BushWatch 2006: Another Year of Attacks on Workers

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/12/31/bushwatch-2006-another-year-of-attacks-on-workers/

BushWatch 2006: Another Year of Attacks on Workers

by James Parks, Dec 31, 2006

Every year since taking office in 2001, the Bush administration has attacked working families. This past year was no exception. Here is a look at some of the most egregious anti-worker actions supported, proposed and taken by the Bush administration in 2006.

For a complete list of President Bush’s attacks on workers, visit the AFL-CIO BushWatch.

* In September, the Republican-majority National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) enabled employers to reclassify charge nurses as “supervisors.” The expanded definition means 8 million workers, including nurses, building trades workers, newspaper and television employees and others, may be barred from joining unions.
* The Bush administration quietly let expire in early January a controversial sweetheart deal with Wal-Mart that gave the giant retailer advance notice of any federal child labor or safety inspections. The U.S. Labor Department’s inspector general found that the department allowed lawyers for Wal-Mart to write their own settlement agreement with the federal Wage and Hour Division after the giant retailer was cited for violating child labor laws.
* Again in September, the Bush administration declared itself exempt from nearly two decades of federal legal precedent that shields whistle-blowers under the Clean Water Act. Federal employees who report unhealthy conditions in the workplace, environmental problems, public safety hazards and other situations had been protected from retaliation for their actions.
* Over Labor Day weekend, the Bush Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) unilaterally imposed work rules on its air traffic controllers that the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) said could reduce passenger safety.

FULL story at link.

[Stargazer99]

1. Perfect illustration of Republican/Con values and it sure isn't

family values.