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.
Food Safety & Nutrition
Georgia congressman resurrects bad idea, poultry workers threatened with faster line speeds
A Georgia congressman thinks poultry plants should be able to increase line speeds to 175 birds per minute. That was a bad idea from Obama’s USDA. It was nixed, but now it’s resurrected.
Environmental justice and labor groups in California were relentless in their demand to make refineries safer. Their years of effort paid off with an announcement last week by the state of new refinery safety regulations.
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.
A complaint from National COSH and an investigation by the Arizona Daily Star led federal OSHA to examine the Industrial Commission of Arizona’s discounting of safety inspectors’ findings.
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.
Injury Control & Violence
Nation’s largest wireless infrastructure provider linked to two worker deaths in eight days
In an eight-day period, two workers lost their lives at communication towers. Their deaths reminded me of the grave hazards in the industry and the subcontracting model that can shield firms from responsibility for the hazards they create.
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.