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News :: Civil & Human Rights : Government Secrecy : Health : Labor : Political-Economy
Supervalu and Safe Working Conditions: Mutually Exclusive? Current rating: 0
24 Aug 2004
Modified: 08:51:36 PM
Supervalu, the nation's largest independent wholesale grocery supplier, has made OSHA's list of the 13,000 worksites with the highest rates of injury to workers -- thirteen times. Included on the list is Supervalu's local distribution center on North Lincoln Avenue.
A list of 13,000 bad actors when it comes to worker safety had to be pried from the government via FOIA requests, forcing the Bush Adminstration to rat on many of its biggest campaign contributors. All those on the "Dirty 13,000" list have injury rates that, "for every 100 full-time workers... had seven or more injuries or illnesses which resulted in days away from work, restricted work or job transfer. The national average is 2.8." Among these facilities is Supervalu's giant distribution center on North Lincoln Avenue in Urbana, Illinois.

Here is a compilation of the 13 Supervalu-owned facilities that made the list:

ANNISTON RETAIL SUPPORT, 2130 ROBERTS DR, ANNISTON, AL 36207

BLACK DIAMOND FRUIT & PROD CO, 205 7TH AVE, HUNTINGTON, WV 25701

FARM FRESH 213, 7400 95TH ST, PLEASANT PRAIRIE, WI 53158

GREEN BAY DISTRIBUTION CENTER, 451 JOANNES AVE, GREEN BAY, WI 54304

RYANS DIVISION, 1629 KING AVE W, BILLINGS, MT, 59102-6448

SUPERVALU ST LOUIS DISTRIBUTION, 7100 HAZELWOOD AVE, HAZELWOOD, MO 63042

SUPERVALU WAREHOUSE, 3501 12TH AVE N, FARGO, ND 58102

SUPERVALU INC, 1933 TOWER RD, AURORA, CO 80011

SUPERVALU INC, 2611 N LINCOLN AVE, URBANA, IL 61802

SUPERVALU INC, 340 BALLARDVALE STREET, ANDOVER, MA 01810

SUPERVALU INC, JAMES RIVER TPKE, MILTON, WV 25541

WETTERAU-ANDOVER PERISHABLE, 2700 PLAINFIELD PIKE, CRANSTON, RI 02921

SUPERVALU OPERATIONS INC, 56 MILLIKEN ST, PORTLAND, ME 04103


I hate to say it, but I'm an expert at having been through the injury mill at Supervalu. For about fifteen years, I loaded trucks there, filling trailers full of groceries with an electric lift truck, as well as picking groceries in the warehouse. I developed what were eventually diagnosed as repetitive motion injuries from using this machine, after being told repeatedly by doctors working for Supervalu that all I needed "was a little more exercise." After seven years, I settled with the company for what some might consider a large sum of money. In fact, it only got me out of the debt I was in from their failing to fully compensate me as Illinois law provides as the case proceeded. And I am still stuck with injuries that I will suffer with for the rest of my life

It is a little known fact that the time/motion standards that determine whether Supervalu warehouse workers meet their required goal to avoid discipline only take into account travel distance and number of items. There is nothing factored in to account for either weight or the shelf height/location of the product being moved. A big bag of water conditioner salt sitting on a pallet on the floor two locations deep in a rack is accorded the same amount of time to be handled as a small case of Jello that you can just reach out and grab between two fingers. Is it any wander that a higher than normal rate of injury will occur when management is not willing to take weight into consideration in setting performance standards? A Supervalu engineer was actually sent from headquarters to explain this to us, admitting to the practice.

As with all stories here on Indymedia, you are welcome to comment by writing about your own experiences with being injured at Supervalu.

Comments about the practices of certain local healthcare providers, such as Carle's Occupational Medicine Clinic, also are pertinent since they treat the company as the patient, not the injured worker, in granting the company nearly full say in what sort of treatments and work restrictions will be allowed injured workers. Companies, including Supervalu, take advantage of workers by only paying for medical treatment that the company feels is appropriate. Illinois law provides a right to see any doctor of the worker's choice.

Guess what? If you want to exercise your "right" you can. Just be prepared to pay and carry the debt for years until a settlement is reached, mediated by the ever-lethargic Illinois Industrial Commission. There ought to be a law -- and there is -- it's just that, under both Republicans and Democrats, Illinois has failed to protect workers from abusive employers. And the data is reflecting the damage, now that it is finally starting to see the light of day.

