State's income inequality grows.

Author Subject: State's income inequality grows.
Advocate Posted At 15:35:26 01/18/2000
Oregon ranks second in the nation for how much the gulf between the rich
and the poor has widended in the last ten years.
Some of this website's visitors may wonder what this study has to do with
Workmans compensation. I will explain.

In the last "ten years" given the enormously popular and profitable
Exclusive Remedy law that governs the current workers compensation system
in Oregon, This law has afforded both the Insurance companies and employers
Billions of dollars in savings, Statistics show that when an Injured worker
returns back to the labor market that worker earns 8 to 9 dollars an hour
far below what that Injured worker was earning prior to becoming Injured.

The maximum an Injured workers recieves for timeloss is $574.00 a week if the worker
has not had a denial. This low benefit amount has helped to create the gap
in this study. Oregon employers in the last ten years have saved over
5 billion dollars due to Exclusive Remedy by weeding out workers who have filed
workers compensation claims because they are a threat to those savings, Employer
do not return those saving back to their employees through better benefits
and increased salaries. If your claim has been denied you do not qualify for
Unemployment insurance thereby widening this gap.

This report is likely to become political ammuunition when Oregon voters ponder several
tax cutting ballot measures.
The income gap is not an easy issue for some politicians to get a grip on
partly because they come from the Income class that has benefited the most.

Injured workers have fallen into that gap because of Exclusive Remedy.
saif corporation Boasts of billions of dollars in reserve.
Oregon Employers have reached savings of over 5 billion at the expense
of Injured workers.
The report found that Oregon has the eight-highest gap between the rich and the poor.
Average Income in the poorest fifth is $12,902, For the wealthiest fifth
income is $144,300.

Reagonnomics is alive and doing quite well in Oregon and the poorest including
injured workers who have been forced out of their jobs and forced out of benefits
is a large part of this gap in incomes.

Can you account for this Governor, How about you Saif Corp with your Billions in reserve.
and you lawmakers, what do you have to say for yourselves since you have the power
to protect you bank accounts through your legislation and just think that the lawmakers
are in the upper gap on this report.
This report shows without a doubt that Oregon is greedy at the expense of the Injured
and the working poor. Oregon has divided itself from the citizens in this state and
are laughing all the way to the bank.
The citizens that drive by the state capitol have no idea of the corruption
that they are passing.

I am sick and disgusted by this report, What do you have to say for yourself
Governor Kitzhaber. Need I remind everyone that visits this forum that we are
in an election year, and I am asking that all Injured workers who are not
registered voters please register and vote these walking money bags out on their
butts, They do not represent you in salem, they are bought and paid for by
lobbyists and their firms, It about time for the citizens to wake up and get involved.
Are you all sick of reading reports like this, are you tired of people like
this that claim to represent you in salem. I blame this report on the Governor
of this state, Him and his friends in salem have afforded themselves with quite
the comfortable lifestyle, while the Injured have no way in recieving the proper
benefits from being injured while working for one of the Oregon legislated
rich companies, Are you sick of being treated like trash, Then get off you butts
and stand up for yourselves, get out and register to vote, and take
Oregon state back, vote you way back into holding these people accountable.
You have the right to complain about reports like this, but if you all do nothing
then the only one that you can blame is yourself.









Fred Johnson Re: State's income inequality grows. (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 16:08:48 01/27/2000

Yes I am in the boat you are talking about. A carpenter and carpenter foreman, when I was injured in 95, now going threw the starvation stage of litagation. My money was cut-off after a hearing, where fuller was made to be the no all, second coming of christ. And my doctor was belittled as if he knows nothing of my case. He has now preformed two serguries on me. The last realy being 4 in one, and paid for by my wife and I, no insurance threw the carpenters, 260 dollars a month for self pay, it seemed the money was better put elsewhere. I was making 25 cents less then 25 dollars an hour, $50,000/year, not bad for an uneducated man. After a wham bam 5 month program a Vo-Tech, and searching for work for nearly 2 years, with 600 different contacts, 45-50 letters of thanks but no thanks, and maybe a dozen interviews, I would say the past dictates the future, there is no work for me. Another forum coming up in Febuary, it's pretty clear how that will go. And of course I turned down a job, 30,000 grand a year. With a Russian field boss running a crew of spanish speaking siders. Drive 30,000 miles a year, 35 cents a mile, which works out to 17 cents for gas, and 17 cents for truck payment, and no money for maintence. I think my truck would be shot in 3 years of driving. Remedy What Remedy????

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