Newsflash: Workplace safety programs work — if they’re strongly enforced. Yes, this is news.

Study: Workplace safety programs work if strongly enforced
A longstanding California occupational safety program requiring all businesses to eliminate workplace hazards can help prevent injuries to workers, but only if it is adequately enforced, according to a new study by the RAND Corporation. The first-ever evaluation of the California Injury and Illness Prevention Program found evidence that the program reduces workplace injuries, but only at businesses that had been cited for not addressing the regulation’s more-specific safety mandates.
http://www.endonurse.com/news/2012/01/study-workplace-safety-programs-work-if-strongly.aspx

Stolen Valor Act: Denver appeals court upholds military impostor law
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that a federal law making it illegal to lie about being a war hero is constitutional and making false statements is not always protected free speech. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the Denver-based court reverses a district judge’s decision that the Stolen Valor Act violates the First Amendment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/denver-appeals-court-upho_n_1237455.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Domestic workers and their children march for rights in Calif.
Early Tuesday morning, buses of domestic workers and their children began arriving at the huge grassy mall in front of California’s state capitol building. One five-year-old raised her fist in the air as the crowd chanted, calling on members of the state Assembly and Senate to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. In the case of those caring for the aged, sick or disabled, the conditions of that work can seem like something a century ago.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12631/domestic_workers_and_their_children_march_for_rights/

Chart: Nearly one quarter of American workers are in low wage jobs, more than in other developed nations
According to data from the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation that was highlighted by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, nearly 25 percent of American workers are in low-wage jobs, defined as “earning less than two-thirds of the national median hourly wage.” This is higher than many other industrialized nations, including the U.K., Canada, and Australia.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/01/27/5266/

Apple’s record profits built on grinding employees into dust – then blowing them up
After unveiling profits that smashed expectations and broke revenue records, it’s been a big week for Apple, but a recent investigative report brings the company’s rosy report crashing back to earth. After a string of highly publicized suicides at Foxconn in 2009, Apple pledged to clean up its act and tighten policies on worker health and quality of life. The company’s decision to release its list of suppliers after years of stonewalling is a positive step towards this goal, but evidence shows there’s a long way to go.
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115833-apples-record-profits-built-on-grinding-employees-into-dust-then-blowing-them-up

Southwest employee dies after accident at Dulles
A Southwest Airlines employee died overnight after an accident at Dulles International Airport, according to a spokesman for the facility. Robert Yingling, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said the worker was piloting a baggage cart when it collided with one of the Dulles people movers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dr-gridlock/post/southwest-employees-dies-after-accident-at-dulles/2012/01/27/gIQAweOYVQ_blog.html?tid=sm_twitter_washingtonpost

Apple’s Tim Cook expresses ‘outrage’ over NYT report on worker safety
Yesterday, The New York Times published a comprehensive report including quotes from former and current Apple executives, alleging that Apple pushes its Chinese suppliers to cut corners at the expense of worker safety. Apple has a strong formal stance on supplier responsibility, and the NYT report doesn’t dispute that, but suggested that despite Apple’s regular audits, the company doesn’t protect the labor force when it would interfere with profit. Now, an internal email from Apple CEO Tim Cook has leaked to 9to5 Mac, partially disputing the NYT report.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/27/2751682/apples-tim-cook-expresses-outrage-over-nyt-report-on-worker-safety

New study finds green jobs are not necessarily safer jobs
A new study published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management has determined that “green” jobs, or jobs constructing buildings that conserve energy and have small environmental footprints, pose greater safety risks to workers than conventional construction jobs. Researchers believe that these increases are caused by the new technologies used in green construction projects.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/563505#ixzz1kgIkQl4Z

Two contractors fined for heat illness last summer
We want to share updates about two heat illness cases we reported to you last summer. These are cases where Cal-OSHA cited and fined farm labor contractors for violating California’s heat regulation. The UFW helped bring these cases to the attention of Cal-OSHA and to the public. Cal-OSHA has issued fines for the violations. Can you help us tell Cal-OSHA to see these cases through, conduct follow up inspections, not reduce the fines and treat any subsequent violations by the same companies more severely?
http://action.ufw.org/page/speakout/calosha

Collapse at Cincinnati casino site hurts a dozen
Federal investigators are now in Cincinnati where about a dozen construction workers have been injured in a collapse at a casino. Cincinnati’s fire chief says a crew was pouring concrete Friday when a support beam gave way, sending the workers tumbling 30 feet to the ground.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/business/138197759.html

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State of the Union address barely mentions unions #SOTU

In China, human costs are built into an iPad
Apple and its high-technology peers — as well as dozens of other American industries — have achieved a pace of innovation nearly unmatched in modern history. However, the workers assembling iPhones, iPads and other devices often labor in harsh conditions, according to employees inside those plants, worker advocates and documents published by companies themselves. Problems are as varied as onerous work environments and serious — sometimes deadly — safety problems.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/business/ieconomy-apples-ipad-and-the-human-costs-for-workers-in-china.html

State of the Union address barely mentions unions
Tuesday night, President Obama gave his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress—but barely mentioned unions. The president did touch on a number of issues important to workers—such as increasing manufacturing in America, taxing the rich more equitably, increasing education funding and increasing enforcement of trade laws—but said nothing about increased attacks on workers’ rights around the country during the last 12 months.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12620/state_of_union_but_not_much_talk_of_unions/

D.C. fire chief to push for controversial change in firefighters’ work shifts
Dozens of District firefighters showed their displeasure with proposed changes to their schedules by standing at attention and marching off in unison after their chief’s “state of the department” speech Tuesday. Kenneth B. Ellerbe, chief of the city’s Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said he will fight for a change from the current 24-72 system, in which firefighters work for 24 hours and then rest for three days, toward a 3-3-3 schedule — three consecutive 12-hour shifts during the day, three consecutive 12-hour shifts at night and then three days of rest.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-fire-chief-to-push-for-controversial-change-in-firefighters-work-shifts/2012/01/24/gIQAuk3iOQ_story.html