OSHA Press Release:
http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/foia/hot_10.html

"Dirty 13,000" List:
http://www.thememoryhole.org/corp/dart/

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Re: Supervalu and Safe Working Conditions: Mutually Exclusive?
Current rating: 0
25 Aug 2004
ML,

You don't think sitting in front of your computer on your own time for hours on end contributed to that "repetitive motion" claim do you? Carpel Tunnel and phony Back injuries are the most fraud related work comp claims in the country.

The State of Illinois has one of the most generous reimbursement rates for these claims. That's one of the primary reasons companies chose to leave the State or not to do business here at all.

But hey, I hope you feel better so you can return to your real job. Get Well Soon!!!

Jack
You're Full of Bull, As Usual
Current rating: 0
25 Aug 2004
Jack,
No, actually it was scar tissue built up in my shoulder from overuse, eventually forcing the bone out of the socket. My shoulder began to dislocate on its own, but only after the company doctor repeatedly insisted, as I've already noted, that it only needed more exercise. He recommended a MRI just to cover his ass, which the insurance company canceled several times, before I took an opening they just happened to have one afternoon, before the insurance bloodsuckers could cancel it again.

The pictures came back and it was like "We want to operate on you next week." Like, duh-oh, I've only been trying to tell you for six months something is wrong. They scarped out lots of the scar tissue, but because of it being a long term problem, the rehab just couldn't get it like it had to be to continue doing what I'd done for fifteen years. By then, I also was suffering from a nerve problem in my leg that they also ignored and trying to do what they assigned for "light duties" to get me the exercise that the doctor so fervently insisted was all I needed had resulted in a back injury. Yeah, they take good care of you for Supervalu down at Carle, alright.

I didn't suffer from it myself, but I can tell you something about carpal tunnel and Supervalu -- they are in denial about that issue, just like you. Most of the machinery out there was (and probably still is) very poorly ergonomically designed. One story of many about carpal tunnel is of the poor young guy that lifted weights several times a week, something he's been doing for years since he was a kid. He was working 10-11 hour shifts running what's called a Barrett (a double pallet jack used for picking.) I trained him and he was sharp (and strong) and picked up on the job quickly. After less than a year, he started developing carpal tunnel from the handgrips used to run the Barretts, a fairly common occurence. The company insisted that the carpal tunnel was from his weightlifting, something he'd probably done for 10 years without a problem -- until he started spending 50-60 hours a week grabbing at the handles on the company's Barrett. Nah, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with work, the company doctor said. Sure.

I just happen to have a cousin who worked for a well-regarded orthopedic surgery practice in Indianapolis. He's a hand surgeon whose specialty is sewing back on the limbs and fingers that people occasionally chop off. They started doing carpal tunnel surgeries for Supervalu in the late 1980s, but eventually refused to work with Supervalu any more. What happened was that the patient needed a long recovery period that required a gradual re-introduction of motion and use of the afflicted limb. For some people, this would not go well, requiring in these honest doctors' views a change of job duties to accomodate the injured worker, as provided by law. Supervalu just flat out refused to obey their medical orders for limited duties or job changes for those who needed them (it would look bad on an already bad OSHA record) and my cousin's practice decided they couldn't handle the malpractice risk that Supervalu exposed them to by insisting that it knew better what was good for the worker (or in this case, Supervalu's bottom line.) Supervalu ended up going doctor shopping to get someone who would diaganose and treat according to company policy, instead of medical requirements.

To describe Illiniois workers' comp benefits as "most generous" is ridiculous. And that is if you ever see a dollar of them before you get a settlement, in my case, after seven years. Sometimes you're amusing in your ignorance, but in this case you're just a pathetic propagandist.

I received a settlement because it was determined that I would never be returning to my "real job". I would surely like to since life was simpler before I got hurt, as do most everyone who gets injured, but that just didn't happen. BTW, the reason I'm not working for them anymore is because I was tranferred to their Transportation Dept. as the garage's parts/inventory clerk, where I kept a $100,000+ inventory within one percent of book value on a regular basis. Even though I wasn't even in the bargaining unit, I lost my job there along with everyone else in the department in Supervalu's 1999 union-busting move against the Teamsters organizing the drivers and macahnics, but that is a tale of corporate and government malfeasance, as well as union bureaucratic incompetence, for another day.

BTW, Jack, when you use up your daddy's trust fund, keep Supervalu in mind when you need a real job. They can surely use some more assholes in management just like you, since they've managed to force out most of the honest people who worked there when is was still the (at least partially) Jones family-influenced J.M. Jones Company to impose their "modern" management technqiues. Before, at J.M Jones, it was good enough if you did your best, they wouldn't try to pretend you weren't hurt, instead of acting like your years of good service were a drag on the company's bottom line. And somehow we always made a decent profit, too. Not anymore. They're all cut out of the same heartless mold you were stamped out with. You'd fit right in.
My Response ML
Current rating: 0
27 Aug 2004
Dear ML,

Don't worry, I won't take the bait and sink to your level by returning insults such as "asshole" and other such inspired comments directed my way.

