FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Isakson: Longshore Workers Deserve Fair, Effective Workers’ Compensation Program
Isakson Subcommittee Hears Testimony on Federal Program That Hasn’t Been Updated Since 1984

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today urged Congress to reform the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act during a hearing of his Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety.

“The workers covered under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act, from shipbuilders to stevedores, play a key role in our national security and our global system of free trade,” Isakson said during the hearing that he chaired. “Their work is undoubtedly difficult and often dangerous. These workers deserve a fair and effective workers’ compensation program.”  

The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, enacted in 1927, provides medical benefits, compensation for lost wages and rehabilitation services to employees who are injured during the course of employment or contract an occupational disease related to employment.

“As I learned in the Georgia Legislature, states nationwide regularly amend their programs to incorporate the most modern and best workers’ compensation practices,” Isakson said.  “However, unlike these responsible state legislatures, Congress has not addressed the Longshore Act in more than two decades.”

Witnesses at the hearing discussed how the Longshore program falls short of the most recent innovation in workers’ compensation practices and suggestions on how Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety can improve the system. The Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act was last amended by Congress in 1984.                          

Testifying before the subcommittee were:

• Lawrence P. Postol, Esquire, Seyfarth Shaw LLP;
• Richard A. Victor, J.D., Ph.D, Executive Director, Workers Compensation Research Institute;
• Steve Embry, Esquire, Embry and Nuesner;
• Mitch White, Vice President, Manson Construction.

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