Tag Archives: Workers’ Memorial Day

New York’s Newest Budget Shortchanges Injured Workers

A couple of weeks ago Governor Cuomo signed the New York State Budget that contained some potentially detrimental provisions for injured workers. Big business interests are taking their victory laps as they continue with their campaign to dismantle the Workers’ Compensation system by further reducing benefits to injured workers.  See this for what it is- a relentless attack on the working men and women of this state.

If you believe that the majority of those on Workers’ Compensation are frauds, faking an injury, or taking advantage of taxpayers, then you are probably content with the changes in the law. That also probably means you were swayed by the alternative facts that the Business Council was promulgating, including the proposition that Workers’ Compensation benefits are to blame for the high cost of doing business in New York and that many injured workers are not deserving of the benefits they receive.   

My colleague Len Jernigan from North Carolina issues an annual report of the top 10 Workers’ Compensation fraud cases. In 2016, those top 10 fraud claims were against employers – not workers – and totaled more than $400 million! Much of the fraud involved misclassification of employees in order to circumvent payroll taxes and Workers’ Compensation insurance. In fact, very few workers would voluntarily subject themselves to a system that has become so bloated by bureaucracy and is more concerned about precluding medical treatment because a form is not filled out correctly or penalizing counsel for being too overzealous by submitting numerous requests for their client’s day in court. 

Injured workers do not have much political clout. They do not get rich off of Workers’ Compensation benefits. Their weekly benefits can be reduced if they are considered partially disabled without regard to their socio economic status, their educational level or whether or not they are still being treated for their injuries.   Many of them who were union workers now are no longer able to pay union dues; some cannot pay for medical insurance for themselves or their families as Workers’ Compensation insurance only covers the injured worker for the injuries sustained on the job.

Workers’ Memorial Day takes place annually on April 28.  It is a day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job. Each year there are symposiums, panel discussions, acknowledgements, and speeches paying tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives at work. Many of our politicians will issue statements or attend rallies to stand in solidarity with workers’ groups. We will hear how their deaths should not be in vain and how we must make our workplaces safer. We will be saddened to hear the list of names of those who went off to work never to return.

Many of the politicians giving these speeches are the same politicians who voted to reduce benefits to injured workers in order to appease big business interests. It is difficult to comprehend the hypocrisy involved, but we are told this is politics as usual. While it may be too late regarding the further limitation for lost wages, there is still an opportunity to let the Governor know that any further reduction for permanent injuries to limbs is just not acceptable. While honoring those who died on the job is laudable, properly compensating those who have suffered permanent injuries is equally important and ensures that we value both the dead and the living.

Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.

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A Legal Victory, and Workers’ Memorial Day: We Can Never Forget

During the past couple of months I have been focused on the proposed New York State Budget.  Governor Andrew Cuomo had recommended some provisions that would have negatively impacted workers.  As a result of community involvement, and coalitions between medical, labor and legal organizations, the final budget did not contain any additional, harmful provisions to the injured worker. 

As an attorney who has represented injured workers for more than 25 years, I was able to take a moment to be grateful for the outcome. Unfortunately though, despite this victory workplace injuries and deaths continue to make headlines. Just last week, a worker was electrocuted while working on an elevator in a New York housing complex. He was just 54 years old. The victim was an elevator mechanic’s helper who was working alone in the elevator machine room while his colleague worked in the lobby. Michael Halpin, organizer for Local 1, the International Union of Elevator Constructors, commented in The Gothamist that many people working on elevators are often untrained and that New York State is one of the few states that does not require elevator mechanics to be educated, trained, and licensed. 

While we don’t know the exact cause of the fatality, it is clear that something went tragically wrong. This type of accidental workplace death is far more common than you think, as anyone working in the construction industry is at risk for electrocution or being hurt by an electric current. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a report showing that in 2014 there were 4,679 deaths with 4,251 involving private workers. One in five worker deaths were in the construction field as a result of falls, but the second leading cause of death was electrocution.

Electricians and their apprentices account for nearly 20 percent of all electrocutions, but all types of skilled construction workers are electrocuted every year, including carpenters, welders, heavy machinery operators, plumbers, and bricklayers. Many construction sites are dangerously close to overhead lines and workers use cranes, bucket trucks, bulldozers, scaffolds, and ladders that may come into contact with electrical wires. The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) noted in its 20-year review of electrical injuries that the three major causes of fatal electrocutions were contact with overhead lines, contact with wiring transformers or other electrical components, or contact with electric current of machine, tools, appliances or light fixtures. Electric injuries include burns, nerve damage, heart attacks, and neurological damage.  

While construction workers are the most likely to be injured by electricity, many workers are unaware of the potential hazards present in their work environment. A healthcare worker can be electrocuted by a faulty plug on a heart monitor, an office worker typing on a keyboard could be electrocuted by a frayed extension cord, or a utility worker could accidentally touch a live underground wire. The ESFI notes in the review that there has been substantial electrical safety improvement – and that’s a good sign. However, it does nothing to stem the grief felt by the family of the elevator mechanic who recently died on the job.

On April 28, we commemorate Workers’ Memorial Day, an annual event to mourn for the dead and fight for the living. We can never forget those who go to work but never return home. “No one should have to sacrifice their life for their livelihood, because a nation built on the dignity of work must provide safe working conditions for its people.”  Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez 

 

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Catherine M. Stanton is a senior partner in the law firm of Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano, LLP. She focuses on the area of Workers’ Compensation, having helped thousands of injured workers navigate a highly complex system and obtain all the benefits to which they were entitled. Ms. Stanton has been honored as a New York Super Lawyer, is the past president of the New York Workers’ Compensation Bar Association, the immediate past president of the Workers’ Injury Law and Advocacy  Group, and is an officer in several organizations dedicated to injured workers and their families. She can be reached at 800.692.3717.

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What Is Workers’ Memorial Day About?

Today, April 28th is the day that the unions of the AFL-CIO take action to make workplaces safer for both union and non union workers.  It has become known as Workers’ Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for the people who have lost their lives while on the job. These days it is hard to ignore the tragedies that confront workers internationally such as the recent building collapse in Bangladesh which killed hundreds of garment factory workers or those that occur in our own country – the young police officer killed while on duty by the alleged Boston Marathon Bombers or the first responders killed during the West, Texas fertilizer explosion when they ran to the danger. While these deaths were well publicized because of their notoriety, they represent only a small part of the story as there are thousands more killed each year which few of us hear about.  

According to Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4693 workers were killed on the job in 2011 up from the previously reported 4609. It will be months before a final tally is determined for 2012. 

“Every day in America, 13 people go to work and never come home. Every year in America, nearly 4 million people suffer a workplace injury from which some may never recover. These are preventable tragedies that disable our workers, devastate our families, and damage our economy. American workers are not looking for a handout or a free lunch. They are looking for a good day’s pay for a hard day’s work. They just want to go to work, provide for their families, and get home in one piece.”

– Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Workers Memorial Day speech April 26, 2011

Let’s pause for a moment and remember those we represent – those who are maimed, injured and killed while performing workplace functions and pray that those injuries and deaths that are preventable will not be included in future statistics.

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