 Mantis then used links built with organized labour and injured workers groups in other provinces to create the first National Injured Workers Conference in 1990, which led him to co-found the Canadian Injured Workers Alliance (CIWA).Mantis was elected national coordinator of CIWA from 1996 to 2002.Mantis was appointed to the board of directors of the Workers Compensation Board (now called the WSIB) from 1991 to 1994, and currently serves on the board of the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers, a WSIB-funded network of clinics providing comprehensive occupational health services to injured workers across Ontario.