Keeping transportation dollars from worker-safety violators, such as Thomas Industrial Coatings
The $109b transportation bill passed last week in the Senate has a title that doesn’t even mention roads or highways. It’s called the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act” (MAP-21). One provision of the legislation fits especially well with the bill’s title, with real potential to make progress on worker safety while we move ahead with transportation projects. Section 1520 of MAP-21 concerns bridge and overpass upgrades and maintenance projects, including the application of industrial coatings and cathodic protections.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/03/keeping_transportation_dollars.php
Wyoming lawmakers: State moving toward safer work environments
Three months after Wyoming’s first occupational epidemiologist quit, claiming the Wyoming Legislature wasn’t interested in new safety regulations, state lawmakers say they made real progress this session toward enacting his recommendations. And the state plans to carry out the rest of former epidemiologist Timothy Ryan’s recommendations after his successor is hired in the next few months, state and industry officials said.
http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-lawmakers-state-moving-toward-safer-work-environments/article_7e9c1890-0f25-57e3-b848-9fb37a30ec51.html
Will New York City mayoral front-runner kill paid sick leave again?
Five years after San Francisco became the first U.S. city to mandate that employers provide paid sick leave to employees, similar bills have been debated or passed across the United States. And in New York City, activists are mounting a renewed push following their defeat in 2010. Now, as then, the legislation’s fate will land in the hands of New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a former activist turned business-friendly Bloomberg ally and potential future mayor.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/12918/paid_sick_leave_new_york_city_christine_quinn_bloomberg/
Gender pay gap is largest on Wall Street
While it’s well-known by now that women consistently earn less than men even though they often attain better education — 77.4 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts in 2010 — Bloomberg News’ Frank Bass reports a new development: this gap is widest on Wall Street.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/03/20/gender-pay-gap-is-largest-on-wall-street/
Verizon hit with slew of safety violations after electrocution death of technician Douglas Lalima
Verizon was hit Monday with a slew of job safety violations and heavily fined over a worker being electrocuted in Brooklyn last fall. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration cited the phone giant for 10 infractions totaling more than $140k in penalties — the maximum allowed — following a probe into the death of technician Douglas Lalima.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/verizon-hit-slew-safety-violations-electrocution-death-technician-douglas-lalima-article-1.1047175
Local construction company fined over fatal fall
The MacMillin Co. has been cited for alleged willful and serious violations of safety standards following the death of a construction worker in September at Keene Middle School. Temporary employees working under the direction of the Keene-based contractor were erecting scaffolding when the plank on which Steven Sawyer, 58, of Dublin, was working snapped.
http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/local-construction-company-fined-over-fatal-fall/article_bff873f4-71da-11e1-b209-0019bb2963f4.html
Job seekers getting asked for Facebook passwords
When Justin Bassett interviewed for a new job, he expected the usual questions about experience and references. So he was astonished when the interviewer asked for something else: his Facebook username and password. Bassett refused and withdrew his application, saying he didn’t want to work for a company that would seek such personal information. But as the job market steadily improves, other job candidates are confronting the same question from prospective employers, and some of them cannot afford to say no.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2012/03/20/job_seekers_getting_asked_for_facebook_passwords/
