By all measurements, 2009 is going to be a very difficult year. Unemployment is up, consumers and investors are anxious, various sectors of the economy are teetering on collapse, and governments at all levels and in many states are trying to figure out how to meet their obligations. In this troubling and unsettling environment, it would be easy to use this forum to remind employers of the need to continue to invest in a productive and safe workplace, to treat your workers with compassion, and not to cut corners in an effort to lower your workers’ comp costs. But if such admonishments are paid little attention in times when workers’ comp costs are at historic lows, even less attention will be paid to the obvious when the issue in 2009 is whether your business will even survive.
Business “seeks” concessions, labor “grants” them.
From a public policy perspective, this will be a valley of considerable proportions. But if the operative word going into next year is “concessions,” then remember one very important distinction when it comes to actions in Washington, D.C., Sacramento, or City Hall — business “seeks” concessions, labor “grants” them. It is an unfair playing field, and if you don’t already understand, you are about to learn that the expectations of the business community can never be more than short-term gains before political and economic tides shift back, allowing more bad decisions to be funded by artificially inflated tax receipts from the latest quick burst in capital gains and income taxes. Thus, “boom” initiatives— such as the eight-hour workday, meal and rest requirements, benefit increases in social insurance programs, and significant increases in public pension payouts— are all items to be placed back on the bargaining table for “bust” concessions.
In 2009 the stakes will be higher, but the fundamental political and economic dynamics — and the tactics they engender — remain the same. No one is talking about fundamental reform of our economy or of our political institutions. Instead, the debate is how best to use taxpayers dollars to limit the consequences of several decades of business attempting to maximize short-term profits (and mollify labor-dominated institutional investors to keep their jobs) and governments not worrying about whether there will be enough money in the coffers beyond the current fiscal year. One only has to look at the swift demise of the debate on energy policy once gas prices dropped by more than half.
Workers’ comp in California will fit into this mess as a chit and nothing more. If permanent disability benefits are to be raised, it will be because of “concessions” granted in areas such as eight-hour workdays or meal and rest periods. Will the business community include workers’ comp issues among its “asks” as California plods through yet another budget debacle? Not likely — at least not while costs and premiums remain manageable. For Republicans to vote for tax increases, it will take much more cover from the business community than workers’ comp can provide.
Which leads us right back to where we started. During the presidential campaigns, much was made of the need to protect Main Street with the same zeal as politicians were rushing to protect Wall Street. For those who have assumed the mantle of leadership, regardless of whether at the local, state, or national level, here’s a news flash — Main Street and Wall Street form an intersection, not two roads in different zip codes. As long as we view solutions as “concessions” awaiting the next financial bubble to take back, nothing will change.