Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Claims and Union Implications
A union is a “club, society, or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose.” Unions serve an important role in our society and serve as a counterbalance of power to large corporations. Unions aim to benefit workers via collective bargaining and underscore the significance of “power in numbers.” But what happens when large employers use union rules or protocols against injured workers?
The International Longshoremen’s Association is the largest union of maritime workers in North America and comprises over 85,000 longshore workers. In Charleston, there are two local unions, ILA Local 1422 and ILA Local 1771, but there are also many large companies that operate on the waterfront locally, including but not limited to Charleston Stevedoring Company, SSA Marine, Southern Skill Trades, MTC East and many others. These companies benefit from the labor local unions provide. Unfortunately, when accidents happen and workers are injured, they do not always act in the worker’s best interest.
In South Carolina, when a worker is injured on the waterfront, he or she possibly has a concurrent jurisdiction claim, meaning he can file his claim under both the South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Act and the Longshore Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. The laws are different under each jurisdiction; sometimes they are more beneficial to the injured worker under the State Act, and other times they are more beneficial under the Longshore Act. Under both statutory frameworks, the injured worker is entitled to medical care and potentially disability benefits—including weekly or bi-weekly checks called temporary total disability—while he or she undergoes treatment for their injuries.
Problems often arise when an authorized treating physician releases the injured worker to some form of “modified duty” work. For instance, an employee with an injured shoulder may see an orthopedic specialist who performs surgery, and a few weeks or months after the surgery, the treating physician releases the worker with restrictions of “no lifting more than 15 pounds with the right arm and no overhead work.” Of course, given the nature of work on the waterfront, both local unions do not allow their members back onto the waterfront with these types of restrictions. This rule is designed to protect the injured worker. On the other hand, the large corporations on the waterfront, specifically the employer for whom he or she was working, will claim they have “modified duty” work available for the worker. What was designed as a shield to protect workers becomes the very sword used by insurance companies to harm claimants. The result: termination of temporary total disability benefits.
When an employer claims they can accommodate restrictions, but the local unions will not dispatch their members back into the workforce until they are completely healed, the result is, unfortunately, financial distress. The insurance companies, upon seeing restrictions and confirming with the employer there is “work available,” will immediately terminate the financial benefits to which an injured worker is otherwise entitled. To the insurance companies, it does not matter whether a worker has a mortgage, a family to feed, a car note, or other financial obligations. To the contrary, the carrier’s only goal is to save money, often to the detriment of the injured worker.
The above scenario is only one of many where an attorney experienced in both South Carolina workers’ compensation laws and Longshore Harbor workers’ compensation laws can assist an injured worker in getting their lives back on track. The attorneys at the Steinberg Law Firm know the tricks used by carriers to delay, deny, and defend workers’ compensation claims and can guide injured workers through the complicated claims process.
You May Also Like
