From the Southwest Missourian:
Tarring a roof or putting up walls never made Jeff Niccum bat an eye. Manual labor is all the work he has known.But his life of construction, roofing and landscaping has resulted in degenerative joints and painful arthritis in his early 40s. Giving his son J.T., who turned 5 Wednesday, a bath hurts him. J.T. got a train for his birthday, but Niccum could only put the toy together from a recliner. Getting on the floor with the boy was out of the question.
Niccum, of Perryville, Mo., has been rejected four times for Social Security disability. His appeals have come back unfavorable since 2000. After the first time, he said he thought they might be right. So he landed a job driving a forklift at Gilster-Mary Lee. After just a week of work, he couldn't get out of bed.
Unless Congress changes the definition of disability this man's youth is against him. The law expects that younger workers, even if they have only done manual labor, can learn new job skills. At such a young age he would have to show that he cannot do sedentary employment. The Social Security Act says that you must be unable to do ANY substantial gainful work not just your usual job. Only Congress can change the definition of disability.
ReplyDeleteI think that people like this man in the example would be difficult to retrain due to the discomfort/pain involved being a problem even for sedentary work. I don't know what the answer is, but using up and spitting out people who do the critical and necessary manual labor in our society is wrong...
ReplyDeleteThe paper is the SouthEAST Missourian.
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