Did Warren Buffet-owned company’s prison-made product break U.S. law?
Earlier this month, a company owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway—Shaw Industries Group Inc.—admitted to violating Canadian law by shipping flooring made by U.S. prison labor into Canada. But a prison industry expert tells In These Times that the company may have also broken American law by not clearly labeling its goods as partly deriving from prison labor.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12612/warren_buffet-owned_companys_prison-made_product_may_have_broke_u.s._law/

Super Bowl players should stand up for Indiana workers
Just two weeks before Super Bowl XLVI kicks off at Lucas Oil Field in Indianapolis, more than10,000 people marched through the city to protest right-to-work legislation that is being pushed through the state’s legislature. The legislation passed the state Senate this week and the state House today, and is backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels (R). Considering the NFL nearly lost its 2011 season, and Super Bowl XLVI with it, to a labor dispute, Indiana Republicans’ assault on workers is a cause the players should be familiar with.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/01/25/super-bowl-players-should-stand-up-for-indiana-workers/

‘Get a job’? Not so easy for teens, as adults snap up openings
Even as the economy slowly picks up, finding a job is harder than ever for teenagers, according to a national study released on Tuesday. That’s likely because the jobs that are being “created” in recent months are being snapped up by adults—often people over age 50 who were laid off from other positions or forced out of retirement during the economic crisis. Meanwhile, funding for youth jobs has suffered because of state and local budget crises, and significant “stimulus” funding for youth jobs and training under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has now expired.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12616/get_a_job_–_not_so_easy_for_teens/

OSHA: Companies not at fault for girls’ deaths
Neither the company that hired them nor the seed company it contracted with are responsible in the electrocutions of two 14-year-old Sterling detasselers, OSHA said Wednesday. “No evidence” suggests either R&J Enterprises of Illinois or Monsanto could have known about the safety hazard, which apparently was caused after lightning struck a field irrigation system, leaving it “energized,” the Occupational Health and Safety Administration said at the conclusion of its 6-month investigation.
http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2012/01/25/osha-companies-not-at-fault-for-girls-deaths/az0l2ia/

Connecticut construction company faces up to $169,000 in workplace safety fines
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators said Penney Construction of Hartford provided no protection against a possible cave-in to workers repairing a sewer line in a 10-foot trench. Penney, accused of continuing to send workers into the trench even after being alerted to the hazard, was cited for two willful violations and five serious violations. It also was placed in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates follow-up inspections.
http://www.fairwarning.org/2012/01/thursday-briefing-4/

OSHA accuses Ill. firm of violations in Wisconsin
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has accused an Illinois company of five safety violations at a grain-handling facility in Wisconsin. OSHA says the company knowingly failed to take steps to protect workers before they entered grain bins. Growmark is also accused of failing to provide body harnesses or rescue equipment for work inside bins.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ap-il-grainstorage-safe,0,489033.story

Bill Mardo, writer who pushed baseball to integrate, dies at 88
Bill Mardo, a sportswriter for the Communist Party newspaper The Daily Worker who fought major league baseball’s color barrier in the 1940s when the mainstream American news media was largely silent on the subject, died Friday in Manhattan. In the years before the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson as the first black player in modern organized baseball, Mr. Mardo was a leading voice in a campaign by The Daily Worker against racism in the game, a battle it had begun in 1936 when Lester Rodney became its first sports editor.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/sports/baseball/bill-mardo-writer-who-pushed-baseball-to-integrate-dies-at-88.html

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New Los Angeles law: Porn stars must wear condoms

Silica rule sits at White House, endangering lives, worker safety advocates say
A long-awaited federal rule designed to protect workers in the construction and mining industries has been tied up in red tape at the White House, leading scientists to worry that the rule has been left in limbo due to political concerns. The rule put forth by the Labor Department would limit workers’ exposure to crystalline silica, a dangerous breathable dust commonly found in sand, granite and other materials used in construction. For construction workers and sandblasters in particular, breathing the dust over the course of years has long been known to lead to silicosis, a respiratory disease linked to lung cancer and respiratory failure.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/25/silica-rule-white-house-delay-worker-safety_n_1230800.html

Sickened and still waiting for justice: 9/11 first responders and Cold War nuclear weapons workers battle for fair compensation
On the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing the Zadroga Act into law, sickened 9/11 first responders and survivors were faced with a very difficult decision: in order to be considered for possible compensation benefits under the Zadroga Act, these 9/11 heroes would be required to drop any possible private litigation regarding illnesses developed from toxic exposures at the World Trade Center (WTC) site. For those sickened with cancer, the choice was far more ominous since the Zadroga Act does not currently provide compensation benefits for anyone that has developed cancer – and it remains unclear when cancer victims will be covered under the Zadroga Act, if ever.
http://www.truth-out.org/sickened-and-still-waiting-justice/1327421898

Landmark condom law for porn filming signed by L.A. mayor
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has signed into law historic new rules requiring porn performers to wear condoms while acting in areas requiring a city film permit. The law is believed to be the first in the nation by a local government requiring condom use among porn stars, and is significant because L.A.’s San Fernando Valley is the capital of the multibillion-dollar porn industry.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/landmark-condom-law-for-porn-filming-signed-by-la-mayor.html

District’s ‘prostitution free zones’ likely unconstitutional, AG’s office says
The D.C. Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday the District’s temporary “prostitution free zones” are likely unconstitutional, raising fresh doubts about a bill before the D.C. Council to broaden the zones and make them permanent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-wire/post/districts-prostitution-free-zones-likely-unconstitutional-ags-office-says/2012/01/24/gIQAoc4MOQ_blog.html

