Being injured on the job and struggling to survive.
By clfgnr
@clfgnr (5)
United States
August 26, 2007 11:24pm CST
Everyday across the United States thousands of workers get hurt on the job, and out of those thousands of workers, many of them have to fight with an insurance company to get either their benefits started or reinstated.I do realize there are people out there, that neglect workers comp, by saying their injured, when their really not,but what about the one's that are injured.
When you have tests that prove there is something wrong,and you are treated like trash. What do you do then? Hire an attorney? Yes, but still you have to wait until you go in front of a commision, before anything can be resolved. Which could take months. Believe me when I say, those months go by slow.
So here you are, freaking out about house payments, bills, food, and all of the other necesseties, it takes for a family. While those pencil pushers lives go on, yours is slowly turning into chaos.
For the workers that fall into the category of having to fight for their benefits. There is not one place we can go to get help. Paying into unemployment insurance all these years,doesn't pay off, because in able to draw it, you have to be able to work. Signing up for SSI or temporary disability takes a year or longer, and getting on some type of state program only gives you a card,so you and your family doesn't starve and a medical card, which does help. Still there is the major burden of paying bills.
This country needs to look after the people that make a difference, and we the workers are the one's that make it go round, yet we still get the short end of the stick. What can we do that someone has already tried before and failed? What is reform? Is it just a word that is used loosely to get votes? When a worker makes a differnce in a company and then that same company turns their back on you, has got to be the saddest and most immoral thing to do to an employee. The sad truth is, it happens everyday to honest, hard working americans, that work their butts off, to keep this country going.
2 responses
@mamasan34 (6518)
• United States
27 Aug 07
I know how this is. My father when I was a child worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber company. They had him working a two man machine by himself because they were short handed and he got caught up in the chains and it dragged him from one end of the plant to the other, by the time he got to the other end and people could help him, he had damaged his neck, his lower back, both his knees. He underwent several surgeries, having both his knees replaced, back surgeries, rehab on his neck and he ended up having to sue Goodyear for this and applying for disability. It took almost 2 years to get a settlement and when they did settle it wasn't near enough for my father to substantiate the family expenses. Then my father had to hire a lawyer to receive his disability because they didn't think he was hurt that badly. My father walked around with a leg brace for close to 15 years after that. He was in constant pain. My mother worked her butt off to keep us afloat until we could get the settlement and disability. I remember these were meager years. You are so right, paying into unemployment and disability doesn't always work to our benefit. My father is unfortunately an example.
@clfgnr (5)
• United States
27 Aug 07
I hope now everything is at least better for him. This is such a sad situation. We are at the mercy of bureaucratic bullcrap. The government could care less about us. It is only a matter of time, when factory jobs in the United States are on the endangered list.When you have other countries, like China that work for almost nothing. The government owns the workers there. The government owns the workers here to. We just have nicer terms for it.
@mrsbrian (1949)
• United States
27 Aug 07
truer words have not been spoken, I have been there and thank god my husband made enough money for us to get by, but my daughter and her family are going thru this now and it had been very hard for them,its hard on the relationship and any children involved and as you say the welfare program so to say only provides food and medical.
If you dont have a good lawyer who knows and can work the system I can see that you wont get far.
@clfgnr (5)
• United States
27 Aug 07
You are so right about it being tough on the other family memebers.It just so happens,that we are a devoted christian family, and it does help out to a certain extent. It is a sad situation, when there is no help whatsoever. I never thought in a million years that this would happen. Especially when there is so much evidence as to my injury.I mean for crying out load, I have a broken back.It can't get any clearer than that. Can it?
