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Who we are/ what
we do
FedWorkersComp is the responsible voice of federal workers
seeking legislative reform of the federal injury compensation system, OWCP. Our
website and our members' email discussion list are free for information sharing and
networking. We are strictly a volunteer grassroots movement with no agenda but
fairness for injured workers. We do not seek or acccept any funding from any source.
Our agenda: fix what's wrong
Our ONLY agenda is reform of OWCP laws (FECA) and fair treatment of
injured federal workers, to guarantee the protections
that Congress intended. We work
within the law to change the law. No federal
worker should be denied the right to seek redress through the courts when needed to
enforce those laws and protections; and no official should be above the law and get free
federal defense for actions outside the law. Retaliation against the injured must be
stopped administratively at the highest departmental levels by enforcing the codes of
ethics for government work. No one is above the law.
ALL are welcome
We have no dues or fees, no outside funding from any organization,
agency, or foundation, and nothing to sell. We invite ALL concerned, nationwide,
to join with us and support reform of OWCP. We are not connected with any
other organization, union or agency, although we do form alliances with various injured
groups and organizations. Our membership comes from a very wide range of federal
agencies nationwide, and is open to all federal workers under OWCP who share our reform
agenda and want to network and gain knowledge. Please do not join if you disagree
with our goals.
Reform--not hate and extremism
We are proud to serve our
Nation and we believe in the Constitutional system of government and the democratic
process. We expressly reject any radical fringe elements who preach hate for
agency officials, or who make martyrs of the perpetrators of violence, or who would
abolish OWCP and the injury comp system completely (leaving no recourse at all) and much
of the government with it. The tools of disinformation who argue against our aims should
not attempt to join and disrupt our work. They are not welcome.
What we are not
We are not a platform for union bashing, for rival organizations
against unions, for political partisanship, for personal agendas, or for commercial
gain. We are not about getting mad, getting even, or targeting
officials for prosecution. We don't do that; it does not win OWCP claims, and does
nothing to reform the laws. Those who do not agree with lawful and ethical methods
should not ask to be members. We are all federal. Those who work
with us have every right to expect that they are associating with responsible, nonviolent,
law-abiding citizens.
There are about 170,000 new claims filed each year.
We support all who share the agenda to reform OWCP laws, and work within the law to change
the law.
If this is YOUR agenda, then you are welcome to join us and meet
many others who share your concerns. You need to become a member to join
our members only email discussion list, but you do not have to be a member to make full
use of all the resources in this site.
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Information in this website is not medical or legal advice.
As an unpaid volunteer effort we do not offer claims representation, but
offer self help through information and networking with others in many agencies under
OWCP. But the more you learn about the system, the more you are able to help an
attorney or other representative in your own case.
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Mr. Joseph Perez was an OWCP Hearing
Representative who documented the internal workings of OWCP that stack the deck against
injured workers. Perez argues convincingly that their internal process violates the
law and intent of the FECA in specific areas.
Injured federal workers everywhere face an adversarial
system in OWCP claims, plus retaliation and intimidation from agencies
--barred from real legal representation, & unable to ever sue for pain and
suffering.
The entire Perez
Papers collection is now online in this site, including his charts and attached documents
-- no separate downloading is needed.
Our clear agenda is to change all
that. We want the FECA rewritten to Congress' original intent: no worker
should sacrifice their health or family's security for the cost cutting mania of party
politics. It must have teeth.
Somebody has to do this
No agency has ever surveyed injured workers themselves, to get feedback on
how OWCP is serving its real clients--the injured workers. WE HAVE. Our
members' statements PROVE that the system is run by the agencies to cut costs at the
expense of the injured.
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One union, APWU,
testified against reducing FECA benefits, in committee hearings March 24, 1998. Five
other witnesses advocated cutting benefits. NO ONE advocated strengthening the law.
Fedworkerscomp stands for real protections for the injured.
Fedworkerscomp analyzes written testimony from our members detailing the retaliation by
agency employers under OWCP-- falsification against claimants, light duty violations,
malpractice by agency doctors, collusion, a virtual blackout on claimants' rights
information, and a total absence of monitoring for agency compliance with the intent of
the law.
The right to petition Congress is the heart of self- government and the
democratic process. This country is too good to give up on.
When cost-cutting, greed and ambition wrap themselves in the flag, it is
time for us, as government workers, to say we are the government, and we're here
to take it back--"that this government for the people, by the people, and of the
people , shall not perish from this earth". |
SEE Fedworkerscomp Legislative Action Line.
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