Workers urge need for safety in refinery industry
Dozens of workers from the oil refinery industry hoped to create public awareness on Saturday afternoon with a message they believe resonates to a vital workforce in the region. Representatives from local chapters of the United Steelworkers and employees from local refineries in the petrochemical industry marked this year’s National Day of Action for Safe Refineries and Good Jobs with a rally they hoped would spark both public awareness and industry consciousness for the well-being of workers.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/deer_park/news/workers-urge-need-for-safety-in-refinery-industry/article_dbe18075-58a2-582f-8ad4-8ae38db9a4ee.html?mode=story

Average is over
In the past, workers with average skills, doing an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But, today, average is officially over. Being average just won’t earn you what it used to. It can’t when so many more employers have so much more access to so much more above average cheap foreign labor, cheap robotics, cheap software, cheap automation and cheap genius. Therefore, everyone needs to find their extra — their unique value contribution that makes them stand out in whatever is their field of employment. Average is over.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/friedman-average-is-over.html?_r=1&hp

MSHA announces results of December impact inspections
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that federal inspectors issued 321 citations and orders during special impact inspections conducted at 10 coal mines and three metal/nonmetal mines last month.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/msha/MSHA20120128.htm

Fairbury company says it’s working with OSHA
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has proposed to fine Loveland Products Inc. in Fairbury $148,000 for 25 safety violations, 14 related to OSHA’s standard regulating process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals.
http://journalstar.com/business/local/osha-proposes-fine-for-fairbury-company/article_3a144c8b-d7a6-50e9-9f58-a51685d8de53.html#ixzz1kV4J6Zqm

U.S. forces rescue kidnapped aid workers Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted in Somalia
U.S. special operations forces have rescued a kidnapped American aid worker and her Danish colleague in Somalia, the White House and officials with the aid organization said Wednesday. Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, were abducted by a group of armed men in the Somali town of Galkayo on Oct. 25.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-forces-rescue-kidnapped-aid-workers-jessica-buchanan-and-poul-hagen-thisted-in-somalia/2012/01/25/gIQA7WopPQ_story.html

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What Mitt Romney’s tax return teaches us about how he treated his housekeeping staff

Mitt Romney’s maids’ salary half that of a typical housekeeper
For a woman with three houses and sixteen grandkids, Ann Romney doesn’t have very much help around the house, according to her 2010 tax return. IRS forms released Tuesday by Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign show that despite reporting income of $21.7 million, the couple paid only $20,603 in taxable wages for household help in 2010. This figure was divided among four women.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/mitt-romney-maids-salary-tax-returns-election-2012_n_1228843.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

Federal job discrimination complaints rose to all-time high last year
Federal job discrimination complaints rose to an all-time high last year, led by an increase in bias charges based on religion and national origin. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received nearly 100,000 charges of discrimination during the 2011 fiscal year, the most in its 46-year history.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/federal-job-discrimination-complaints_n_1227021.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

California considers outlawing discrimination against unemployed
Lawmakers are trying to make California the second state in the nation to ban hiring discrimination against the unemployed. A bill introduced Jan. 5 and sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Michael Allen wouldn’t allow unemployed job-seekers to sue for discrimination, but companies that violate the law would face investigation and fines of up to $10,000.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/california-umployment-discrimination_n_1224464.html?ref=email_share

Obama’s OSHA puts protecting workers from dangers of combustible dust on back burner
When we last left our friends at the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, they had no timeline to speak of for coming out with a new regulation aimed at protecting American workers from the increasingly obvious dangers of combustible dust. As best I can tell, OSHA has yet to convene that SBREFA (Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act) panel. So imagine my surprise when the combustible dust rule didn’t show up on this new list of OSHA’s rulemaking priorities.
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/watchdog/2012/01/24/obamas-osha-puts-protecting-workers-from-dangers-of-combustible-dust-on-back-burner/

Anniversary of a death in a New York sweatshop
A year ago today, Juan Baten, a 22-year-old Guatemalan, was crushed to death while working in a Brooklyn tortilla factory. Mr. Baten was one of 35,000 workers in a little-known, but indispensable part of New York’s food system: a sprawling industrial sector of food processing factories and distribution warehouses that supply the grocery stores and restaurants where New Yorkers purchase their food. A year later, justice has still not been done in Mr. Baten’s case and New York’s food supply chain continues to rely on the systematic exploitation of recent immigrant workers, many from Latin America and China.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/24/anniversary-of-a-death-in-a-new-york-sweatshop/

Whistleblower says BP fired him for refusing to skew cleanup data
A leader in BP’s oil spill cleanup claims the company fired him for refusing to change data so that BP could claim the cleanup phase was over and it could begin restoration, which a BP vice president told him “would have an upward impact on BP stock prices.” August Walter sued BP America in federal court.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/24/43278.htm

Hire just one: Congress looks at philanthropist’s unusual jobs idea
Philanthropist Gene Epstein says he donated $250,000 to assorted charities on behalf of businesses that hired unemployed people starting in 2009. Now he’s trying to broaden his impact, attempting to sway Congress on a bill to encourage hiring the unemployed. Several members of the House of Representatives have taken an interest in Epstein’s idea, which would allow businesses to collect a new hire’s remaining weeks of unemployment insurance in a move similar to a measure introduced in the House last year by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/hire-just-one-gene-epstein-unemployment-jobs-act_n_1224684.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

OSHA seeks fines from turkey processor
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking $318,000 in fines from Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc. after an employee at a northwestern Wisconsin slaughterhouse lost his arm in an industrial accident. The worker’s arm got caught in a moving shackle line that should have been turned off as he cleaned a confined tunnel in which birds are stunned with carbon dioxide, an OSHA spokeswoman said Monday.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/osha-seeks-fines-from-turkey-processor-po3tg3c-137900983.html

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Did the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act actually help or hurt women in the workplace?

