Atlantic truckers balk at workers’ compensation hike

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DIEPPE, NB – WorkSafeNB has suggested workers’ compensation rates could increase a whopping 32-51%, and the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA) is pushing back.

Following a Wednesday stakeholder meeting in Moncton, APTA noted that WorkSafeNB’s board has offered little detail on how it will manage and control increases moving forward

“For our members, the rate hike obviously represents an immense increase in costs that we can’t continue to absorb. Along with fuel increases, carbon pricing and higher than ever equipment costs, we are barely keeping our heads above water,” says Jean-Marc Picard, executive director of APTA.

Neither the government nor the WorkSafeNB board has offered solutions to resolve the issue, the association adds.

“Some of our members have excellent safety records and world-class safety programs for their employees, but their rates are increasing. The system is failing us and it needs to be fixed ASAP,” Picard says. “We pay and trust the government and WorkSafeNB to provide and manage a fair and well-balanced system for employees and employers of [New Brunswick], and right now that is not happening.”

The APTA has more than 320 members.

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John G. Smith is Newcom Media's vice-president - editorial, and the editorial director of its trucking publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, and Transport Routier. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.


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