A newsletter of workplace safety and labor issues
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta testified yesterday before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on the Department of Labor’s FY 2018 budget proposal. As expected, there were very few questions dealing with worker safety and health, and unfortunately none on the Susan Harwood Grant program which is slated for…
“Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” ― Joe Biden If a President or Congress want to dismantle worker protections or other government programs, they don’t have to repeal or change legislation; they can work their damage through the budget process. Slashthe budget of a…
“I was just following orders” has never seemed like a particularly convincing argument throughout history, but that seems to be the platform that Alex Acosta is campaigning on to be Donald J. Trump’s Secretary of Labor, according to Christopher Cook in The Nation. Cook notes that not only has Acosta not stirred the spirited opposition that…
Alexander Acosta, the President’s nominee for Secretary of Labor testified today before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. If you’re interested, you can watch the entire hearing here, although that would be two and a half hours you will never get back. I’m going to review the parts of the hearing that addressed workplace…
The Senate just voted to repeal OSHA’s Volks rule making it impossible for OSHA to enforce its recordkeeping standard. Workers will pay the price. More injured. More sick. More dead. It was a straight party line vote. We put up a good fight. Good work everyone who worked to defeat this. Way to go Republicans.…
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…
Opposition to repeal of an OSHA rule that would allow enforcement of accurate injury and illness records is building in the US Senate. The Senate is scheduled to vote next week on a Congressional Review Act resolution that would repeal the Volks Rule, a vote that would make it impossible for OSHA to enforce its…
On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on S.J Res 27/H.J. Res 83 repealing the so-called “Volks Rule.” Repealing this rule will make it impossible for OSHA to cite employers’ recordkeeping requirements in any meaningful way. I explain below in more detail why the repeal of this OSHA regulation will make workplaces less…