More lockouts as companies battle unions
America’s unionized workers, buffeted by layoffs and stagnating wages, face another phenomenon that is increasingly throwing them on the defensive: lockouts. From the Cooper Tire factory in Findlay, Ohio, to a country club in Southern California and sugar beet processing plants in North Dakota, employers are turning to lockouts to press their unionized workers to grant concessions after contract negotiations deadlock. Even the New York City Opera locked out its orchestra and singers for more than a week before settling the dispute last Wednesday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/23/business/lockouts-once-rare-put-workers-on-the-defensive.html?_r=1&hpw

Ledbetter anniversary
Sunday marks the three-year anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill aimed at improving equality in the workplace. Contrary to what feminists would have you believe, however, protective laws like Lilly Ledbetter actually increase the cost of employing women — especially of childbearing age — by creating the threat of lawsuits and uncertainty.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/labor/205727-ledbetter-anniversary

U.S. work-related injuries, illnesses cost $250 billion annually: study
A UC Davis researcher has estimated the national annual price tag of occupational injuries and illnesses at $250 billion. This figure is $31 billion more than the direct and indirect costs of all cancer, $76 billion more than diabetes, and $187 billion more than strokes. The study suggests that the U.S. should place greater emphasis on reducing work-related injury and illnesses, especially since the costs have risen by more than $33 billion (inflation adjusted) since a 1992 analysis, the author said.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2012/01/23/us-workrelated-injuries-illnesses-cost-250-billion-annually-study.aspx

Is OSHA getting tougher? For 2nd time ever, federal agency pushes company-wide settlement
When the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) cites a company for workplace safety violations, it usually tells it to fix the problems at the specific location where the violation was discovered. But in an unusual—and for safety advocates, promising—move, the Department of Labor (DOL) agency is pushing for “enterprise-wide” changes as part of a violation settlement. Last week, for the second time in OSHA history, the Labor Department told the agency to force more than 60 locations of a New England-based grocery chain to comply with federal standards protecting workers from falls and lacerations.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12590/is_osha_getting_tougher_for_2nd_time_ever_federal_agency_pushes_company-wid/

How the U.S. lost out on iPhone work
Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States and 20,000 overseas, a small fraction of the over 400,000 American workers at General Motors in the 1950s, or the hundreds of thousands at General Electric in the 1980s. Many more people work for Apple’s contractors: an additional 700,000 people engineer, build and assemble iPads, iPhones and Apple’s other products. But almost none of them work in the United States. Foxconn City has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn’s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=all

Safety board faults pilots who tried to outrun storms in fatal helicopter crashes in SC, Tenn.
Federal safety investigators on Friday faulted pilots who tried to outrun approaching storms in two fatal medical helicopter crashes in South Carolina and Tennessee. The National Transportation Safety Board issued very similar findings in both crashes, saying the pilots could have made safer decisions, but risked flying into bad weather in order to return home. Two pilots and four flight nurses were killed in the 2009 and 2010 crashes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/feds-pilot-caused-2009-south-carolina-medical-helicopter-crash-by-flying-into-thunderstorm/2012/01/20/gIQAjLDeEQ_story.html

Report reveals fatal lapses in UCLA lab safety leading to death of 23 year-old lab tech
A previously confidential report prepared by the California Bureau of Investigations (BOI) reveals a reckless disregard for worker safety by a UCLA chemistry professor (and the university itself) which led to the 2009 death of research assistant Sheri Sangji, 23. Sangji was a new employee in a UCLA chemistry lab. She was hired primarily to set up lab equipment, but on Dec. 29, 2008 she was assigned to use a highly reactive liquid that spontaneously ignites when exposed to air. The BOI report calls into question UCLA’s claims that the young woman was a trained and experienced chemist.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/01/report_reveals_fatal_lapses_in.php

Sobering report places responsibility for plutonium contamination on Idaho lab managers
The contamination of 16 workers at the Idaho National Laboratory’s Materials Fuels Complex in November shook the nuclear establishment in eastern Idaho to its core. It appears today that none of the workers are suffering any immediate effects from the uncontrolled release of oxidized plutonium from package of weapons grade plutonium at the retired zero power physics reactor. But the break down in basic safety measures the accident revealed hit the site like nothing seen since the early 1990s.
http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2012/01/23/rockybarker/sobering_report_places_responsibility_plutonium_contamination_id#storylink=cpy

Cal/OSHA fines warehouse that distributes for Wal-Mart and Kmart $250,000 for poor working condition
The plight of the warehouse worker is one of corporate America’s best kept secrets despite consistently tough conditions and low wages. In places where temperatures routinely reach triple digits in the summer, the job can be even more grueling. Conditions often do not meet safety standards and a culture of exploitation is often seen as par for course. In California, one warehouse that has been recently disciplined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration belongs to NFI/National Distribution and serves as a major import distribution center for WalMart, Kmart/Sears and Polo. Cal/OSHA fined NFI and Tristate Staffing a total of $256,000, showing the serious stance OSHA is trying to take on behalf of warehouse workers across the nation.
http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2012/01/23/calosha-fines-warehouse-that-distributes-for-wal-mart-and-kmart-250000-for-poor-working-condition/

A Md. state worker, fired for taking a sick day, goes before Supreme Court seeking justice

