BENSONHURST'S PREMIER NEWS BLOG

Source: Canwest News Service via Wikimedia Commons

The following is a press release from Congressman Jerrold Nadler:

Representatives Jerrold Nadler, NYC and Queens-based Carolyn Maloney, California-based Jackie Speier and Susan Davis, joined by the leaders of women’s advocacy organizations, unions, and business groups from across the nation, introduced critical new legislation: The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. The bill is meant to ensure that pregnant women are not forced out of jobs unnecessarily or denied reasonable job modifications that would allow them to continue working.

Currently, pregnant working women around the country are being denied simple adjustments permission – to use a stool while working a cash register, or to carry a bottle of water to stay hydrated, or temporary reassignment to lighter duty tasks – that would keep them working and supporting their families while maintaining healthy pregnancies.  The legislation will close legal loopholes and ensure that pregnant women are treated fairly on the job. At press time, the bill had 63 original cosponsors.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will accomplish this by requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant workers and preventing employers from forcing women out on leave when another reasonable accommodation would allow them to continue working.  The bill also bars employers from denying employment opportunities to women based on their need for reasonable accommodations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

In recent and startling examples, Heather Wiseman, a retail worker in Salina, Kansas, was fired because she needed to carry a water bottle to stay hydrated and prevent bladder infections; Victoria Serednyj, an activity director at a nursing home in Valparaiso, Indiana, was terminated because she required help with some physically strenuous aspects of her job to prevent having another miscarriage; and Peggy Young, a delivery truck driver in Landover, Maryland, was forced out on unpaid leave because she had a lifting restriction and was denied light duty.

For the well-being of pregnant workers, and for the sake of the economic stability of American families, our laws must be updated and clarified.

Read the rest of the bill here.

The following is a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler:

9/11 Health Bill Authors Applaud STAC Recommendation to Add Coverage for Cancers Under Zadroga Act

New York, NY – Today, the Science/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) of the World Trade Center Health Program voted to add certain types of cancers for coverage under the program. U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY), authors of H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, lauded today’s real progress toward inclusion of cancers under their legislation and issued the following joint statement: Continue Reading »

Source: _PaulS_ via Flickr

The following is a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler:

New York, NY – U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY), authors of H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, issued the following joint statement in response to the publication today of e-mail communications by members of the World Trade Center Science/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), showing that the Committee is making progress toward advocating that cancers be covered under the Zadroga Act: Continue Reading »

The following is a press release from the office of U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today at a Judiciary Committee markup, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, offered an amendment to H.R. 3541 to require that steps be taken to finally ensure that women receive the protection from discrimination based on pregnancy that was promised by Congress in 1978, when it passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.  Nadler is currently drafting legislation – to be cosponsored by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) – designed to ensure meaningful federal protections for pregnant workers.  Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is also exploring legislation on this issue in the Senate. Continue Reading »

The following is a press release from Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s office:

9/11 Compensation Fund Open for Business

-Zadroga Bill Authors Hail Opening of Fund to Provide Economic Relief to Injured 9/11 Responders & Survivors-

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and Peter King (R-NY), authors of H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, issued the following joint statement on the announcement today by Special Master Sheila Birnbaum that the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) is now open for business:

“Today, we are putting into practice an important part of the Zadroga law so that it can begin helping people. Getting the VCF up and running is a crucial step toward meeting America’s moral responsibility to help those injured as a result of 9/11. We are delighted that this day has finally arrived, and that struggling 9/11 responders and survivors will soon be able to apply for the economic relief they and their families so urgently need.

“Ms. Birnbaum has done a great job setting up the VCF in a timely manner and in seeking input from 9/11 responders and survivors to make the program better. We will continue working to create the most compassionate and efficient program possible for those injured by the toxins at ground zero.”

The VCF’s website, http://www.vcf.gov/, will enable claimants to register for the VCF online, the first step in the claims process; obtain a checklist of documents and information that claimants will need when they submit their claims; and review a list of frequently-asked questions, which will be updated regularly, and is designed to make the process as simple as possible.

The Zadroga law provides health care for those injured or exposed to toxins released by the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, and reopens the VCF to provide economic relief to those harmed by the attacks (the original VCF was created in the weeks following 9/11 and closed in December 2003).

Background

In January, Maloney, Nadler, and King released documents from the Congressional Research Service to help answer questions that members of the media and the public may have about the new law. Below are links to the four documents:

• · A Q&A on eligibility for health and compensation benefits under the Zadroga Act;
• · A timeline of dates by which the new law will be implemented;
• · A brief, plain-language summary of the law; and
• · A section-by-section summary of the law.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler represents New York’s 8th Congressional District, which includes Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, SoHo, Greenwich Village, TriBeCa, the Financial District and Battery Park City. In Brooklyn, the 8th District includes parts of Borough Park, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach and Seagate.

Days after the terrorist attacks air quality was, despite assurances by the EPA, extremely hazardous (photo from wikipedia)

According to the Federal Government, the Zadroga Act, which was created in order to provide medical care for people exposed to 9/11 dust, does not apply to the increasing numbers of cancer victims who claim their sickness was caused by carcinogens released into the air in the aftermath of that day’s terrorist attacks.

Dr. John Howard, the doctor in charge of overseeing the program says there’s not enough proof the dust, created by the collapse of WTC buildings 1, 2 and 7, resulted in the cancer. And until that link can be proven, cancer victims who were healthy and in lower Manhattan at the time of the attack will not benefit from the $2.7 Billion made available by the statute.

Today, the bill’s three authors- who all represent the NYC area, U.S. Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Jerrold Nadler, and Peter King, released a joint statement which reminded the public that Dr. Howard’s decision was the result of preliminary findings, which could very well change: Click here to see what our elected officials have to say