Re: What has happened??

Author Subject: Re: What has happened??
Be Patient Posted At 10:29:01 01/12/2000
Things have been Quiet except for the Meetings between Labor and Management.
This is the calm before the storm, The governor is going to start the
appointments to the Kinder and Gentler MLAC committee in March, Expect 99
percent of the previous membership back On MLAC.

One thing that all of us need to remember is that state officials are working
in the background right now in case of a favorable decision in the smothers
case, They are currently working on Legislation to off set the amount of
lawsuits given a favorable decision from the Court. It dosen't matter if
the decision is favorable or not, The legislature will pass a law that will
only allow a certain time frame to file a lawsuit, I am guessing 6 months.

This time frame will substantially reduce the sheer number of lawsuits filed
from Injured workers Therebye PROTECTING the employers and the business
climate. Remember this decision will in no way make your workplace safer
of healther.

There has been alot of talk lately about the OSHA ergonomic standards.
Oregon employers are fighting these proposed stamdards because of the expense
Federal OSHA estimates that the cost of fixing the average workstation to
comply with it's proposed standards will be $150, but that employers will
experience savings of $22,500 for each MSD or RSI prevented.

Peter Deluca Oregons OSHA Administrator opposes any expansion of the Federal
proposals at this time, What this means is that he will wait until the Feds
push for the State of Oregon to comply with these proposals instead of ordering
them Himself, "Makes you wonder just who he is working for." There is no
reason whatsoever for Peter Deluca to put off these standards unless he is
protecting the business climate in Oregon.

These proposals will in no way protect workers who do production type work
given the current Workers compensation system, Expect the standards to recieve
benefits to rise even higher because of the proposals. I support these
proposals wholeheartedly but Oregon will make it tougher to be compensated
for Injuries due to MSD's or RSI's. Oregon is good at covering it own butt
at the expense of it's workers.

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