Posted on Tue, Jun. 03, 2003

Max Castro
Class war in America continues

There were several new developments last week -- and one obscene twist -- in the top-down class war under way in America.

The obscene bit happened in Florida -- surprise -- during the special session of the state Legislature.

Now, I know it's hard to believe that any one outrage could stand out so much as to be called obscene in a year in which the state's lawmakers brazenly and repeatedly sacrificed the public interest to serve the economic interests of big business.

But what to say of a bill that would redefine the meaning of ''catastrophic injury'' so that workers who lose only one limb (as opposed to two or three) cannot qualify for full disability benefits?

It reads like a macabre joke, a satire worthy of the imagination of Jonathan Swift. Surely, no one could take such a proposal seriously.

On the contrary, according to St. Petersburg Times columnist Howard Troxler, this was House Speaker Johnnie Byrd's telling reaction to the bill: ``If there is some consensus for changes that will be good for Florida business, I think we can look at that.''

Welcome to the new American class war and its local incarnation, the 2003 Florida Legislature. During the regular session, the Legislature stepped all over itself giving out benefits to sundry corporate interests but skipped the insurance industry. Passed during the special session, SB 50, which limits attorney fees and makes it harder for workers to get permanent disability benefits, remedies that oversight.

For most of us who work in white-collar jobs, a minor fender bender that makes you miss that important meeting or a bad fight with the boss is a ''catastrophe.'' But for many blue-collar workers, the word often takes on a more literal meaning. Death and dismemberment happen often at America's construction sites, its mines, farms and factories.

Workers' compensation is a bad bargain in return for the loss of an arm or a leg, but at least it provides a modest level of support and some deterrence against employers who would flout safety rules.

The workers' compensation bill approved by the Legislature last week was not as outrageous as the original version. It won't require that a worker lose at least two limbs to receive full benefits, but a worker who loses only one limb still won't be able to collect if it is deemed that he or she can do ''sedentary work.'' And, in the words of Rep. Susan Bucher, D-Royal Palm Beach, the measure 'takes away $360 million worth of injured workers' benefits.''

The Legislature, not content with having earlier stuck it to low-paid workers at Miami International Airport by passing a bill that will cut their pay in half, now picks the pockets of an even more vulnerable group.

On the private sector front of the class war in Florida, The Herald reported last week that ''dark clouds on corporate profits don't stop deluge of bonuses'' for CEOs. The average Florida CEO's bonus grew by 40 percent -- to $350,000 -- last year, while ``rank and file workers are coping with pay freezes, no bonuses, costlier health insurance, smaller or no matching contributions to 401(k) plans and increased workloads.''

On the federal front, it was revealed that the Bush administration's $350 billion tax cut, which will increase the disposable income of top earners by tens of thousands of dollars, omits a $400 child credit slated for millions of families earning between $10,500 and $26,625.

Also not getting a cut: millions of single, low-income workers without kids. That's awful news for a place like South Florida, with tens of thousands of workers in that very income bracket.

The reverse class war being waged in America today reflects something other than the normal functioning of a market economy. It results from the unchecked, self-interested machinations of corporate chieftains and the choices of politicians who benefit specific economic interests that in turn benefit them and their party.

It's a juggernaut that threatens democracy itself and will only be stopped when the American people en masse say: ``Enough!'

Your lawmakers at work...

Thats one thing Ill give Europe: workers in Europe have it alot easier and are better cared for andd treated than they are in the US. Look how, in the US, that people sick with the FLU and other nasties still get up and go to work because our slave driving bosses frown on any missed days, even if youre dying, practically.

Ive often made the joke that the US is the third world of the west, where we have a huge labor pool to # on and exploit. The things US employers do to thier workers, they would never get away with in Europe. Even tho Europe pays huge taxes, in the end, they are alot less strung out from work abuse.

There has been a large scale demonisation of the union movement and collective bargaining in many parts of the English-speaking world for two decades.

People end up mentally associating "unions" with inefficiencies, strikes, rorts, scams and a lot of other negative stuff, instead of representing their basic rights as workers and having a voice in the quashing of draconian laws.

I would rather live in a country that protects the rights of the worker than one that protects the profits of the insurance industry.

Having said that, and with much admiration of amputees who sometimes overcompensate for their injury and go on to achieve things they would not have believed possible:

When Saddam Hussein was confirmed to be alive in early May, his shadow Information Minister called all eight Hussein body doubles together for an urgent meeting. During the address, he conveyed both the good news and the bad news to the loyal Hussein servants.

"The good news is Saddam is alive and you are all gainfully employed, praise Allah."

"The bad news is that he has lost one arm."

"The good news is Saddam is alive and you are all gainfully employed, praise Allah."

Just an arm? Good thing he didnt lose his gonads............