(Updated 3/2/09 below) The U.S. economy is in the tank—-the national unemployment rate for January was 7.6% and 46 States are facing serious budget shortfalls—–but these hard times are NO EXCUSE to roll-back worker safety protections.  Yet, that is exactly what some Kentucky lawmakers are proposing for workers employed at small underground coal mines.
When the U.S. Senate reconvenes on Tuesday, February 24th, I’ve learned that they will move ahead with a vote on the nomination of Hilda Solis to serve as 25th Secretary of Labor.  This confirmation vote will take place 35 days following President Obama’s inauguration.  If Mrs. Solis can secure the confirmation of our Asst. Secretaries for MSHA […]
Linda Reinstein is a mother and grandmother.  Linda Reinstein is an asbestos-disease widow. Her husband Alan Reinstein, 67, died on May 22, 2006 from mesothelioma. Like her husband, Linda Reinstein is a fighter, an organizer, an activist.  Following Alan Reinstein’s mesothelioma diagnosis in 2003, they founded the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) which is now entering its sixth […]
We often link to Ken Ward Jr.âs excellent coverage of mining issues in the Charleston Gazette. He does a fantastic job exploring the many ways that decisions by mining companies and government bureaucrats affect the lives of mineworkers, their families, and mining communities. Celeste summed up our admiration for him a couple of months ago, […]
I had high hopes that a new Secretary of Labor would hit the ground running on Jan. 20. I had visions of bright beams of light and positive energy radiating from the Department’s Frances Perkins building, as an Obama crew under Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’ leadership worked to restore DOL agencies’ dedication to workers.  I was ready to start […]
Legal scholars with the Center for Progressive Reform issued today “The Choices Facing Cass Sunstein,” an assessment of the writings of President Obama’s nominee for the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The authors reviewed Prof. Sunstein’s writing and report specifically on his staunch support for cost-benefit analysis and the “centralization of […]
by Ellen Smith A supervisor was hurt in a roof fall December 10, 2008 at a six-employee anthracite mine that owes more than $100,000 in delinquent civil penalties, MSHA records showed. The foreman at S & M Coal Co.’s Buck Mountain Slope in Dauphin County, Pa., met loose roof while he was working alone in a heading, according […]
Last week The Pump Handle featured an article by Carole Bass entitled Why is Black Lung back? In response, a former coal miner offers his views on why coal miners in the U.S. continue to develop and suffer from this occupational lung disease that is 100% preventable. He writes: Thank you for your article on […]
The Washington Post reported yesterday that President-elect Obama wants Harvard law professor Cass R. Sunstein to serve as the head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs ( OIRA).  I’m not prepared at this point to tangle intellectually with a  magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, who was a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and a law […]
Senator Edward Kennedy’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP Committee) held a hearing today to consider the nomination of Hilda Solis to be the nation’s 25 Secretary of Labor. A webcast replay of the proceedings is available (here), as is a copy of Ms. Solis’ written testimony. Here are a few highlights from her written remarks: “The Labor Department just […]