Don't worry, the important people like Bankers are still getting their bonuses while their companies get bailed out with taxpayer money!

legal fees... the most overpriced thing on earth ^^
even bad lawyers cost a fortune :-/

Sounds about par for the course...screw up the country/people, get bonuses...try and help the country, get nothing.

Do not feel sorry for these people. If they want to put their life on the line for a job that is their choice. They know the risk involved. For them or their families come back and lay the guilt trip on people after they actually get sick, hurt, or killed is a complete dis-service to their previous acts of selflessness.

When you are part of a group that protects and serves, this is part of the life. You take joy in the people and things you serve to help and protect. That is your number one payment. Fire fighters, police, soldiers, hazmat specialists, scientists. All of these careers, are about giving to humanity in selfless action.

Hero are not people that take advantage of others. They don't accept big payoffs for special achievments. They don't ask for parades in the street. Hero's give their lives to serve and protect. In the end they die with the knowledge that they lived for what they believed in. Helping the greater good.

Acts of selflessness? Did you actually read the article?

"Hired by contractors clearing dust and rubble from Merrill Lynch offices next to Ground Zero, Galvis said he toiled 16 hours a day for six months in a jumpsuit and paper mask that would tear when he sweated. At $8 an hour, he made close to $800 a week.

Yeah, how dare he ask for compensation for unexpected health problems arising from a minimum wage job where workers weren't adequaly protected! He should just shut up and feel lucky that he cleaned up a corporation's offices for $8 an hour, never mind the cancer and stuff! It's all for the good of Merrill Lynch, which is totally worth it...

Listen to yourself.

I have to actually agree with NJ5 on this one. The guy deserves some kind of compensation for having health problems caused bye his job. This just goes to show you how srewed up the system really is. I would like to also say,just because a hero is'nt selfish and just does his work for the greater good,does'nt give every one else the right to be so dam selfish. This is just my modest opinion.

If a person doesn't have enough money to get by, all this "nomber one payment" and "serve and protect" are just meaningless. That's just wishful thinking on your part.

Are you serious? I mean, are you REALLY serious?

Now you would be correct KBG if we could assume that these people had the IQ to understand they were putting themselves at risk and that the pay was not worth it... as it stands, the guys probably took that as a standard cleaning job, didn't use his mask or changed it every 2 hours ("it ripped with my sweat"... yeah if you wear it 5 days), and probably didn't do any of this by selflessness but only for the $$.

Now yeah you can say... "he wanted easy $$, too bad it came with cancer"... or you can say... "big companies don't care and used his greed"... but you can't say that heroes don't deserve recognition... I don't think this guy is a hero (heck he was just cleaning the place), nor comes even close to being one... but you talked in general terms... and for example, the firefighters and policemen who died evacuating people deserve recognition and benefits for their families.

Bottom line here is that companies should be responsible for having a safe workplace with an acceptable level of worker protection. Even if he was getting paid $100 per hour. In this case, it was quite obvious that there was all kinds of toxic crap floating around there, someone has to be responsible for ensuring safety.