After Nine Years, 9/11 Heroes Get Some Help
Nine years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, more than 10,000 heroes who were exposed to toxic debris during the cleanup of the World Trade Center will receive between $625 million and $712 million under a settlement agreement negotiated with New York City and its contractors.
The agreement was to resolve more than 10,000 lawsuits by 9/11 responders, thousands who became seriously ill as a result of their toxic exposures. The agreement became effective last Friday.
So far, 10,043 of 10,563 plaintiffs had signed on to the agreement, including 98 percent of those claiming the most severe injuries. The settlement includes a compensation fund to resolve personal injury and disease claims by police, firefighters and other rescue, recovery and cleanup workers at the site.
Nine Years Later, 9/11 Heroes Need Help
Mike Hall contributed to this story.
Nine years ago, Vito Friscia was just one of the thousands of first responders who were heroes when he rushed to the scene of the Twin Towers collapsing on Sept. 11, 2001. A Brooklyn homicide detective, he was only a block away when the second of the Twin Towers fell. Engulfed in a perilous cloud, he put his life on the line to try to find survivors. Now, Friscia and thousands of other heroes of that tragic day are facing their own tragedy of serious illness.
More than 13,000 World Trade Center responders are sick and receiving treatment. Nearly 53,000 responders are enrolled in medical monitoring. Some 71,000 are enrolled in the World Trade Center health registry indicating that they were exposed to the toxins.
Friscia was exposed to the dangerous chemicals after he spent about a week at the site and then sifted through the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island. Today, he has a deep cough, chronic sinusitis and shortness of breath.
9/11 Health Bill Clears Another Hurdle
 |
|
The nearly 60,000 rescue and recovery workers and community members whose health is at serious risk from their exposure to the contaminated and toxic rubble at the 2001 Ground Zero World Trade Center attacks are a step closer to receiving long-term medical care.
Yesterday the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health subcommittee approved by an overwhelming and bipartisan 25-8 vote the 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847). The bill would establish a medical monitoring and treatment program for the Sept. 11 first responders and the community members at the site of the attacks.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y) one of the bill’s chief sponsors, along with Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y), says that while progress has been “painfully slow,”
today we are one important step closer to providing the brave responders and survivors of 9/11′s toxic aftermath the health care and compensation they need and deserve. Read the rest of this entry »
Proposed Settlement Not Nearly Enough for 9/11 Heroes
A proposed settlement has been reached of the more than 10,000 lawsuits by the rescue and recovery workers suffering serious illnesses from the toxic mix of chemicals, jet fuel, asbestos and other debris they were exposed to at Ground Zero of the Sept. 11 World Trade Center attack in 2001.
But congressional and union leaders say much more must be done to provide justice and health care for the nearly 60,000 workers and community members whose health is at risk from their exposure to the contaminated rubble.
Ozzie and Harriet Work Outside Home: Nation Needs New Laws to Balance Work and Family
 |
|
With more women working outside the home to make ends meet in the global economy, the demands of working and caring for a family are becoming increasingly difficult.
Now as the nation decides how to cope with recession, we have a prime opportunity to take the next step and create workplace standards that are good for the bottom line and for working families, several experts told a congressional committee today.
A hearing by the Joint Economic Committee on “Balancing Work and Family in the Recession” examined the current recession’s impact on trends in the workplace that help employees meet the dual commitments of work and family life.
Working America Executive Director Karen Nussbaum told the committee that without enforceable workplace standards, such as paid family leave, most employers will not take necessary steps to initiate basic policies that allow workers to balance work and family.
Bailout Oversight Panel: Bank Stress Tests Don’t Go Far Enough
The federal government’s recent stress tests of the nation’s largest banks generally were well designed, but they did not go far enough or raise some serious concerns. The tests may need to be repeated often, according to a congressional panel overseeing the $700 billion financial bailout.
Testifying before the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) this morning, Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) Chairwoman Elizabeth Warren said the stress tests were based on assumptions about the economic downturn that may be too optimistic. The COP released a new report today that calls for more strenuous and transparent testing of the banks until the current economic crisis is over.
Paid Family Leave, Flight Attendant Security Measures Advance
Under bills passed by the House, federal workers are a step closer to receiving paid family leave following the birth or adoption of a new child and flight attendants would receive self-defense security training.
By a vote of 258-154, the House on June 4 passed the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act (H.R. 626), introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.). It would allow federal workers up to four weeks of paid family leave for the birth or adoption of a child and would allow workers to use up to eight weeks of accrued paid sick time or annual leave immediately following the first four weeks of parental leave. Says Maloney:
As more families are relying on just one paycheck in these times, we can’t afford not to help them in this way. The federal government should join the majority of the private sector—including 75 of the Fortune 100—by enacting workplace policies that invest in employees and their children. It’s just unacceptable that right now the U.S. is the only industrialized country that does not provide support for federal workers with a new child.
Parental Leave Bill for Fed Workers Advances
Federal workers would be allowed four weeks of paid family leave to care for a newborn or adopted child under a bill approved by the full House Oversight and Government Reform Committee yesterday.
But the relatively routine markup did have its bizarre, sure-to-be-a-Daily-Show-with-Jon-Stewart moment, when one committee member warned that federal workers might abuse the bill by adopting children year after year to get those four weeks off with pay. More on that below.
