Occupational Safety and Health-Can We Rise Again?

Action

We must turn from defense to offense by emphasizing the gravity and frequency of workplace illness and injury. Environmental, consumer, community health advocates and injured workers groups should be enlisted in political coalitions to aid unions on workers' compensation legislation. Conservative and corporate attacks on OSHA and other protections must be brought up in every debate about product liability or workers' compensation. The failure to compensate victims of occupational disease from chemical exposure needs special attention. The national epidemic of repetitive trauma disorders and the need for accommodation to permit disabled workers to return to work should get special emphasis when addressing workers' compensation. Our members must be shown how these issues affect them both as workers and as consumers.

Product Liability Reform
The UAW opposes any product liability legislation that would eliminate or cut back on consumers', users' or workers' rights to recover damages. Regressive legislation that benefits only insurance companies and product manufacturers is unfair, inequitable and against the public interest. The present legal system requires reform to eliminate long delays, huge expense and uncertain recoveries. The UAW will continue to explore initiatives that may provide for just compensation, quicker resolution of claims and incentives for safety.

Workers' Compensation for Occupational Disease
We need to continue to press for federal legislation to provide uniform national standards for compensation of occupational disease. However, care must be taken that such legislation does not abridge workers' product liability rights to sue suppliers of chemicals and equipment that cause such illness.

Comprehensive Reform of Workers' Compensation
At the national level, passage of federal legislation creating uniform national standards upgrading benefits, expanding coverage and eliminating delay are badly needed and remain our goal. Such a law should also provide comprehensive medical and rehabilitative services selected by the worker and at no cost to the worker, cover all occupational disabilities and protect workers against discrimination for seeking benefits. At the state level, legislation should be amended to allow workers to be represented by unions as well as attorneys at early stages of the workers' compensation appeals process. Workers' compensation legislation should also include increased incentives for safety - such as increased benefits where safety violations contributed to an injury as well as increased penalties/fines.

Amend State Workers' Compensation to Allow Unions to Represent Injured Workers
A number of states, such as Ohio, allow unions to represent their members in some stages of the workers' compensation system. Engagement of our union with injured members strengthens our political hand in defending workers' compensation laws and gives better representation.

State Workers' Compensation Legislation as a Vehicle for OSHA Improvements
Whenever workers' compensation is put in play, state CAP organizations should consider adding provisions requiring employers to implement safety and health representation for employees and comprehensive safety and health management programs. Such legislation would pressure Congress and OSHA to do the same.

Liability for Union Safety Activities
Michigan and a few other state laws provide immunity to union safety representatives, unions and employees of unions from suits for participating in labor-management safety committees or other joint activities in health and safety. All state workers' compensation laws should be amended to provide this protection.

A Political Strategy
The UAW must seek to build stable political coalitions in support of workers' compensation rights in each state. Health and safety activists, environmental and public health groups, community groups, trial lawyers and injured workers groups should be brought together. Health and safety representatives and benefit representatives should be active, and should seek to expand the argument from the cost of compensation to the need for health and safety protections. Product liability and workers' compensation issues should be included in Workers' Memorial Day activities.