The right to be healthy: Supreme Court weighs sick leave for state workers
One day in August 2007, Daniel Coleman, an administrator in the Maryland court system, decided he should stay home to recover from an illness, as his doctor had ordered. But the day after he requested time off, he suddenly had more to worry about than his health; he was unemployed, too. In many industrialized countries around the world, taking time off from work to deal with a medical issue isn’t just a benefit; it’s considered an entitlement, as much as an eight-hour day. But in the world’s richest nation, a worker who claims that right has had to appeal to the highest court in the land. So the Supreme Court will now weigh the rights of public employees to seek justice under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12593/the_right_to_be_healthy_supreme_court_weighs_state_workers_acciess_to_sick_/

Supreme Court discrimination ruling confuses religious workers
Aleeza Adelman teaches Jewish studies at a Jewish school, yet she considers herself a teacher whose subject is religion, not a religious teacher. She’s rethinking how to define her job after a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling left her wondering what could happen if she ever needed to defend her right to keep it. The high court ruled last week that religious workers can’t sue for job discrimination, but didn’t describe what constitutes a religious employee – putting many people employed by churches, synagogues or other religious organizations in limbo over their rights.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/supreme-court-ruling-conf_0_n_1218671.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

Cost of work-related injury and disease higher than cost for heart disease, cancer
Money talks, as the saying goes, and a recently published paper on the annual cost of work-related injuries and illnesses should get policymakers to listen up. The number is staggering: $250 billion, and it’s a figure on par with health conditions like cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes that attract much more attention and research funding.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/01/cost_of_work-related_injury_an.php

Active-duty soldiers take their own lives at record rate
Suicides among active-duty soldiers hit another record high in 2011, Army officials said on Thursday, although there was a slight decrease if nonmobilized Reserve and National Guard troops were included in the calculation. The Army also reported a sharp increase, nearly 30 percent, in violent sex crimes last year by active-duty troops. More than half of the victims were active-duty female soldiers ages 18 to 21.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/us/active-duty-army-suicides-reach-record-high.html?_r=1&src=tp

U.S. Army: Sex crimes by soldiers up 97 percent in five years
Military leaders vowed this week to curb sexual assaults by and against U.S. soldiers after the release of a new report revealing that violent sex crimes committed by Army personnel nearly doubled since 2006. The majority of reported sex crimes occurred on U.S. soil, the Army said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/army-sex-crimes-by-soldiers-sexual-assault-domestic-violence_n_1219246.html?ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

Federal report finds laboratory accident that exposed employees to radiation was preventable
An accident at the Idaho National Laboratory that exposed 16 employees to plutonium radiation could have been prevented, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Energy. Inadequate safety measures and ineffective training contributed to the November contamination and lab officials missed several opportunities to make changes, states a report released Wednesday by the Energy Department’s Office of Health, Safety and Security.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/federal-report-finds-laboratory-accident-that-exposed-employees-to-radiation-was-preventable/2012/01/19/gIQACYnkBQ_story.html

Some Pantex workers now eligible for compensation
After 24 years in the nuclear weapons complex — six years in Iowa and 18 years at Pantex — Roy died of lung cancer three years later, but his son said he can’t find any medical records of the deadly diagnosis. Now, workers’ medical claims in a specific class, called a “special exposure cohort,” will be streamlined — paving a path to a $150,000 lump sum plus paid medical care for a covered condition.
http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2012-01-20/some-pantex-workers-now-eligible-compensation#.TxngL9SNTQo

Labor, officials call for more regulation at waste-sorting facility in Atwater Village
Labor leaders and city officials rallied outside an Atwater Village plant Thursday morning to call for more regulation of the private waste industry. The company is under investigation by California Division of Occupational Safety and Health over worker conditions. The California Labor Commissioner is also investigating retaliation threats made against those who complain at the site.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_19779856

New Mexico lawmaker blames asbestos exposure for stage IV lung cancer
New Mexico’s House Speaker announced this week that he has been battling Stage IV lung cancer since 2009. What’s more Ben Lujan told his colleagues and constituents, is that he contracted the disease despite the fact he is not a smoker. Lujan, 76, has worked full-time, won an election and maintained a real sense of normalcy, and he said he believes his cancer is a result of asbestos exposure while working as an ironworker in a previous job.
http://www.asbestos.com/news/2012/01/20/lawmaker-announces-lung-cancer-from-asbestos-exposure/

Canadian skier Sarah Burke dies from injuries
Top Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke, seen as an early Olympic gold medal favorite ahead of the 2014 games, died on Thursday from injuries sustained in a training accident in Utah last week, a family spokeswoman said. Considered one of the leading half-pipe athletes in the world, the 29-year-old was airlifted to Salt Lake City last Tuesday after falling during a half-pipe run in Park City, Utah.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/01/19/sports/19reuters-skier-canadian-burke.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

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Public Citizen to OSHA: Enforce your rules.

Railroad companies fight safety rules, with help from GOP and Obama
Less than four years after a California train disaster spurred passage of major safety legislation, railroad companies are pushing hard to relax the law’s chief provision. They have won over key Republicans, and extracted a major concession from the Obama administration, in their bid to scale back and delay a system to prevent crashes such as the head-on collision that caused 25 deaths and 135 injuries in Chatsworth, Calif.
http://openchannel.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10186068-railroad-companies-fight-safety-rules-with-help-from-gop-and-obama

New Mexico lawmaker proposes state guest worker program for undocumented immigrants
While neighboring Arizona keeps its notorious anti-immigrant law on the books, New Mexico may be taking another path. State Sen. Steve Fischmann (D) is proposing a guest worker plan to let undocumented immigrants work legally in the state. If immigrants can prove they have lived in New Mexico for the past year and pass a background check, they could get a worker’s permit and legal status.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/01/18/new-mexico-lawmaker-proposes-state-guest-worker-program-for-undocumented-immigrants/

Public Citizen to OSHA: Enforce labeling law for toxic coal byproduct
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) should enforce a law requiring manufacturers of coal slag abrasive to disclose that their product contains dangerous levels of beryllium, Public Citizen said in a letter sent today to OSHA enforcement director Thomas Galassi. Workers use coal slag abrasive to blast ship hulls, bridges and other metal structures in preparation for painting.
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3506

