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Worker dies at Port of Los Angeles
Monday, January 31, 2005
(LOS ANGELES HARBOR) With
one dockworker dead and another seriously injured from a pair
of unrelated industrial accidents at the Port of Los Angeles
on Monday, union officials expressed outrage at what they consider
an increasingly dangerous environment for workers at the nation's
busiest ports.
"What a terrible day,"
said Danny Miranda, president of International Longshore and
Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 94, which represents the unionized
foremen who oversee work done on the docks. "One brother
is deceased and another has his leg mangled. Absolutely terrible."
Killed on Monday morning was
Matt Petrasich, 63, a resident of Rancho Palos Verdes. Petrasich
was supervising a work crew unloading cargo from the Panamanian-flagged
container ship, the Ever Deluxe, at the Evergreen terminal. While
details of his fatal injury are not clear, Petrasich's lifeless
body was discovered on top of a cargo container onboard ship
by a crane operator.
Also on Monday, a second foreman
Cody Bates, 43, of Local 94 suffered serious injuries
to his leg after being struck by a forklift while working at
the APL terminal. He was hospitalized and released on the same
day.
In northern California last
week, longshore worker Robert Padgett was killed on the job at
the Port of Redwood City on Jan. 26, when a walkway high above
a cargo ship's deck collapsed, causing him to fall 40 feet to
his death.
Another Los Angeles Harbor port
worker was killed last Wednesday while working on Terminal Island
while working on a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe cargo train.
The worker slipped and fell under the train, which rolled over
and severed his leg. He died at the scene Wednesday.
"We need to set a new standard
for safety in this port," said David Arian, president of
ILWU Local 13, which represents over 10,000 longshore workers
in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
Union officials met most of
Monday with representatives of the Pacific Maritime Association
about Petrasich's death, recent injuries and overall workplace
safety. The employers and the union agreed the Evergreen terminal
will be closed for twenty-four (24) hours.
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 LONGSHORE AND HARBOR WORKERS' COMPENSATION
PROGRAM
The Longshore
Compensation Program provides over $747 million in monetary,
medical and vocational rehabilitation benefits in more than 66,000
cases annually for maritime workers and various other special
classes of private industry employees disabled or killed by employment
injuries or occupational diseases. In addition the program maintains
over $2.8 billion in securities to ensure the continuing provision
of benefits for these injured workers in cases of employer insolvency.
Claimants depend upon timely receipt of these benefits to provide
food, housing and a minimal standard of living for themselves
and their families.
MONETARY
AND MEDICAL BENEFITS
The Longshore
and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act, administered by the U.S.
Department of Labor, provides medical benefits, compensation
for lost wages and rehabilitation services to longshoremen, harbor
workers and other maritime workers who are injured during the
course of employment or suffer from diseases caused or worsened
by conditions of employment. Several other statutes extend the
provisions of the Act to cover other classes of private-industry
workers. These include workers engaged in the extraction of natural
resources of the outer continental shelf, employees on American
defense bases, and those working under contracts with the U.S.
government for defense or public-works projects, outside of the
Continental United States.
During FY 2005
in excess of $747 million in compensation and medical benefits
will be paid in approximately 66,000 cases covered under these
compensation acts. These benefits constitute the only source
of income for many families. Medical benefits provide the treatment
necessary to recuperate and return to gainful employment when
timely provided.
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 A
Bit of Naval History
The U.S.S. Constitution
(Old Ironsides), as a combat vessel, carried 48,600 gallons of
fresh water for her crew of 475 officers and men. This was sufficient
to last six months of sustained operations at sea. She carried
no evaporators (i.e. fresh water distillers!). However, let it
be noted that according to her ship's log, "On July 27,
1798, the U.S.S. Constitution sailed from Boston with a full
complement of 475 officers and men, 48,600 gallons of fresh water,
7,400 cannon shot, 11,600 pounds of black powder and 79,400 gal
lons of rum." Her mission: "To destroy and harass English
shipping." Making Jamaica on 6 October, she took on 826
pounds of flour and 68,300 gallons of rum.
Then she headed for the Azores
, arriving there 12 November. She provisioned with 550 pounds
of beef and 64,300 gallons of Portuguese wine. On 18 November,
she set sail for England In the ensuing days she defeated five
British men-of-war and captured and scuttled 12 English merchant
ships, salvaging only the rum aboard each.
By 26 January, her powder and
shot were exhausted. Nevertheless, although unarmed she made
a night raid up the Firth of Clyde in Scotland . Her landing
party captured a whisky distillery and transferred 40,000 gallons
of single malt Scotch aboard by dawn. Then she headed home.
The U.S.S. Constitution arrived
in Boston on 20 February, 1799, with no cannon shot, no food,
no powder, no rum, no wine, no whisky, and 38,600 gallons of
water.
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2008 CALIFORNIA LAWYER MAGAZINE
ANNOUNCES
CLAY AWARD WINNERS
SAN FRANCISCO, February 15
- California Lawyer magazine has named 34 attorneys around the
state to receive the twelfth annual California Lawyer Attorneys
of the Year Awards. Their achievements had a significant impact
in 2007, or their work is expected to have such an effect in
the coming years. The awards recognize 22 accomplishments in
16 areas of legal practice.
Chuck D. Naylor, Sole Practitioner, San Pedro
Scott P. Nealey, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
San Francisco
Robert J. Nelson, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein,
San Francisco
Category: PERSONAL INJURY
In one of the year's largest personal injury verdicts, NAYLOR,
NEALEY, and NELSON won $50 million in punitive damages, as well
as $5.2 million in compensatory damages, against DaimlerChrysler
for the wrongful death of a 38-year-old longshoreman who suffered
fatal injuries when the Dodge Dakota he was driving ran him over
after he left the vehicle. The accident was blamed on a "park
to reverse" defect in the automatic transmission, said to
affect more than a million DaimlerChrysler vehicles.
the complete press release
here
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