Miners Beware
Ten miners have been killed on the job between January 3 and March 5, 2025 – more than triple the number for the same period in 2024. There were 28 mining fatalities in 2024. At this rate, we’ll double that number. I’m somewhat surprised that the Trump administration for allowing MSHA to issue this alert. Neither MSHA nor OSHA have issued a single press release or alert since inauguration day.
Construction Deaths Surge in New York
The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH) released its annual construction fatality report, revealing a significant increase in worker deaths across New York State and continued racial disparities in workplace fatalities.
The report found that in New York City, the worker fatality rate increased slightly from 11.5 to 11.6 per 100,000 workers (24 deaths in 2022 to 30 in 2023). In New York State, however, there was a concerning 8.3% rate increase to 10.4 per 100,000 workers – and a 48% increase in state construction worker deaths in just one year (50 deaths in 2022 to 74 in 2023). Latinx workers, representing 10% of workforce but 26% of fatalities, as facing disproportionate risk, and 77% of investigated fatalities were of nonunion workers.
To make matters worse, the NYC Department of Buildings (NYC DOB) lost 119 positions despite a construction boom.
Workers Memorial Day 2025
Spring is springing and that means that Workers Memorial Day is just around the corner, on April 28. Workers Memorial Day is an annual call on the nation to — in the words of Mother Jones — Pray for the Dead, and Fight Like Hell for the Living. This year’s theme is “Fight for Our Lives: Safe Jobs Now!” The focus will be on fighting the Trump administration’s anti-regulatory actions and budget cuts that threaten the health and lives of American workers.
Events will be held throughout the United States and around the world and the AFL-CIO has materials available for organizers — including a toolkit containing ideas for planning your event and digital artwork to use in your newsletters, conference and training materials and websites.
You can go the the Workers Memorial Day website to place orders for print materials including posters, stickers and fliers in English and Spanish, and submit your own event so it can be included in their national map.
And if you’re travelling or live abroad, Hazards Magazine has a webpage listing all international events and an amazing display of artwork from every continent.
Greetings from the Secretary
The Senate voted to confirm Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor by a vote of 67-32 on Monday. Three Republican voted against her (because she’s allegedly too pro-labor) and 17 Democrats backed her confirmation.
The newly minted Secretary wasted no time in sending an email to all DOL staff on Wednesday morning urging them to “to fight tirelessly for the American Worker by carrying out President Trump’s executive orders, rooting out waste, cracking down on fraud, and remaining focused on the Department of Labor’s critical mission of supporting our nation’s workers, job seekers, and retirees.” Once they’re done rooting out the waste and fraud, “we will solidify the renewal of the American Dream by ensuring every American has access to a good-paying job, safe working conditions, and a comfortable retirement. ”
We’ll see….But Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is skeptical
“The next secretary of labor, the next secretary of education, the next secretary of housing, the next secretary of the Treasury is Elon Musk. Let us understand that reality and not play along with this charade,” he said. “Does anyone here really think that any secretary of labor, any secretary of education, is going to make decisions by himself or herself?”
Philadelphia Bus Drivers Get Bulletproof Booths
Plagued with an epidemic of assaults, including the shooting death of a bus driver in 2023, Philadelphia’s SEPTA workers, represented by Transport Workers Union Local 234. signed a contract last year that secured safety improvements, including bulletproof glass enclosures for their vehicles. And it looks like the booths will work:
Tuesday, the bulletproof enclosures were put to the test, as multiple SWAT officers fired rounds at the bulletproof panes to test their durability.
The cabins, made by Custom Glass Solutions, cost about $15,000 each to install. The Transport Workers Union of America, which represents thousands of SEPTA employees, says the enclosures are the first of their kind in the country.
Chad Beach, the company’s director of product management, said the glass is designed to be both bullet-resistant and an entry deterrent to provide drivers with comprehensive protection.
During testing, the glass was subjected to gunfire from multiple weapons, including 16 rounds from a .45-caliber handgun and a 9mm firing simultaneously. While most bullets were stopped, one did pass through. However, Beach said the glass slowed it down enough that it likely wouldn’t have caused serious injury.
According to TWU International President John Samuelsen,
“This safety measure is necessary because of the outrageous and grotesque level of violence against front-line transit workers. We need to completely encapsulate Bus Operators to protect them from all sorts of attacks and threats, including gunfire. It’s unacceptable that Bus Operators leaving home for work worry they might wind up in the emergency room, or worse.”
Book Store Sweat Shops
Sure, driving a bus through the city is dangerous, but you think working in a book store is easy? Just sitting around discussing the latest novels? Think again. Standing all day on hard floors, lifting heavy boxes and being harassed by customers make the book store life harder and more dangerous than it should be. Thankfully, some book store workers are unionized. And thanks to a contract negotiated by the Retail, Wholesale and Store Union (RWDSU), workers at Barnes and Nobel stores in New York
Will have access to back braces, wrist guards, and anti-slip mats for the café area. There will also be stools at every Barnes & Noble information desk and cash register for workers to be seated if they choose.
Employees working late-night inventory shifts will now have access to paid auto transport. Likewise, workers will now have a safety committee, de-escalation trainings, and “a clear process of banning customers who harass or behave inappropriately towards workers.”
Job security and pay security were also included in the union contract.
New York also has the Retail Worker Safety Act, which requires New York-based employers to create a violence prevention plan, provide de-escalation and active shooter training, and implement silent response buttons at work.
Union Rights Stripped From TSA Workers
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has stripped union representative from Transportation Security Agency workers. When the agency was created shortly after 9/11, TSA workers were not give the right to organize. They were given “abridged” bargaining rights in 2011, during the Obama administration, and the Biden administration expanded those rights in 2021.
According to acting TSA administrator Adam Stahl, “This decision aligns with the administration’s vision of maximizing government productivity and efficiency and ensuring that our workforce can respond swiftly and effectively to evolving threats.”
AFGE National President Everett Kelley accused TSA of justifying the action using ” a completely fabricated claim about union officials—making clear this action has nothing to do with efficiency, safety or homeland security. This is merely a pretext for attacking the rights of regular working Americans across the country because they happen to belong to a union.”
Because what maximizes productivity and efficiency more than thousands of unhappy, frustrated ignored critical safety employees?
And this may not be the end of it. Project 2025 called for the privatization of TSA.
PRO Act 2025 Re-Introduced
Times may be tough for working people in the United States, but that hasn’t kept Democratic leaders in the House and Senate from renewing the fight for the right of workers to form unions. Last week, a bipartisan group of House and Senate Members reintroduced the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, H.R. 20, a landmark proposal to protect workers’ right to come together and bargain for higher wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces.
The PRO Act (HR 20) seeks to strengthen labor laws that safeguard workers’ ability to organize and fight for fair treatment. This critical legislation empowers workers to demand better working conditions and hold employers accountable for violations. With growing bipartisan support, the PRO Act promises to restore fairness to the economy and ensure that workers can secure the compensation and protections they deserve.
And yes, I did say “bipartisan.” Led by House Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, the PRO Act already has 210 co-sponsors in the House, including Republicans Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Chris Smith (R-NJ).
You can watch the whole news conference here.