Gingrich daughter’s teen work may have violated law
During the Republican presidential debate this week, Newt Gingrich shared a story about how his daughter worked as a church janitor when she was only 13. “I was actually proud of my clean bathrooms,” Jackie Gingrich Cushman said in an telephone interview Tuesday, referring to the janitorial job she held at the First Baptist Church in Carrollton, Ga., in the early 1980s. “I learned work has value.” But that work may have been a violation of federal child labor laws that her father has denounced as “stupid.”
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10182647-gingrich-daughters-teen-work-may-have-violated-law

NYPD accused of discrimination in Intelligence Division
Black detectives in the New York City Police Department’s Intelligence Division filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging racial discrimination in NYPD hiring and promotion practices. The New York Civil Liberties Union filed the report last month on behalf of complainants, who accuse the Intelligence Division of employing a “secretive and standardless promotions policy” that promotes white officers ahead of better-qualified African-American officers. They said there is a “secret list” of officers to be promoted, most of them white.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/justice/new-york-police-discrimination-case/

Nurses’ miscarriages linked to chemicals at work
Nurses who worked with chemotherapy drugs or sterilizing chemicals were twice as likely to have a miscarriage as their colleagues who didn’t handle these materials, in a new study.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-nurses-miscarriages-idUSTRE80C1N720120113

D.C. cracks down on prostitution
There’s a reason why sex workers have been feeling more police pressure, says Cyndee Clay, executive director of HIPS. Five years ago, the D.C. Council passed a law allowing the police to designate certain streets or neighborhoods “prostitution-free zones.” In these zones, officers can make arrests with a lower burden of proof.
http://wamu.org/programs/metro_connection/12/01/13/dc_cracks_down_on_prostitution

State fines warehouse companies for safety violations
State regulators have fined a pair of Inland Empire warehouse operating companies more than a quarter of a million dollars for allowing unsafe working conditions at four San Bernardino County distribution centers. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health Wednesday said it issued $256,445 in citations for more than 60 violations found during a recent inspection of warehouses in Chino.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-state-fines-warehouse-companies-for-safety-violations-20120118,0,5322746.story

OSHA cites Eau Claire firm after accident
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking a $70,000 fine against Eau Claire trailer-hitch maker Curt Manufacturing LLC following an incident in which an employee’s thumb was crushed in an unguarded press brake and had to be amputated.
http://www.jsonline.com/business/osha-cites-eau-claire-firm-after-accident-ns3rqci-137582508.html

NTSB: Controller with history of disciplinary problems nearly caused in-flight collision
An air traffic controller with a history of disciplinary problems nearly caused a midair collision between a regional airliner and a small plane last year, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. A regional jet operated by ExpressJet and a single-engine Cessna came within 300 feet of colliding after they were cleared to take off on intersecting runways at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Mississippi on June 19, according to NTSB officials and documents released by the board.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/ntsb-controller-with-history-of-disciplinary-problems-nearly-caused-in-flight-collision/2012/01/18/gIQA2Qlu8P_story.html

Workers’ right to sue employers over pay, other conditions in flux

Workers’ right to sue employers over pay, other conditions in flux
In 2010, Stephen Brown was living in York, Pa., and needed work. Most days Labor Ready, a temporary staffing company, had it. The company slogan highlighted one benefit of taking its often physically demanding assignments: “Work Today, Paid Today.” But getting paid every day cost Brown a lot, according to a lawsuit he later filed in federal district court in Pennsylvania. If Brown wanted his day’s wages paid in cash, he had to use a company ATM that charged a $1 fee. Worse, the ATM rounded down. This meant if Brown was owed $44.85 for a day’s work, he received $43. Often, he took home less than minimum wage.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/18/workers-rights-to-sue-employers-_n_1199919.html?ref=tw

Kip Smith’s drunk driving arrest unlikely to slow Georgia drug testing bills
A Georgia lawmaker’s ironic drunk driving arrest is unlikely to slow local Republican efforts to drug test the poor and unemployed. State Rep. Kip Smith (R-Columbus), who co-sponsored one of several bills to drug test welfare applicants, was arrested and charged with a DUI on Jan. 12. But even though the arrest story went viral, people on both sides of Georgia’s drug testing legislation say that it’s improbable Smith’s bust will change the course of drug screening efforts in the Georgia General Assembly.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/kip-smith-drunk-driving-arrest_n_1211774.html?1326921286

Ramsey: Drug test welfare recipients, business owners
A Tennessee lawmaker wants to require anyone getting government assistance to be tested for drugs. That includes anyone on welfare and employees of any business getting government money. State Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey says he expects lawmakers will stand behind him in support of a strategic plan to require drug tests for Tennesseans who get government assistance or workers’ compensation.
http://www.wmctv.com/story/16538545/ramsey-drug-test-welfare-recipients-business-owners

US Department of Labor’s OSHA orders AirTran Airways to reinstate pilot, pay more than $1 million in back wages and damages
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of Dallas, Texas-based Southwest Airlines Co., to reinstate a former pilot who was fired after reporting numerous mechanical concerns. The agency also has ordered that the pilot be paid more than $1 million in back wages plus interest and compensatory damages. An investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program found reasonable cause to believe that the termination was an act of retaliation in violation of the whistleblower provision of the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century, known as AIR21.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20111814.htm

Across-the-board cuts in federal workplace may not be wise or safe
Federal employees don’t need Paul Revere riding through the Federal Triangle on a Segway yelling, “Budget cuts are coming, budget cuts are coming,” to know that times are tough for the workforce. Already in the middle of a two-year freeze of basic pay, the best workers can hope for is Congress accepting President Obama’s proposal for a measly 0.5 percent raise next year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/across-the-board-cuts-in-federal-workplace-may-not-be-wise-or-safe/2012/01/12/gIQAg9UkuP_story.html?hpid=z10