You Said: "but only after the company doctor repeatedly insisted, as I've already noted, that it only needed more exercise. He recommended a MRI just to cover his ass, which the insurance company canceled several times, before I took an opening they just happened to have one afternoon, before the insurance bloodsuckers could cancel it again."

Do you realize that Illinois is a "Self Directed" state and that the worker may go to whatever Doctor he or she wishes? You always seem so thorough so I am curious as to why you simply did not go to the physician of your choice. While I am sure they attempted to direct you to the company Doctor as you say, this individuals sole purpose is to get valuable, experienced employees back to work as soon as possible.

You mentioned it took seven years to settle your claim. Who, for Godsakes was your lawyer? You may have a case against him/her. (Do you like the use of political correctness)

In any event, if you were hurt on the job, the single best way to get you off the books was to settle the claim or fix the problem. It is extremely unusual for a Work Comp Claim to go seven years prior to some sort of settlement?j

Am I to understand that you went seven years with no disability payments, or temporary wages? I am not sure you're being truthful here but I will take you at your word. It does, however, make me suspicious as no employer, no matter how evil, wants this on their reserves for this long.

It may also surprise you learn that I do not, nor have I ever, benefitted from a trust fund. I built my company by taking risk. I worked and sweated meeting my payroll and for many months, I personally, did not pay myself. You would not understand this, but the original owners of your former company would. I pay my great employees far more than they would receive anywhere else.
The ones who do not perform, are gone. It is that simple.

If one of my employees is hurt, I will personally drive them to the hospital or call the ambulance myself. I have worked hard to build a "culture of safety" within my organization to protect my greatest asset, my employees.

As for your termination from your prior place of employment after 15 years, all I can say is why did you work for someone else for 15 years?

Seriously ML, we disagree on virtually everything, however, I have never disputed your intelligence. I must admit that some of my prior posts have nailed you pretty good, but that was sort of just a hobby of mine.

You display qualities of leadership and you have obviously built an organization of lasting value. You, my friend, have the makings of a businessman. Imagine how you could help the little guy you so often fight for by giving them a job instead of creating bitterness.

You could know the satisfaction of meeting a payroll, paying bonuses, celebrating success and working as a team. I know that I am not the best leader in the world, but I understand, that beside my family, there are 48 other people that directly depend on the decisions I ultimately must make.

This may sound strange to you, but if you would let go of your bitterness and start something, anything, you might have a greater effect on the peoples' lives than your incessant whining ever could.

I was sincere when I said "Get Well Soon".

Jack
Re: Supervalu and Safe Working Conditions: Mutually Exclusive?
Current rating: 0
28 Aug 2004
Hey ML,

Have not heard from you since I pointed out that Illinois a Self Directed State.

BTW, I don't work for companies, I buy them.

Jack
Re: Supervalu and Safe Working Conditions: Mutually Exclusive?
Current rating: 0
29 Aug 2004
Jack Ryan:

Perhaps ML simply got bored with yet another diatribe cum personal attack from you that yet again avoided the primary thrust of the post--Supervalu's atrocious safety records, similar to other companies. Perhaps ML also was bored with the inherent tension in your argument, that Supervalu wouldn't have wanted the case to have endured forever while missing ML's other point, that the insurance company repeatedly cancelled necessary exams for which it didn't want to pay. Through its insurance company, Supervalu prolonged ML's case, if not forever, certainly long enough to exacerbate ML's pain that occurred on the job and could have been abated in a number of ways.

Perhaps ML did not want to point out your failure to recognize, as you attack ML's veracity, that workers' safety issues have become much more widely recognized, debated, and addressed in the last decade, likely before the onset of ML's painful injury. This is despite GOP efforts to rescind the OSHA standards which were not bearly as complicated as corporate lawyers and their GOP political mouthpieces portrayed them (lawyers complaining about the alleged rhetorical complexity of industry standards, while they're increasingly involved in negotiations writing legalistic, complex contract provisions). Perhaps ML wanted to avoid what this post and its comments yet again became thanks to you--a back-and-forth based less on the topics in and merits of the original post and more on stale ad hominems and refutations of insipid right-wing gibberish posing as friendly advice. And you wonder why your posts get hidden. I posit that it has more to do with their relevance than the political views contained therein. Remember that next time you snivel about freedom of speech; you don't use it nearly as constructively as you should.
Just the Facts as Experienced
Current rating: 0
29 Aug 2004
JK is pretty much right on target as to why I see no urgency in replying to Jack. I see no particular hurry to once again play straight man to his pompous preening.

