Oxfam’s “Women on the Line” and the Food Chain Workers’ Alliance’s “No Piece of the Pie” provide more evidence of the low wages, harsh conditions, and disrespect experienced by millions of workers in the U.S. food industry.
Three days out from the election and many of us are still trying to adjust to this new reality. It’s been a very rough week.
APHA Annual Meeting
Honduran women’s and labor rights organization wins APHA Occupational Health and Safety Section’s International Award
The Honduras Independent Monitoring Team (EMIH) won the 2016 International Award of the Occupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association at the APHA’s annual conference in Denver. Lynda Yanz, Executive Director of the Maquila Solidarity Network, based in Toronto, Canada, accepted the award on behalf of EMIH at the November 1st awards luncheon.
Hispanic hotel workers in Las Vegas are becoming a powerful political force; families of miners who died from black lung disease sue Johns Hopkins Hospital; Milwaukee officials approve a living wage ordinance for county workers; and women in France and Iceland walk off the job to protest the gender wage gap.
Labor Rights
“Hazards of the gig economy” – Temp workers at greater risk for workplace injury but poorly protected, say labor advocates
During the week when OSHA renewed its alliance with the American Staffing Association, National COSH held a press call to draw attention to the temp industry’s failure to adequately address health and safety problems faced by temp workers.
Reporters investigate the man whose research is used to deny veterans’ claims about Agent Orange exposure; former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship goes back to court to appeal his conviction; voters in five states will cast ballots on raising the minimum wage; and OSHA’s new worker retaliation rules are delayed.
Agriculture
New York farmworker, worker centers sue for organizing rights: ‘This would be a huge victory’
In September 2015, New York farmworker Crispin Hernandez was fired after his employers saw him talking with local workers’ rights advocates. But instead of backing down, Hernandez filed suit against the state. And if he prevails, it could help transform the often dangerous and unjust workplace conditions that farmworkers face to put food on all of our tables.
Infectious Diseases & Vaccines
When adults forgo their immunizations, it costs the nation billions in care
Another day, another study on the benefit of vaccines. This time, it’s a study on the economic cost of vaccine-preventable diseases among U.S. adults — a cost that likely surpasses your wildest guesses.
Denver Post reporters investigate the lives and deaths of Colorado’s oil and gas workers; employees from Donald Trump’s California golf club say he only wanted to hire “pretty” women; cobalt mining in Congo comes with dangerous risks for adult and child workers; and Harvard’s dining staff goes on strike for living wages.
A Labor Department report describes the ways in which our state-based workers’ compensation system is failing injured workers. Will the report become a roadmap for reform or another government report that collects dust?