Problems plague cleanup at Hanford nuclear waste site
Seven decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess. The U.S. government is building a treatment plant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. And the project is not going well.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2012-01-25/hanford-nuclear-plutonium-cleanup/52622796/1

After tragedy, Apple tries to polish image on workers’ rights
Apple’s trademark is the intuitive elegance of its designs. Yet when it comes corporate and labor practices, Apple’s track record looks like a morass of obfuscation and murky public-relations smokscreens. So activists seeking a more user-friendly Apple on the human rights front should welcome the company’s new “Supplier Responsibility” report. But the results of 229 documented audits display the troubling gap between its slick modern ethos and grim working conditions in its supply chain.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12562/in_light_of_tragedy_apple_tries_to_polish_image_on_workers_rights/

Apple: Explosions caused by aluminum dust
Apple on Friday said that explosions at two of its parts suppliers last year were caused by airborne aluminium dust created during the milling and polishing of products such as iMacs, MacBooks and iPads. The company made the disclosure as part of its sixth annual “Supplier Responsibility Progress Report”, in which it also for the first time listed all of its major suppliers. The report covers issues such as worker safety, labour rights and environmental impact.
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/apple-explosions-caused-by-aluminium-dust-54447

Fatal worker’s mishap raises safety issues
Officials say Seaway Painting, the employer of a worker missing after falling from a Detroit River bridge in Detroit has a history of safety violations. Shane Morton told the Detroit Free Press he and his 27-year-old brother Kent were painting and sandblasting when Kent fell more than 100 feet into the river about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/01/13/Fatal-workers-mishap-raises-safety-issues/UPI-63791326489286/#ixzz1jqT4Jamw

Home Depot employees fired for pursuing shoplifting suspects
Two men are speaking out after being fired from their jobs at Boardman’s Home Depot for trying to stop two suspected shoplifters. The men admit the store has a policy for employees when it comes to shoplifters, but in this case they say they were specifically asked to help a co-worker, and they would do it again. They didn’t hesitate because they were concerned about their co-worker’s safety.
http://www.wfmj.com/story/16518324/home-depot-employees-fired-for-pursuing-shoplifting-suspects

In which I can watch The Daily Show at work #FoxConn #workplacesafety #apple #xbox

First court challenge filed against Obama’s recess appointments
The National Right to Work Foundation filed a motion Friday that challenges the legality of President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is a joint action with the Coalition for a Democratic Workplace and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/204133-first-court-challenge-filed-against-obamas-recess-appointments

When new Obama chief of staff was NYU exec, school ceased recognizing union
Three months into a bitter strike, the Graduate Students Organizing Committee sent an e-mail to supporters. “Like their refusal to bargain, their threats last fall, and the docking of prospective pay for striking,” the union wrote, “John Sexton and the NYU administration, aided by former Clintonites Jacob Lew and Cheryl Mills, are again hiding behind a right-wing, Republican NLRB.” Six years, later, Lew and Mills are back in Washington. Mills is Hillary Clinton’s Chief of Staff at the State Department. Lew reprised his Clinton Administration role as director of the Office of Management and Budget—until last week, when Obama promoted him to White House Chief of Staff.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12551/obama_chief_of_staff_alleged_union_busting_nyu_graduate_students_strike/

Los Angeles set to approve condom requirement in porn shoots
The Los Angeles City Council is poised to approve a measure today that would require adult film stars to wear condoms when making films. The AP reports that last week, the council voted 11-1 for preliminary approval.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/17/145345888/los-angeles-set-to-approve-condom-requirement-in-porn-shoots

OSHA makes its case for I2P2 in new white paper
The agency’s white paper makes a case for I2P2 by describing the costs of workplace injuries and fatalities; supplying evidence that shows I2P2 programs can improve the bottom line; examining the impact of related programs already in place in various U.S. states and in the U.S. Department of Defense; sharing case studies of programs implemented under OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program (VPP); and considering the impact on small businesses.
http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/OSHA-I2P2-white-paper-0113/

EPA sees risks to water, workers in New York fracking rules
New York’s emerging plan to regulate natural gas drilling in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale needs to go further to safeguard drinking water, environmentally sensitive areas and gas industry workers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has informed state officials. The EPA’s comments, in a series of letters this week to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, are significant because they suggest the agency will be watching closely as states in the Northeast and Midwest embrace new drilling technologies to tap vast reserves of shale gas.
http://www.propublica.org/article/epa-sees-risks-to-water-workers-in-new-york-fracking-rules

Child labor for fair-trade cotton probed by U.S. investigators
U.S. investigators are conducting a preliminary inquiry into forced child labor used in an organic and fair-trade cotton program that supplies the American lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret, a federal law enforcement official confirmed this week. Victoria’s Secret’s parent company, Limited Brands (LTD) Inc., said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that it continues “to take this matter very seriously as we do not tolerate child labor.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/child-labor-for-fair-trade-cotton-probed-by-u-s-investigators.html

Chicago woman fired for doing work at lunch wins unemployment claim
Sharon Smiley had worked for 10 years as a receptionist and administrative assistant at a Chicago real estate company until she was fired for skipping lunch one day. After a two-year battle, an appeals court in Illinois has found that denial of her unemployment benefits was “clearly erroneous.” Smiley, 48, punched out of work for lunch Jan. 28, 2010, but remained at her desk to finish a project assigned by a manager because she did not plan to eat that day, she said.
http://gma.yahoo.com/chicago-woman-fired-doing-lunch-wins-unemployment-claim-145926016–abc-news.html

