A recent poll revealed 80 percent opposition to a Trump administration proposal to allow 16- and 17-year old workers to use power-driven hoisting equipment to move patients in nursing facilities. The risk of injury to patients and to the young workers should be sufficient for the Labor Department to ditch this bad idea.
Child Labor
Trump’s deregulators have their hands in everything. Next up: Wood chippers for 16 year olds
Trump’s Labor Department is considering a plan to rollback rules that prohibit teenagers from doing certain hazardous tasks at their jobs.
Public interest continues to grow for accurate information on the working conditions faced by the 450 million workers in global supply chains. The last quarter’s reports, through September 2017, include information on workplace health and safety, discrimination and sexual harassment of women workers, and corporate non-compliance with even basic labor laws in the electronics, apparel, and food industries.
Uber’s new insurance plan won’t do much to protect its injured workers; investigation finds 1,000 additional black lung cases in Appalachia; Washington state welcomes a new paid family leave law; and St. Louis workers face a pay cut after state legislators overturn the city’s minimum wage hike.
Investigation reveals how Case Farms poultry plants exploit immigrant workers; Chinese workers who make Ivanka Trump’s clothing line are overworked and underpaid; California lawmakers consider bill to protect salon workers from harmful chemicals; and Trump’s budget would slash funds for combating child and forced labor overseas.
Federal contractors receive billions in public funds despite wage violations; Alabama’s auto industry putting workers’ lives in danger; OSHA delays life-saving silica standard; and Maryland and Nevada legislators approve paid sick leave measures.
Instead of calling worker fatalities “accidents,” could the press communicate how such incidents could be averted? A new paper published in the Journal of Agromedicine got me thinking about the topic.
The New York Times interviews current, former workers at restaurants run by Trump’s labor secretary nominee; Kentucky lawmakers move to weaken unions; Maryland county votes to raise the minimum wage to $15; and Houston’s new police chief calls for better mental health services for police officers.
Child Labor
Hansae Vietnam: Case study of hazardous working conditions and the failure of corporate social responsibility audits to fix the hazards
New investigations by the Workers Rights Consortium and the Fair Labor Association reveal sweatshop operations in Vietnam by a major Korean factory operator. The garments produced are sold by dozens of international clothing brands. The sweatshops exist despite “audits” by the $80 billion global “corporate responsibility industry.”
If the ACA is repealed, miners could lose out on critical compensation for workplace illness; New York farm owner indicted in death of teen worker; possible contender for U.S. labor secretary opposes minimum wage hike; and in good news, Ikea expands paid parental leave for its U.S. workers.