Public Employee Press

Workers Compensation
Local 420 trains activists to win

Needle sticks, back sprains, chemical exposures — there are many ways for hospital workers to sustain on-the-job injuries. But once they happen, there is only one correct way to deal with them: Workers’ Compensation.

On Nov. 18, Municipal Hospital Employees Local 420 held a forum on the complicated procedures of the New York State Workers’ Compensation system.

“When you’re dealing with Workers’ Comp, everything is about education,” said Carl Jones, the local’s health and safety coordinator. “We take it seriously because it affects a large percentage of our members,” he said.

Know your rights
“Knowing your rights on compensation is an important part of the shop steward’s job,” said Vice President Togba Porte as he welcomed members.

Michael Beckford, shop steward at Bellevue Hospital, said understanding Workers’ Comp is important, “because the slightest of injuries might develop into a serious problem later on,” he said.

DC 37’s Safety and Health Director Lee Clarke pointed out that, “Workers’ Compensation is one of the rights that you tend not to learn about until you need it. But it’s up to you to gain a basic understanding of the system.”

“Lack of awareness is the biggest problem we face,” said compensation attorney Dominic Tuminaro. He told a moving story from his own family history to illustrate the penalty for ignorance. After his grandfather was injured on a construction site and died, his grandmother raised their four children in poverty. “How many of you are aware of spousal benefits?” he asked. “My grandmother could have received spousal benefits for the rest of her life.”

Attorney Mark Eidlisz spoke about one dangerous feature of the system. Once a worker agrees to a Section 32 settlement, he warned, “The case can’t be re-opened. It’s closed forever.”

Local 420 member Jocelyn Jones has worked at Coler-Goldwater Hospital for 15 years. “Sometimes my co-workers don’t know their rights and they’re frightened of losing their jobs,” she pointed out. “I call it the fear factor. But if they’re injured, they still have to pay their bills. They have to pay the doctor.”

Mr. Beckford appreciated the evening: “This is knowledge I can grab and then share. An informed shop steward is a good person to know.”