, a piece of legislation which greatly improved the rights and protections guaranteed to temporary workers. Ron Franklin began volunteering with WAC as a law student, and his experiences there, helped open his eyes to often harsh realities that working people face on a daily basis. Although he is no longer a Board Member, Ron Franklin recognizes the tremendous impact that the WAC has had on his development as a workers’ advocate and plans to continue volunteering and staying involved with WAC into the future. For more information about WAC, please click here: http://www.workersactioncentre.org/
WSIB Reconsideration Request: Ron Franklin is currently representing a worker who advised the WSIB in writing that he wanted to appeal one of its decisions. He did so within the 6-month time limit the WSIB specified. However, years later, when the employee was finally ready to proceed with his appeal, the WSIB told him that he had missed the time limit. That’s when he came to Franklin Law. With Ron Franklin’s support, the worker requested that the WSIB to reconsider its decision. About a month later, the WSIB gave the worker the “green light” to proceed with his appeal. Many workers rights advocates, Mr. Franklin, will tell you that in their experience reconsideration requests frequently fail. While this case doesn’t change that perception, it does reinforce the notion that under the right circumstances, reconsideration requests can be effective.
