Slavery and human trafficking are alive and well in the United States, according to lawsuits filed by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of farm laborers in Hawaii and Washington State and shipyard workers on the Gulf Coast.
About 1 million women, according to the Cancer Prevention Coalition (preventcancer.com), work in industries that expose them to more than 50 carcinogens linked to breast cancer. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In a large number of cases, cancer is preventable. This fact applies especially to carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals in the workplace.
On Thursday April 28, 10 workers from a Kraft-Cadbury warehouse in the Chicago suburb of Joliet filed discrimination claims with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging race, gender and age discrimination. Managers have done nothing to address graffiti depicting swastikas and the letters “KKK” in break rooms and bathrooms at the warehouse, the workers say, or to deal with a worker who flies a Confederate flag on his truck.
Somewhere at the Environmental Protection Agency, there is an obscure special office designed to settle grievances about discrimination and bias. But over the years, the Office of Civil Rights has slowly morphed from an outlet for adjudicating inequities to a bureaucratic black hole where complaints vaporize without a trace.
They believe that more carbon monoxide is better to get the job done. Michigan State Senator Mark C. Jansen (R) of the 28th District introduced Senate Bill 0014 earlier this year that calls for the Repeal of the Michigan OSH Act, or MIOSHA, which would then revert back to Federal OSHA jurisdiction. At issue with many Michigan Workers is that the air contaminant standards that the Federal OSHA employs is significantly less stringent than the Michigan OSHA’s air contaminant rules.
A nonprofit worker safety group is calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to lift a statewide hiring freeze to enable the state worker safety agency to hire more inspectors. Gail Bateson, executive director of the Oakland-based nonprofit Worksafe, said the step is needed to investigate scores of injuries and deaths. No general fund dollars would be needed to hire dozens more inspectors, she said.
Forty years ago this week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration came into existence with the daunting task of protecting America’s workers. Before OSHA, workplace safety was governed by a hodgepodge of state and federal laws, which didn’t serve the nation well. But, as we have noted before, there is still much to be done. Millions of people are injured or sickened each year. An untold number of workers are exposed to some sort of carcinogen or toxin and won’t see the symptoms for years.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Sterling Seating Inc. for 34 workplace health and safety violations at its North Arlington facility, including exposing workers to combustible dust hazards. Proposed penalties total $117,600.
Yesterday I found an application in the iTunes store that made me shudder : Office Jerk. (produced by Fluik Entertainment Inc.) Scary fact: It is the number 1 in the top free apps category.
“I’d love to accept the position,” says Laura Walker, the eager, well-qualified 20-something you’ve just hired. “But there’s one thing I feel I should tell you. I’m a papyrophobe, so will have to work in a paperless environment. Or else, I’ll have to work from home.” For Walker, a recent college graduate looking for work in public relations in Orlando, Fla., and the other 19 million Americans afflicted with specific phobias, fear of something seemingly trivial—like paper—is far from laughable.
