{"id":14305,"date":"2026-09-01T14:58:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T18:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/?p=14305"},"modified":"2026-09-01T15:03:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T19:03:08","slug":"worker-bashing-hearing-tomo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jordanbarab.com\/confinedspace\/2026\/09\/01\/worker-bashing-hearing-tomo\/","title":{"rendered":"Worker Bashing Hearing Tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>n case you think the Republican-controlled Congress isn’t doing anything useful, here’s living proof. Tomorrow at 10:15, the House Education and Labor<\/del> Workforce Committee will hold a hearing<\/a> entitled “”Less Red Tape, More Opportunity: Unleashing American Workers and Job Creators.”<\/p>\n

Translating into honest English, the more accurate title is: “Fewer Protections, More Crime: Unleashing American Employers to Exploit their Workers.” How better to celebrate Labor Day?<\/p>\n

OSHA now has the lowest number of inspectors in the agency’s 55 year history, 100 workers are killed in the workplace every week and millions are seriously injured every year, the agency’s tiny budget has been pretty much flat for the past decade (with the Trump administration calling for additional draconian cuts), it’s almost impossible to issue a major OSHA standard (even if you’re trying hard, which Republicans aren’t) and the Trump administration is mainly focused on weakening regulatory protections for workers instead of strengthening them.<\/p>\n

Sounds like plenty of fodder for a useful Congressional oversight hearing that explores why OSHA is failing to effectively carry out the mission that Congress gave it over 50 years ago: To assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women. Why do so many workers die or get injured in the workplace. Do we have any real idea how many workers get sick or die from occupational disease every year? Why is OSHA’s budget so tiny? Why would it take 195 years for OSHA to inspect every workplace in the country just once? Why does it take OSHA so many years — or decades — to issue standards that will protect workers.\u00a0 Why aren’t public employees in 23 states protected by OSHA? Why are OSHA’s whistleblower protections so weak? Why can’t OSHA investigate deaths or OSHA violations on small farms? How do we bring a half-century old law into the 21st century?<\/p>\n

The potential subjects for a useful hearing are endless.<\/p>\n

But no. Instead, tomorrow Congress will hold a hearing on how to not<\/em> protect workers who happen to be employed by small businesses, even though small businesses — especially in construction — see far more fatalities than larger businesses. Small business associations and advocates nevertheless continue to argue that small businesses are safe, small business owners see their employees as family members and government red tape and regulations are keeping them down. Business associations lobby incessantly for weaker regulations, using allegedly oppressed small businesses as their excuse for measures that will eliminate and weaken protections for workers in businesses of all sizes.<\/p>\n

Who’s Testifying?<\/h2>\n

Rebecca Reindel,<\/strong> AFL-CIO Health and Safety Director, is the only Democratic witness.<\/p>\n

From the dark side, we’ll hear from:<\/p>\n

Austen Bannan<\/strong>, Employment Policy Fellow, Americans for Prosperity<\/a> (AFP) is a political think-tank, founded by the notorious anti-labor Koch brothers. AFP’s priorities include “Giving workers more freedom and flexibility through labor reform,” while “Repealing the regulations that keep businesses, entrepreneurs, and communities from moving forward.” They strongly supported a lawsuit<\/a> that would have stripped OSHA of the authority to issue safety standards, arguing that only Congress, and not OSHA, can issue safety standards to protect workers.<\/p>\n

Elizabeth Milito<\/strong>, Executive Director, National Federation of Independent Business<\/a> (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center. NFIB is one of those industry associations that has never seen an OSHA standard that wouldn’t kill small businesses, throw workers to the streets and regulate us back to the stone age. For example, NFIB is opposing OSHA’s heat standard, claiming that “If implemented, these new mandates would be unmanageable for millions of businesses who already take precautions, without the heavy hand of government, to protect workers from heat-related illness and injuries.” They are supporting the “Heat Workforce Standards Act of 2025<\/a>,” a bill that would stop OSHA from issuing a workplace heat standard \u201csubstantially similar\u201d to the strong 2024 Biden proposal.<\/p>\n

Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin<\/strong>, President, American Action Forum<\/a> (AAF). AAF is an anti-labor, anti-regulatory think tank. Typical of their “analyses” was an article<\/a> written after OSHA’s silica standard was issued, which goes on and on about the alleged burdens on small businesses and the taxpayer, without once mentioning the words “Lung cancer,” “silicosis” or any discussion of lives saved or health protected.<\/p>\n

If you’ve got the intestinal fortitude, you can watch the hearing below<\/a> tomorrow morning at 10:15.\u00a0 (Or I’ll undoubtedly watch it so you don’t have to….”)<\/p>\n