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"The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people." Cesar Chavez | |
:: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 ::
Workers Live a New York State Workers Compensation Nightmare by Alex Blair, Buffalo Alt Press Online, NY
Welcome to the hell that is the New York State Workers Compensation System.
Origins of Workers’ Compensation
New York State established its first “workmen’s” compensation system in 1914. Prior to then, when a worker was injured on the job, the only recourse was to sue in courts. The courts routinely ruled that the employer bore no responsibility for a worker’s injury or death. Most infamously, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck, owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, were acquitted of all charges in the 1911 fire that killed 146 in a lower Manhattan tenement factory.
The rationale was often that workers accepted the responsibility for their own safety. If workers felt the job to be unsafe, they could protest or find other employment. Continuing on the job meant acceptance of all of the hazards and, therefore, all of the responsibility.
In 1914, New York State established the Workers’ Compensation Board. According to the board’s website, “The workers' compensation system guarantees workers injured on the job both medical care and weekly cash benefits, usually until they return to work. Returning injured workers to employment without risking their health or welfare is the main goal of the system.”
As we shall see, that is a lie. The system fails those who need it the most – injured workers – and profits those who victimize injured workers – insurance companies and the so-called independent medical examiners.------------------------------------------- posted 6:22 AM :: reference link ::
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