An OSHA news release about a $545,000 settlement with Marshall Pottery was strange to me. The agency hadn’t previously announced the willful violations and $830,000 proposed penalty to the firm related to the death earlier this year of employee Arturo Tovar.
The Center for Public Integrity’s Jim Morris writes a soulful account of a plumber named Jim Spencer who was fatally injured on-the-job in 2016. Read it before looking at the new BLS data on the 5,190 worker fatalities from the same year.
President Trump boasted yesterday at a photo op of his plans to cut the “red tape of regulations.” His regulatory agenda ignores his crush on coal miners by threatening current rules to prevent black lung disease.
An Oklahoma rehab center funnels forced free labor into private industry; the National Labor Relations Board reconsiders Obama-era union election rules; farmworkers at risk from California’s wildfire smoke; and domestic workers organize for greater labor rights in Seattle.
Food Safety & Nutrition
Government auditors validate safety complaints from meat and poultry workers
An investigation by GAO of the meatpacking and poultry industry validates concerns raised by workers about fear of losing their jobs if they report safety problems, and being denied access to the bathroom and proper medical care for injuries.
Government
Advocates: Trump’s proposed budget cuts are a ‘white flag of surrender’ in global HIV/AIDS fight
On the day before World AIDS Day, the White House put out a statement saying “we reaffirm our ongoing commitment to end AIDS as a public health threat.” Advocates are waiting — and hoping for — that same sentiment to materialize into policy.
The Senate tax-slashing bill contains a paltry paid-leave proposal that would give money to corporations already providing paid family leave.
Local efforts help California nail salons create healthier working conditions; California court ruling a win for farm workers and labor unions; Milwaukee institutes new safety measures after a city employee is shot and killed; and flight attendants chronicle sexual harassment in the skies.
Congressional Republicans are rushing to vote on legislation that would slash corporate taxes, but have spent two months failing to extend the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Recent state experiences suggest serious long-term consequences.
The tax code overhaul is pressing on, with a full Senate vote coming later this week. As the seemingly chaotic drama unfolds in Washington, DC, our collective health and well-being awaits its fate.