Day One: Gov. Spitzer's Inaugural Address Bodes Well for Injured Workers
Eliot Spitzer may end up being the Theodore Roosevelt of his time. In a progressive Inaugural Address that implored all New Yorkers to "find principled consensus", "find wise solutions" and to "not reform merely for the sake of reform, but to restore fairness", the new Governor has staked out an a position that can be read only as a positive for injured workers in the upcoming workers' compensation discussions.
In fact, former New York Governor and President Theodore Roosevelt rated three separate mentions in the short but ambitious address. This is important since Theodore Roosevelt supported the first important workers' compensation law was passed in 1908. This tells us that Gov. Spitzer is a student of history and won't forget all that injured workers gave up (and that employers gained) in the historic bargain that was later to become the New York State Workers' Compensation Law. Bully!
In addition to his TR references, Gov. Spitzer also prominently referred to Abraham Lincoln and the "great governor Franklin Roosevelt" when outlining his principled agenda for New York State. It was Lincoln who said, "Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if Labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital, and deserves much the higher consideration." And FDR said, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have too much...it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. " Given these historical role models, let's hope that injured workers' can be optimistic going into the the upcoming negotiations with the Spitzer administration over workers' compensation reform in NY.
The New York Workers' Compensation Alliance is quite optimistic. It is apparent that New York's influential corporate and insurance company lobbies ( the New York Compensation Action Network and Larry Gilroy) will not be given the same welcome mat they found in the California workers' compensation debate under Gov. Schwarzenegger. Thankfully, the great Empire State elected the "Sheriff of Wall Street", not the "Terminator", and Arnold wasn't mentioned in the Inaugural Address!
If Governor Spitzer shows that he is a true friend to injured workers, as his great predecessors were, then we would suggest that some stone carvers out in South Dakota might want to start sharpening their chisels!
