A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
Milking the Workers? Farm worker advocates have published a survey of mostly undocumented Hispanic workers that describes discrimination and workplace abuse experienced by workers on New York’s large dairy farms. Most of the workers are undocumented. The authors report that nearly half of the workers said they were bullied or intimidated by their bosses, and two-thirds said…
I swear, sometimes I don’t know if I’m reading facts or farce. Bloomberg BNA reports that the Labor Department — yes, the same Labor Department that has delayed implementation of OSHA’s electronic recordkeeping rule — is telling the court that unions should not be allowed to intervene in industry’s lawsuit because the Trump administration and…
Probably hoping no one would notice, OSHA today subtly buried an “Update” deep in its website, announcing that it intends to propose a delay in requirements of its new recordkeeping standard. The target of this latest rollback is a rule issued last year to “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses” which simply requires employers already covered by…
Democratic leaders in the US Senate and House of Representatives have introduced legislation that would reverse the Republican’s recent repeal of the Volks Rule, an action that keeps OSHA from being able to enforce the accuracy of injury and illness records. Congressmen Mark Takano (CA-41), Joe Courtney (CT-02), and Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of…
The FY 2017 Omnibus Budget bill that was released by Congress today provides a flat overall budget for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and a $2 million cut in the budget of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The standards programs of both agencies were cut, while compliance assistance was increased. Occupational Safety…
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank makes no secret about disliking Donald Trump. Instead of “draining the swamp” as he promised his supporters, Trump has become the “Swamp Monster” for his extreme secrecy (keeping White House visitor logs hidden), populating his administration “with former lobbyists, lawyers and consultants who are making policy for the industries that…
President Trump yesterday signed the resolution repealing the Volks rule , thereby permanently removing OSHA’s ability to cite patterns of injury and illness recordkeeping violations. The resolution, passed under the Congressional Review Act, is yet another step in the Administration’s goal of deconstruction the administrative state, or as the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne explained recently: In…
By Peter Fox, Counselor to the Solicitor, US Department of Labor, 2016-2017. Before voting as early as this week on a “resolution of disapproval” under the Congressional Review Act that could lead to repeal of OSHA’s so-called Volks Rule, senators should fully understand what the Rule does and why it was promulgated. The Rule is…
You should definitely read every one of the articles below about why repealing the Volks rule is bad for workers, bad for good employers and bad for America. But if you don’t have time, I’ve summarized the greatest hits here: First, Nell Greenfieldboyce has a great story on NPR’s All Things Considered this evening, starring…
Two former commissioners of the Bureau of Labor Statistics sent a letter yesterday to Senate HELP Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-TN.) and Ranking Member Patty Murray (D-WA.), urging them to oppose S.J Res 27, a Congressional Review Act resolution that would permanently block OSHA from enforcing a requirement that employers keep accurate injury and illness records.…