With new reports on working conditions in global supply chains coming out every week from the news media and non-governmental organizations – how is possible to keep track of the most important developments in health and safety and other worker rights? There is a “one-stop shopping” solution to sign up for a weekly update of recent reports and corporate responses, as well as more organizations to track for those with more time and ambition.
Indonesian workers who make Ivanka Trump’s clothing line report poverty wages and unjust working conditions; Colorado lawmakers adopt law providing workers’ comp for injured workers; Trump administration rescinds more Obama-era labor rules; and Walmart workers report being punished for taking sick leave.
What company gives an employee “points” for missing work because their appendix ruptured, or they got in a car crash, or their mother died? It’s Walmart. Their “point” system is exposed in a new report by A Better Balance.
My afternoon snack of a Chobani yogurt comes from New York State’s $14 billion dairy industry. The state leads the country in Greek yogurt production. Interviews with 88 dairy parlor workers describe low wages, injuries, and poor housing and a call for companies to adopt strong labor codes of conduct.
Add this to the list of absurdities from the Trump Administration: the Justice Department (DOJ) is arguing that the AFL-CIO and the United Steelworkers (USW) should rely on the Trump’s DOJ to defend an Obama-era OSHA regulation.
Congressional lawmakers propose protections for undocumented farmworkers; the Trump administration takes aim at workplace civil rights enforcement; federal legislation would provide benefits for gig economy workers; and poultry workers get nearly $600,000 in back wages.
A historical look at the ‘radium girls’ and their legacy of worker justice; OSHA’s website for receiving injury and illness logs not accepting submissions; California farmworkers sickened by pesticide after Trump’s EPA reverses course on a probable ban; and former Walmart employees file class-action lawsuit for pregnancy discrimination.
Injury Control & Violence
A well-known secret: The “reverse business case” threatens worker health and safety
Accounting professors have confirmed what we always suspected: companies which are scrambling to meet or just beat Wall Street analysts’ profit projections have worker injury rates that are 12% higher than other employers. The recent research indicates that frantic efforts by “benchmark-beating” employers – increasing employees’ workloads or pressuring them to work faster, at the same time that these employers cut safety spending on activities like maintaining equipment or training employees, to meet the profit projections – are the likely source of increased injuries and illnesses.
Despite a post-recession construction boom in the southern U.S., a survey of 1,435 construction workers describe low wages, sparse benefits, and no potable water on sweltering summer days.
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.