ProPublica offers a disturbing look inside the extravagant workers’ comp industry; workers speak up about conditions inside hospital hotels; New York’s governor announces plan to raise minimum wages for state university workers; and a worker is killed at a Ford Motor Company plant in Chicago.
Worker Health & Safety
Injured at work? ProPublic & NPR examine what’s worse than workers’ compensation
ProPublica and National Public Radio examine “injury benefit plans.” They are set up by some employers in Texas and Oklahoma as alternatives for firms that are allowed to opt-out of having workers’ compensation insurance.
Our Labor Day tradition continues with the release of “The Year in US Occupational Health & Safety.” It is the fourth edition of the yearbook. It recaps key policy changes and research on worker safety and health at the federal, state, and local levels from the previous 12 months.
The ride-hailing mobile app Uber is desperate to prove it’s nothing more than a technology platform that connects drivers and passengers. As long as it can classify its workers as independent contractors, it can sidestep a whole host of labor and wage laws. But a court ruling issued earlier this week could open the door to change all that.
Government
Massachusetts extends OSHA protections to state workers: It’s about ‘creating an infrastructure that supports health and safety’
Back in 1970 when the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration was established, local policymakers could choose whether or not to extend OSHA protections to state employees. Unfortunately, Massachusetts took a pass. But decades later — and after years of advocacy, organizing and research on the part of worker advocates — employees of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts can now look forward to safer and healthier workplaces.
Injured workers testify before Illinois lawmakers on preserving the workers’ comp system; OSHA fines DuPont for failing to prevent the deaths of four workers; journalists arrested in Qatar while trying to investigate migrant working conditions; and a new report finds that service members who report sexual assault are likely to face retaliation.
The Department of Labor proposes a new rule to help miners with black lung disease; federal lawmakers introduce new hike to the minimum wage; worker safety outreach in Houston highlights the impact of new reporting rules; and a new museum is opening in honor of coal miners.
OSHA releases new report on injury, inequality and workers’ compensation; fast food sues to stop Seattle minimum wage increase; California lawmaker proposes fund for farmworker health; and federal employees can sue for late payments during the government shutdown.
Michael Grabell and Howard Berkes use the experiences of injured workers as a reality check on the US workers’ compensation system.
APHA Annual Meeting
Local New Jersey officials integrate worker safety into restaurant inspections; collect new insights on occupational risks
Food safety is at the top of the list for local restaurant inspectors in Rockaway Township, New Jersey. Recently, however, inspectors tested out the feasibility of adding a new safety checkpoint to the menu — the safety of restaurant employees. The effort was a success and one that organizers hope will ultimately lead to safer working conditions for food service workers statewide.