A survey of 300 garment workers in Los Angeles provides insight on the unsafe and unhealthy conditions they experience while they meet consumer demand for trendy fast-casual clothes.
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.
A just published book – Refinery Town: Big Oil, Big Money and the Remaking of an America City – describes how a decade of local organizing and year-round campaigning has resulted in impressive local victories in a Black, white and Asian town dominated by Chevron corporation. Richmond, California, has set an example and registered successes by local left wing campaigners that contain important and hopeful lessons about uniting allies and successfully defending health, safety and democratic rights.
For four decades the United Steelworkers had their sight focused on an OSHA rule to protect workers who are exposed to beryllium. The metal can cause a horrible respiratory illness and is a carcinogen. Last week, the union’s persistence paid off.
Workers suffering the ‘lethal legacy’ of a General Electric plant in Canada fight for compensation; OSHA looks into an Arizona commission that routinely reduces penalties for safety violations; advocates ponder the future of OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program; and millions of workers get a raise in the new year.
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)
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.
While The Pump Handle is on holiday break, we are republishing some of our favorite posts from the past year. This one is from March 2016: A painter named Jason, who nearly died from using a methylene chloride-based paint stripper, teams up with the California Department of Public Health to make the case for using safer alternatives.
An NPR investigation identified nearly 1,000 new cases in Appalachia of the most severe form of black lung disease. The government’s surveillance system recorded just a fraction of them.
The Labor Department’s safety alerts should not point blame at a worker for suffering an injury.
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.