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Labor groups urge presumptions for disease, expanded line-of-duty death benefits for Massachusetts public employees
Summary
Massachusetts AFL-CIO and union representatives told the Joint Committee on Public Service they support multiple bills creating presumptions for firefighter cancers, infectious disease and Parkinson’s disease and expanding line-of-duty death benefits to non-public-safety workers.
The Joint Committee on Public Service heard testimony from labor leaders and union representatives supporting a package of bills that would create presumptions tying certain diseases to firefighting and extend line-of-duty death benefits to non-public-safety public employees.
Kevin Brusso, secretary-treasurer of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and co-chair of its public sector task force, told the committee that unions back bills creating presumptions that cancers, infectious diseases and Parkinson’s disease can be presumed to result from firefighting work because those conditions commonly stem from long-term exposure rather than a single event.
"Presumptions are important because these diseases are not a result of a single moment or 1 interaction. They're a result of long term exposure in many cases, often over many years," Brusso said. "Firefighting is a deadly job, and it isn't just deadly because of the fire."
Brusso listed several bills the AFL-CIO supports, including measures cited in testimony as H 2846 and S 1797 (infectious-disease presumption), H 2753 and S 1860 (firefighter retirement benefits-related measures), H 2836 and S 1914 (Parkinson’s disease presumption), and H 2901 and S 1911 (line-of-duty death benefits for non-public-safety workers). He said the measures would provide presumptive coverage so that diagnosis of the listed conditions would be more straightforwardly linked to service for claim and retirement purposes.
Witnesses described the scientific and occupational basis they cited for presumptions: toxic chemical exposures at fires can increase long-term cancer and neurological disease risk, and repeated exposure over time — rather than a single incident — often underlies disease onset. Brusso urged lawmakers to consider benefits that would reduce financial uncertainty for families when a public employee dies in service.
No formal vote or committee action is recorded in the provided transcript. Witnesses offered to submit written testimony and additional documentation to the committee.