And there is nothing more funny than to see an impatient troll wondering why you haven't bothered to reply to him lately.

The fact of the matter is I have plenty of higher priority things to do in my life, all the way from shopping for some stuff from home to send to my niece serving in Afghanistan to, quite frankly, scratching my ass, all of which take higher priority than dealing with Jack.

Just for the record, Jack, I am well aware that the law says an injured worker has the right to see a doctor of theri own choosing. In fact, I said (just to help those like Jack who suffer from poor reading comprehension):

"Companies, including Supervalu, take advantage of workers by only paying for medical treatment that the company feels is appropriate. Illinois law provides a right to see any doctor of the worker's choice.

"Guess what? If you want to exercise your "right" you can. Just be prepared to pay and carry the debt for years until a settlement is reached, mediated by the ever-lethargic Illinois Industrial Commission. There ought to be a law -- and there is..."

It's just that it's all window-dressing that is routinely ignored by companies, apparently without consequences in Illinois.

Perhaps you need to find a greedier and more corrupt lawyer to advise you on the legal chicanery and subterfuge that Supervalu uses to screw its injured workers, although I personally find it hard to believe that Jack Ryan has not already taken every step he can to jack his workers around. Apparently Jack is spending too much time trolling Indymedia to look after his greedy self-interest as well as the rapacious capitalists at Supervalu.

Or perhaps Jack's Pollyannish and Panglossian worldview is making him complacent about all the opportunites _provided by government_ in the last 25 years to screw workers around?

And Jack I have yet to see any evidence that you're sincere about anything.
Re: Supervalu and Safe Working Conditions: Mutually Exclusive?
Current rating: 0
29 Aug 2004
Well folks, that last (now hidden) post of Jack Ryan's is exactly why, unlike Ryan, we ought to stick to the main points of the original posts, and to utilize this tremendous site as a place for serious discussion and organizing. Jack Ryan's posts are nothing more than petty and useless distractions from pertinent tasks at hand, so let's move on.

ML's post illustrates not only Supervalu's abysmal safety and health record at its various workplaces, but also how rampant such corporate abuses of employees' safety truly are in the U.S. This is extremely shameful to hear that 13,000 worksites have such exorbitant injury rates, but unfortunately not surprising. I myself worked for one, a hat manufacturing company in New York. That company had insurance companies similar to those with which ML dealt. They repeatedly denied necessary medical procedures for injured workers who developed a myriad of repetitive-stress injuries, mostly but not exclusively to the wrists, shoulders, and elbows. Because our contract, like most union contracts, had an expiration clause for workers with continuous and extended periods of absence, regardless of the cause, that granted companies the right to jettison employees out of work for 1-2 years (depending on their seniority), the company was able to mask its job outsourcing to other US and foreign manufacturing firms by allowing its insurance companies to string out injured workers so long with repeated denials of procedures that, once workers finally received the necessary medical procedures, they could not recover in time to return to their jobs within that 1-2 year time frame. The company could then provide very modest disability benefits with pink slips, shift the jobs elsewhere, and all the while claim that the costs of doing business in New York were too high. Yet according to their own ergonomics expert, an extensive one-time overhaul of the very modern factory in which I worked would have saved the company millions in lost work time, disability payments, increases in insurance premiums, and legal fees. However, the company didn't care, in large part because it already made tens of millions by simply using up and discarding one set of human dish rags, then buying a newer and cheaper set elsewhere.

Workers at Supervalu and elsewhere who have endured such unsafe and onerous circumstances described above should post their thoughts and experiences. Part of the difficulty in uncovering, reporting, and treating repetitive-stress injuries is people's own bravery in enduring unsafe conditions that slowly grind their joints down. People often and justifiably feel that they must endure any sorts of conditions, fueled sometimes by pride and more frequently by economic necessity. Yet the resulting injuries to one's pride, and more importantly to one's body and livelihood, can be permanently debilitating. If you're hesitant about doing something about repetitive-stress injuries, realize first that you're not alone, and that these injuries are far more common than you might think. Despite Bush's repealing of OSHA's ergonomics standard, you do have rights and protections. Contact your local OSHA office, contact an attorney, utilize and involve your union, and organize a union if you haven't already. Not doing any of these can be more harmful than you deserve.