Government In the fight for a rest break, Dallas construction workers find their voice: ‘This is not the end, but a stepping stone to something bigger’ (rerun)
December 30, 2016 The Pump Handle

While The Pump Handle is on holiday break, we are republishing some of our favorite posts from the past year. This one is from May 2016: Last summer, 25-year-old Roendy Granillo died of heat stroke while he installed flooring in a house in Melissa, Texas, just north of Dallas. His tragic and entirely preventable death marked a turning point in advocacy efforts to pass a rest break ordinance for local construction workers.

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Labor Rights Two decades after welfare reform, more deep poverty and fewer college degrees (rerun)
December 27, 2016 The Pump Handle 4Comment

While The Pump Handle is on holiday break, we are republishing some of our favorite posts from the past year. This one is from August 2016: Two decades ago, President Bill Clinton signed the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act” (PRWORA) and heralded the end of “welfare as we know it.” The law lived up to that promise, but the outcomes for families who depend on it have been problematic.

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Environmental Health Occupational Health News Roundup
December 20, 2016 Kim Krisberg

The Center for Public Integrity investigates working conditions inside the nation’s oil refineries; mine safety advocates worry about changes under a Trump administration; garment workers in Bangladesh continue to face abusive conditions; and workers chronicle sexual harassment and retaliation within the National Park Service.

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Child Labor Hansae Vietnam: Case study of hazardous working conditions and the failure of corporate social responsibility audits to fix the hazards
December 13, 2016 Garrett Brown 2Comment

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.”

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Affordable Care Act Occupational Health News Roundup
December 6, 2016 Kim Krisberg 1Comment

If the ACA is repealed, miners could lose out on critical compensation for workplace illness; New York farm owner indicted in death of teen worker; possible contender for U.S. labor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.

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Global Supply Chain Even after the Rana Plaza disaster it is hard to get international clothing brands to do the right thing
November 29, 2016 Garrett Brown

A new report by four leading workers’ rights group shows just how hard it is to get international clothing brands to fix problems in their global supply chains despite the fact that 1,100 workers were killed in an instant in an unsafe garment factory in Bangladesh.  Three and a half years after the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, five major clothing brands – Walmart, Gap, VF, Target and Hudson’s Bay – were found to have continuing hazards and dangerous delays in fixing them.

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Cal/OSHA Occupational Health News Roundup
November 23, 2016 Kim Krisberg

Advocates sound off on whether worker safety will survive under Trump; an intimate interview with a waitress highlights inconsistent income and sexual harassment; a court blocks Obama’s overtime rule from taking effect; and United Food and Commercial Workers pushes for health and safety training for California’s marijuana workers.

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