The last date for workers and volunteers at the 9-11 WTC rescue and clean-up to file claims for Workers Compensation is September 11, 2003. The statute of limitations will prevent any further opportunities to make such a claim after this date, said Bernard McSorley, Local 237's director of Health and Safety Division.

Members affected must file the Workers' Comp. C-3 form along with a C-4 medical form completed and signed by an approved medical doctor. Members with further questions can contact McSorley at the union at 212-924-2000.

In an effort to reach and treat more workers who may have been exposed to hazardous conditions during the 9/11 World Trade Center recovery and clean-up, the WTC Worker and Volunteer Medical Screening Program has expanded its criteria for eligibility to receive a free medical screening.

To qualify for screening, workers and volunteers must have participated in the rescue, recovery, clean-up or restoration of services following the Sept. 11 WTC disaster, and work must have been conducted in lower Manhattan (below Canal Street) or at the Staten Island landfill.

In addition, the program has been expanded to cover workers and volunteers in several job groups that do not meet these geographic boundaries, but were found to have had high exposure.

The new time requirement for eligibility is as follows: