A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
OSHA released a grant announcement last week for its Susan Harwood Worker Training Grants. But don’t get your hopes up. The Trump administration did not wake up and suddenly realize how important job safety and health training is to high risk and vulnerable workers. These grants are funded by FY 2017 money which has already…
The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services will vote Thursday on OSHA’s FY 2018 budget. Most of the OSHA budget remains flat, but there’s one devastating exception. The budget calls for the elimination of OSHA’s 40 year old Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant Program. Originally created in 1978 as the “New Directions”…
If you haven’t yet done so, it’s time to do so. And if you have done so, do it again: Contact your legislators about passing a budget that will protect workers. The House Appropriations Sub-Committee that deals with OSHA, MSHA and NIOSH is scheduled to mark up the FY 2018 Appropriations Bill on Thursday, July…
Save Harwood, Save Workers: The Trump Administration’s plan to scrap the Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant program has been getting a bit more negative attention. Some of the attention has come from Charles Davis at ATTN, mobile media platform for the young(er) folk. His piece, ‘Workers Are Going to Die’: The Overlooked Budget Cut That Could…
Labor Secretary Acosta just finished his last hearing before the Senate on the Department of Labor’s FY 2018 budget. We’ll report on that later, but the bottom line is he’s not backing down on the Administration’s proposal to terminate the Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant Program. Since its inception in 1978, more than 2.1 million…
We will be discussing the President’s proposed FY18 Budget Proposal and its effect on worker safety many times over the next few weeks and months, but I want to focus right now on Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta’s testimony yesterday defending the Administration’s proposal to eliminate the Susan Harwood Worker Training Grant program. When Congressman…
Don’t let Acosta or OSHA get away with these simplistic condescending tweets while they delay the silica and beryllium standards and threaten to eliminate the Susan Harwood worker training grant program. Tweet back. @OSHA_DOL How about investing resources in protecting small business EMPLOYEES – like the Harwood worker training grant program? — Jordan Barab (@jbarab)…
More Budget Follies – CDC Edition: We’ve discussed Trump’s FY 18 budget proposal. OSHA and MSHA don’t come out too badly (except for the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program.) NIOSH and the Chemical Safety Board, on the other hand, not so well. Somewhat overlooked in terms of worker (and public safety) is the Centers for…
The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations. — Jacob Lew We previewed the budget late last week and that preview was pretty accurate. OSHA’s budget is essentially the same as the recently passed FY 2017 budget — flat except for the proposed elimination of the…
Here’s the latest news that you can use to impress your friends and intimidate your enemies. Slashing and Burning: The New York Daily News warns of the effects of Trump’s budget cuts on workers and on OSHA, especially the Susan Harwood Program. And the article extensively quotes a former OSHA official. But there’s at least…