Workers' compensation rates cry out for reform

(Rochester Business Journal)

This year, as the American Labor Movement again prepares for Worker’s Memorial Day (April 28) the New York Union movement has made Workers’ Compensation reform a priority.  Workers who were injured on the job, through no fault of their own, have been living on the same Workers’ Compensation benefit levels since 1992.  When a worker is injured on the job, her life changes.  Sometimes, forever. 

It has been 12 years since the last increase in Workers’ Compensation benefits.  In 1992, the maximum benefit of $ 400 was sixty six percent of New York’s average weekly wage.  Today, that same $ 400 maximum benefit, which only 3 % of injured workers collect, is only 44% of the average weekly wage.

Again, only 3% of the injured worker population receives the  

$ 400 maximum benefit.  That means 97% of injured workers receive less than the maximum.  Many receive as little as one-sixth of their average weekly wage, up to a maximum of only $150.  Imagine a worker earning $ 900 one week, getting hurt and then receiving only $ 150 the following week. 

That’s not enough for injured workers to adequately support themselves.  That’s not enough for them to feed their families, send their children to college, or meet their other basic needs.

Nationwide, 5.7 million workers were injured, more than 5,900 killed by traumatic injuries and an estimated 50,000 - 60,000 died from occupational diseases in 2000.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 5,915 workplace deaths due to traumatic injuries in 2000, a slight decline from the number of deaths in 1999, when 6,023 workplace deaths were reported.

In 2000, BLS reported 2.8 million injuries that resulted in restricted activity or lost-time; 1.7 million of these injuries resulted in at least one lost-work day.

We are currently working with the New York State AFL-CIO to encourage the state legislature and governor to reform New York’s  Workers’ Compensation laws.  Twelve years is too long for injured workers to wait.  The stereotype that injured workers receiving Workers Compensation have somehow “won the lottery” is ludicrous.  Workers Compensation benefits are nothing more than wage replacement income.  In almost every single case, the benefit doesn’t come close to replacing the injured worker’s full salary.

The New York State AFL-CIO proposes  that the maximum benefit be raised to 2/3 of the state’s average weekly wage, as it was in 1992, and we propose that it be indexed thereafter.  If there had been an indexing mechanism put into place 12 years ago, we would not have the situation we have today. 

Since 1992, the consumer price index has risen 30%, while injured workers are struggling to pay their 2004 bills on twelve year old benefit levels.  Had an indexed benefit been in place the past twelve years, there would have been only a 1 ½ percent increase in costs to insurance carriers each year.  We must include indexing in this legislation so we don’t have to go through this process again. 

Our position is that Workers Compensation laws must be reformed to increase the maximum benefit level, make all parties to worker injury more responsible, reward good participants and punish bad, and instill greater competition in service delivery.

While much publicity has come from our efforts to raise New York’s maximum workers’ compensation benefit to 2/3rds of the state average weekly wage, please don’t overlook a portion of the bill that would encourage employers to address health and safety concerns in the workplace.

Under the proposed legislation (Senate 6135 – Assembly 9736) employers who have not received serious, willful, or repeat citations from OSHA or PESH during the last five years will be eligible for lower workers’ compensation insurance rates.  Under the terms of the new law, employers who have been cited for such violations will need to buy optional insurance or face possible lawsuits from injured workers. 

Safety and health concerns will receive more attention when employers know they can improve the bottom line by giving workplace safety a higher priority.

It should be noted that bills have been introduced in the state legislature that call for capping permanent partial payments of Workers’ Compensation benefits.  When a worker looses a finger, or an eye, that person will never regain their sight or full use of their hand.  Unfortunately, these proposals cap payments to such workers.  For those with less extreme cases, but no less serious, once they are deemed permanently hurt, they are never whole again.  For those that don’t understand, permanent means forever.

These bills also call for reducing the amount of the workers’ compensation benefit by a percentage of an elderly victim’s social security payment.

How can anyone in good conscience decide that reducing the amount of benefits, not only for an injured worker, but for an elderly injured worker (arguably the most defenseless individuals within our society) is a good idea or furthermore, something that should be passed into law?

These bills are designed to protect the interests of insurance carriers and are harmful to working New Yorkers. 

When a worker is injured on the job,his mortgage payments continue to come due.  Her kids continue to need clothing, shoes, healthcare and three square meals a day.  He still must pay utility bills, property tax and credit card statements.  It is morally reprehensible that a worker who is injured on the job can’t rely on Workers’ Compensation to do the job it was intended to do.

Imagine the sad irony of an injured worker not having enough income to pay homeowners, auto or health insurance premiums because the insurance industry lobbied so hard to keep Workers’ Compensation benefits so low. 

This April 28^th, Rochester area Union members will gather at the Workers Memorial in Highland park to remember our brothers and sisters who have been injured or killed on the job.  It is for them that we advocate Workers Compensation reform.  Please feel free to join us.