Bush Agrees to AFL-CIO and UFCW Demand to Implement Job Safety Rule

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/03/16/bush-agrees-to-afl-cio-and-ufcw-demand-to-implement-job-safety-rule/

Bush Agrees to AFL-CIO and UFCW Demand to Implement Job Safety Rule

by Mike Hall, Mar 16, 2007

Faced with a lawsuit filed by the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the Bush administration says it will issue a final rule on employer payment for personal protective equipment (PPE) for workers.

First proposed in 1999, the rule has languished in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) since the Bush administration came into office. The rule would require employers to pay for such safety items as protective clothing, lifelines, face shields, gloves and other equipment used by an estimated 20 million workers.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

We applaud the decision to finally issue a final rule on employer payment for their employees’ protective equipment. This rulemaking has taken far too long. We will be monitoring the Department of Labor’s actions to make sure they honor this commitment and issue a strong, protective rule.

The AFL-CIO and UFCW on Jan. 3 filed the lawsuit against the Bush administration over its failure to finalize payment for the PPE rule, and in February the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ordered the Bush administration to respond by March 19. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao filed papers with the court March 14, committing to issue a final rule in November 2007.

UFCW President Joe Hansen says the nearly eight-year delay has been dangerous and deadly for workers.

This is a victory for workers who have suffered needlessly while awaiting action by the Bush administration. According to OSHA’s own estimates, 400,000 workers have been injured and 50 have died while the rule has been in limbo. We expect a strong final rule this November.

Workers in the meatpacking, poultry and construction industries and low-wage and immigrant workers are most vulnerable to injury.

In 2003, the AFL-CIO and UFCW petitioned the safety agency to finish the protective equipment standard. In addition, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus made several requests to OSHA to finish the rule. In a January letter to Chao, the caucus wrote:

As the Department of Labor is well aware, Hispanic workers suffer disproportionately high job-related fatality and injury rates, and the situation is worsening. Between 1992 and 2005, the number of job fatalities among Hispanic workers has increased by an astonishing 66 percent.…The members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus believe there is no justification for any further delay.

Last week, California Reps. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) and George Miller (D), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, introduced legislation (H.R. 1327) that would require employers to pay for the gear. Says Roybal-Allard:

This employer requirement is particularly important for low-wage workers, many of whom are doing dangerous jobs, who rely on this equipment as their main form of protection from a wide variety of on-the-job hazards.

[Stargazer99]

1. Legalized Murder Inc

And still the common man takes it in the shorts. When are they going to get fed up?