From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy. Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business—burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs.
President Barack Obama’s opinion editorial today adopts business and right-wing think-tank talking points about the harms of regulation and urges “balance” in achieving the right amount of regulation – not so little that we fail to protect the public, and not so much as to harm the economy.
OSHA chief David Michaels graced Public Citizen with his presence and insight today as the kick-off to Public Citizen’s 40th Anniversary Speaker Series. From the BP oil spill cleanup to medical resident work hours, from heat standards for construction workers to noise standards for restaurant employees, Michaels pretty much covered it all. He even weighed in on President Obama’s executive order to take another look at regulations. Check out our live tweeting.
Gov. Brian Sandoval will not try to turn operations of Nevada’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration to the federal government, state and federal sources said Friday. For several weeks, there have been persistent reports that the governor would shift some of the agency’s operations to the federal OSHA to save money.
Washington legislators plan to introduce two bills this session to strengthen worker-safety protections for health-care workers who handle chemotherapy drugs and to provide better tracking of cancers that develop from occupational exposures.
Reacting to state efforts to undermine workers’ right to organize unions, the National Labor Relations Board has threatened to sue four states if they did not acknowledge their recent state constitutional amendments violated the U.S. Constitution.
The ineffectiveness of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has always been a big complaint of organized labor. Many in unions have claimed that the long delays in hearing cases of illegal union busting—sometimes up to two years after an organizing drive is over – makes enforcement of existing labor laws a joke. With President Obama’s appointment of Lafe Solomon as the new NLRB General Counsel this month, people in labor are hoping that perhaps the federal body will finally enforcing the law.
You are a worker and you are an immigrant and suddenly you feel unwanted, hunted, frozen out. If your job is dangerous, you don’t tell anyone. It can only hurt you.