Sheriff says NC shooter killed co-workers because of language barrier
The Montgomery County sheriff says a man who shot and killed three co-workers and injured a fourth thought Hispanic co-workers were discussing him when they talked in Spanish and laughed. Sheriff Dempsey Owens says 50-year-old Ronald Dean Davis left a six-page letter saying he thought co-workers were punishing or picking at him. Davis shot four co-workers Friday at McBride Lumber Co. in Star, killing three.
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/jan/17/sheriff-discusses-letter-left-nc-shooter-ar-1823155/

Fear factory
By creating a convenient ecosystem, China’s Foxconn draws in employees who earn 31 cents an hour working for 35 hours straight, thereby saving American companies money.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-16-2012/fear-factory

Union pickets protest conditions at Bateman Hospital
In an effort to draw attention to problems at the state’s psychiatric hospitals, members of the West Virginia Public Workers Union UE Local 170 rallied Monday outside Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington. The informational picket was to show hospital employees and patients that the union supports them, field organizer John Thompson said.
http://wvgazette.com/News/201201160069

Apple opens suppliers’ doors to labor group #workplacesafety

Apple releases list of its suppliers for the first time
Apple released a list of its major suppliers for the first time, bringing the company up to par with the practices of many other big American corporations, including Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Nike, which have released similar lists in the past. Labor rights groups and journalists have asked Apple to release such a list for years, believing that knowing the identity of the company’s suppliers could shed light on whether Apple’s partners are treating their workforces responsibly. Releasing the list could also bolster the efforts of shareholder advocates of corporate social responsibility pressuring Apple to improve conditions in overseas factories, where labor abuses have been documented.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/technology/apple-releases-list-of-its-suppliers-for-the-first-time.html

Apple opens suppliers’ doors to labor group
Apple Inc. (APPL) agreed to let outside monitors into factories of suppliers such as Foxconn Technology Group (2317) following at least 15 deaths at its Chinese parts makers. The world’s most valuable technology company joins Nike Inc. (NKE), Nestle SA (NESN) and Syngenta AG (SYNN) in turning to the Fair Labor Association, set up in 1999 to monitor workplace conditions globally in an initiative by former U.S. President Bill Clinton. Apple is the first technology business to sign up to the FLA as a participating company, the Washington-based body said today in a press release.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-13/apple-opens-suppliers-doors-to-labor-group-after-foxconn-worker-suicides.html

Terry Branstad, Iowa governor, slapped with $1 million sexual discrimination lawsuit by state commissioner
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is facing claims he discriminated against the state’s openly gay Iowa’s workers’ compensation commissioner by asking him to resign and cutting his salary after he refused. As the Des Moines Register is reporting, commissioner Christopher Godfrey is asking for $1 million in compensation, while alleging defamation, harassment, sexual discrimination and extortion against the state.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/terry-branstad-iowa-governor-sexual-discrimination-lawsuit_n_1205093.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003

PG&E diverted safety money for profit, bonuses
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. diverted more than $100 million in gas safety and operations money collected from customers over a 15-year period and spent it for other purposes, including profit for stockholders and bonuses for executives, according to a pair of state-ordered reports released Thursday. An independent audit and a staff report issued by the California Public Utilities Commission depicted a poorly led company well-heeled in its gas operations and more concerned with profit than safety.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/12/BAUS1MOSUC.DTL

Ruling leaves dioxin cleanup out of Monsanto trial
As the trial begins in a major toxic pollution lawsuit against Monsanto Co., jurors won’t be allowed to tackle a key issue: Should the company pay to clean up dioxin it allegedly spewed across the city of Nitro? As a result, Putnam County jurors will decide only if current and former Nitro residents should receive medical monitoring to detect diseases potentially caused by exposure to Monsanto’s dioxin. They won’t be able to do anything to clean up homes and businesses, ending the toxic exposure.
http://wvgazette.com/News/201201070062

You name it, they do it: Homecare providers in their own words
Homecare providers, caregivers, personal assistants – the millions of workers who provide in-home care in this country go by many names, but they all share a commitment to serving others. Unfortunately, many of these workers share something else in common: low wages. Although they provide a valuable service to many Americans, assisting their clients with daily tasks and enabling them to maintain their independence, many homecare providers do not receive minimum wage or overtime protections guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act.
http://social.dol.gov/blog/you-name-it-they-do-it-homecare-providers-in-their-own-words/

Behind the counter, an acute anxiety
Pharmacies throughout the country have been shaken by a rash of bold robberies by gun-wielding criminals hunting for narcotic painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and other controlled medications, either to quench their own addictions or to sell. But nowhere has the face of this epidemic been more frightful than on Long Island, where a pair of pharmacy robberies 30 miles apart resulted in six deaths.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/nyregion/anxious-days-for-long-island-pharmacies.html

US Department of Labor’s OSHA cites Braselton, Ga., poultry processor with 8 safety violations, proposes more than $142,000 in penalties
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited poultry processor KD Acquisition I LLC, doing business as Coleman Natural Foods, for eight safety violations at its KD5 plant in Braselton after receiving a complaint in July about safety hazards. Proposed penalties total $142,150.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=21639

Wonk bloggers and the vanishing voices of workers
Earlier this week, I got into a little Twitter battle with Matthew Yglesias after the prominent blogger tweeted out “EXCLUSIVE: The activities of individual business executives have no relationship to the level of economy-wide employment.” That statement flies in the face of my own reporting showing that the decisions of individual CEOs to lay off workers and lower wages have a very real effect on economy-wide employment. If one CEO sees that he or she can crush a union and get away with lower wages, or force workers to be more productive by laying off other workers, other CEOs in the same industry will see it as a symbol that they can get away with that behavior themselves.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12521/wonk_bloggers_and_the_vanishing_voices_of_workers/

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