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"I worked as a home attendant five days a week, 24 hours a
day," she said into the microphone, pausing for translation.
Amapola Ochoa, a small but fiery Dominican woman with glasses and
a shock of short hair, went on to describe how she was only allowed
to contact her family on weekends. The long hours gradually destroyed
her health so that when her client fell on her one day the impact
was permanent. "Now the Workers Compensation Board says there
is not enough medical evidence when medical reports show that I
am completely disabled. My life has been destroyed." Hers was
only one of hundreds of stories in the auditorium at Hunter College
in NYC on August 24th.
They came in wheel chairs or with canes. Some were immigrants speaking
Polish, Spanish, Chinese and Hindi through translators. Others were
European- and African-Americans born in this country. A number came
from outside New York City and even outside New York State for the
chance to speak and be heard. They were injured workers, testifying
before officials from the Mexican government, representatives of
human rights groups and the media. They came to call attention to
the fact that workers are being slowly killed in this country by
a sweatshop system that drains the life out of them, pulls their
families apart, takes away what it means to be human.
At our "First International Hearing of Injured Workers: The
US violates Human Rights" for the first time some of the world's
leading human rights organizations -- Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch, The Center for Economic and Social Rights, the Urban
Justice Center - listened to people talk about human rights abuses
committed by the US government against injured workers. A three-hour
hearing was not enough time for everyone to testify. Many who have
been isolated and denied the right to speak up at their Workers
Comp Board hearings were overcome with emotion and took longer than
the three-minute limit. One after the other, people explained how
the NY State Workers' Compensation system violated their human rights
by forcing them to wait two, five, ten years or more for their Workers'
Comp benefits. They testified about injuries and occupational diseases
caused mainly by long working hours - sometimes as long as 80 hours
a week. The lack of protection for workers who want to decline overtime,
the denial of compensation or medical benefits when injured on the
job. These are not only human rights violations, they are violations
of even of the minimal labor protections that are part of the infamous
North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Back in February injured workers and young people began making
thousands of phone calls, writing letters and invitations to politicians
and organizations, attending outreach meetings, flyering in churches
and shelters. NMASS members were flyering in front of the Workers
Compensation Board in Brooklyn four days a week and at the Manhattan
Workers Comp Board two days a week. People put up posters in their
buildings, on the streets in their communities and in their doctors'
and therapists' offices. During the final week of preparation meetings
lasted late into the night.
Over 350 people participated on the day of the hearing. Most were
injured workers. The United States' violations of the NAFTA labor
side-agreement are the subject of a lawsuit filed in Mexico in October
2001 by injured workers from NMASS and other organizations charging
the Workers Compensation Board of New York, Governor Pataki, and
the New York State and U.S. government with delaying compensation
and benefits for injured workers for years at a time. The testimony
from the hearing was transcribed and will be used to support the
lawsuit.
The hearing was a step forward, but more people must get involved.
The US government and the insurance industry know what is at stake
- they want to bury this issue. The hearing was supposed to be a
call, addressed to all invited politicians, for the passage of the
Workers' Health and Safety Bill to overhaul Workers' Comp. However,
despite promises that they would attend, politicians did not show
up. In addition, Mexico's Department of Labor - which is investigating
our lawsuit against the United States, Pataki and the WCB - chose
not to come; instead a representative from the Mexican Consulate
attended. Why did we experience these shortcomings? Not enough injured
workers are organizing their friends and families to participate.
Everyone must answer for themselves the question, "Am I really
standing up for myself? Am I doing enough?" If more people
try, the next hearing will not have hundreds of participants, but
thousands. This is the only way to get the government to respond
-- if injured workers really mobilize.
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