Morrissette: Savings In Workers’ Comp Bill Come At Expense of Injured Workers
Oklahoma legislator: Savings in workers’ comp bill come at expense of injured workers
BY STATE REP. RICHARD MORRISSETTE | Published: May 4, 2013
Regarding “Democrats offer plenty of rhetoric, no solutions” (Our Views, April 28), in which I was described as one who engages in class warfare and the comments from my colleagues were skewed: Let me say that what we’re facing here is working-class warfare upon Oklahoma labor.
Recently passed Oklahoma workers’ compensation reforms came as a bit of a surprise to most, as 2011 reforms had just been formally enacted. But as Cesar Chavez of the United Farm Workers Union always said, “It’s not about grapes or lettuce. It’s always about people.” And I have a people-related theory as to the timing of Senate Bill 1062.
With the recent release of 2011 workplace safety data, a troubling trend in on-the-job injury and fatality has apparently sent a chill throughout Oklahoma business and industry whose leaders may see workers’ comp reform as a hedge against an inevitable call for potentially costly improvements to workplace safety.
Oklahoma doesn’t comply with OSHA, and recent labor statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirm that the question we need to be asking is “How safe are workers in Oklahoma?” and “How will workers’ comp reforms protect business and further affect the safety of workers?”