Aint it funny how one person posts a misunderstood point, then it is repeated as gospel later on?
Sleeve, the 18 grand number is what your center is charged for the accident. That is the average of what workers comp charges are at UPS. That number has no bearing on your case, or what is paid. It is a theoretical charge, based on what UPS uses as the average cost per injury. So lets drop that number in our conversations, as it is only an internal UPS number.
Secondly, why should the union, or the insurance provided by the union pay for a workers comp claim. Even if they get the money back, it costs them thousands to process the claims, then litigate with Liberty on getting repaid. You think you have problems getting Liberty to pay, think about how it would be if you were another insurance company that has already forked out the money, trying to get paid back. Yeah, the check was in the mail.....
With the union, they dont have a dog in the race if you are injured. The only reason I would ever get a steward involved would be for documentation reasons only. Period.
Again, once you have "hired" your lawyer, you are not obligated to speak with anyone else on this matter. If they call, all you do is tell them you have hired counsel, and they will say thanks and hang up.
For all those that are reading this post, please understand that while minor injuries happen all the time, they need to be documented. Not called in, but documented. You never know when what you believe it minor ends up being so much more.
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