by Violeta Rubiani, NWJP Program Administrator
Photo by Violeta Rubiani
If you got hurt at work today, would you know what your workers' comp rights are or what you’re supposed to do to file a claim?
If you answered no to that question, you’re not unlike the more than 20,000* Oregon workers who find themselves in that very spot each year. Hurt, scared and staring at real and long-term financial threats, many workers also face retaliation for reporting injuries, are shamed by employers and shunned by co-workers, or are steered to employer-friendly health practitioners who may not have the workers’ best interest at heart.
Even when a claim is accepted, an injury can disrupt a worker’s life in many ways: the worker may be required to attend time-consuming medical appointments and evaluations; she may not receive her full salary while on temporary partial or total disability (TPD or TTD in workers’ comp lingo); or a worker who is undocumented may face termination and may not be entitled to full compensation if his injury is permanently disabling.
For years now, NWJP has borne witness to the ways in which the workers’ compensation system fails the most vulnerable workers in Oregon – immigrants, non-English speakers, and contingent and low-wage workers.
That’s why this year, with $10,000 in seed funding from the Doug Swanson Memorial Fund (named after dedicated workers’ comp leader, Douglas A. Swanson), NWJP is launching the Injured Workers’ Project after many months of investigation, preparation and planning.
The project will be based in the Willamette Valley, and will have four key components:
- In collaboration with the Oregon AFL-CIO, NWJP will organize a Coalition (or Committee) for Occupational Safety and Health (known as COSH) to advocate for enhanced occupational health and safety standards and procedures, particularly those affecting low-wage, immigrant and contingent workers;
- NWJP will develop a pilot program to measure whether culturally appropriate job safety training conducted by low-wage, immigrant and contingent workers to their peers is effective in reducing on-the-job injuries among these workers. The pilot will likely start out in agriculture and construction.
- NWJP will offer Know-Your-Rights training to workers in the areas of workers’ compensation benefits and procedures for accessing and navigating the system;
- NWJP will conduct an in-depth assessment of Oregon’s workers’ compensation system and why it’s currently failing immigrant and contingent workers, and propose solutions that will ensure all workers have access to the system and receive the benefits they deserve and to which they are entitled.
At NWJP, we are beyond excited about this project and are looking forward to joining forces with community partners, unions, and workers to address the many inequities keeping low-wage, contingent, and immigrant workers in physical and financial pain.
* Source: Dept. of Consumer & Business Services