Walmart, Lowe's, Safeway, Nordstom bankroll campaign to gut workers' comp

[gollygee]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/arawc-walmart-campaign-against-workers-compensation

Nearly two dozen major corporations, including Walmart, Nordstrom, and Safeway, are bankrolling a quiet, multistate lobbying effort to make it harder for workers hurt on the job to access lost wages and medical care—the benefits collectively known as workers' compensation.

The companies have financed a lobbying group, the Association for Responsible Alternatives to Workers' Compensation (ARAWC), that has already helped write legislation in one state, Tennessee. Richard Evans, the group's executive director, told an insurance journal in November that the corporations ultimately want to change workers' comp laws in all 50 states. Lowe's, Macy's, Kohl's, Sysco Food Services, and several insurance companies are also part of the year-old effort.

Laws mandating workers' comp arose at the turn of the 20th century as a bargain between employees and employers: If a worker suffered an injury on the job, the employer would pay his medical bills and part of his wages while he recovered. In exchange, the worker gave up his right to sue for negligence.

ARAWC's mission is to pass laws allowing private employers to opt out of the traditional workers' compensation plans that almost every state requires businesses to carry. Employers that opt out would still be compelled to purchase workers' comp plans. But they would be allowed to write their own rules governing when, for how long, and for which reasons an injured employee can access medical benefits and wages.

[Jefferson23]

1. Lobby money, grrrrrr. Public funded elections, our only way out from under. n/t

[Wellstone ruled]

2. In the Midwest we called this the South Dokata Rule.

You file a claim or worse yet,killed on the job,the max you are going to see is some where around 13k total. When your claim hits the max,baby you pay the rest out of your pocket. You know this is coming to most Red States near you. And that is why so many companies domiciled in South Dakota.

[Initech]

3. Fuck all of these companies. Time for a nation wide strike.

[smirkymonkey]

4. Hear, hear!

It just keeps getting worse and worse. The bastards have no decency and no limits on their sickening greed.