Mayor: Custodians abuse worker's compensation (1-15-08)

School custodians' supposed abuse of worker's compensation is a key reason for the city's $1.8 million budget deficit, Lynn Mayor Edward Clancy told the Boston Globe.

Clancy claimed that the 19 of 132 school janitors that are out on worker's compensation was almost five times the national average for such work, the story stated.

Clancy said that the worker's comp exploitation was basically a work stoppage by custodians who resented being shifted from the school department to the Inspectional Services Department in 2006, the story explained.

The custodians' union local president denied that charge: "It's kind of a ridiculous statement. A job stoppage would mean that no one would be coming in, ... essentially a strike." Article from Boston Globe .