Obama caves on child farm rules

After farm groups complain, Obama administration drops plan to restrict child labor on farms
Under heavy pressure from farm groups, the Obama administration said Thursday it would drop an unpopular plan to prevent children from doing hazardous work on farms owned by anyone other than their parents. The Labor Department said it is withdrawing proposed rules that would ban children younger than 16 from using most power-driven farm equipment, including tractors. The rules also would prevent those younger than 18 from working in feed lots, grain bins and stockyards.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/after-farm-groups-complain-obama-administration-drops-plan-to-restrict-child-labor-on-farms/2012/04/26/gIQAlIF6jT_story.html

Shame on Obama administration for sacrificing children to keep agribusiness happy
In siding with the agricultural industry at the expense of the children it employs, the Obama administration has let industry preferences take precedence over the lives and health of child workers. More children will collapse from heat exposure, more will suffer from acute nicotine poisoning while picking tobacco leaves and more will be crushed to death in grain augers or tractor accidents – thanks to the Obama administration’s reversal.
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3595

Withdrawal of proposed occupational child safety rules for agriculture will endanger children working on farms
Those of us concerned with the safety and welfare of children and teens working in agriculture are deeply disappointed by the Department of Labor’s decision to pull back on its effort to protect kids on farms. “The all-out campaign of misinformation and distortion about the Department of Labor’s long overdue and important proposal to protect children working on farms will have an impact for years to come,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL’s executive director and a co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition, 28 organizations committed to protecting children from exploitative or dangerous work.
http://savvyconsumer.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/ncl-press-release-withdrawal-of-proposed-occupational-child-safety-rules-for-agriculture-will-endanger-children-working-on-farms/

USDA gives us 30 more days to tell it why 175 birds-per-minute line speeds will take a toll on poultry workers
Gabriel Thompson writes today in The Nation about a summer job he had a few years back, working on the assembly line at a Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant in Alabama. The chickens flew by on hooks at 90 birds-per-minute as he sliced and cut the meat non-stop. It didn’t take long for him to meet co-workers who suffered from painful and debilitating musculoskeletal disorders caused by the high-speed, repetitive work.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/04/usda_gives_us_30_more_days_to.php

Federal judge rules yet another Florida drug-testing program unconstitutional
Welfare applicants aren’t the only people the courts have forced the state of Florida to stop drug testing. A federal court ruled on Thursday that Gov. Rick Scott also doesn’t get to randomly drug test 80,000 state workers.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/04/27/federal-judge-rules-yet-another-florida-drug-testing-program-unconstitutional/

Workers protest at Foxconn plant in China
Workers at a Chinese factory owned by Foxconn, Apple Inc’s main manufacturer, threatened to jump off the roof of a building in a protest over wages just a month after the two firms announced a landmark agreement on improving working conditions.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-china-foxconnbre83q0jv-20120427,0,1933944.story

OSHA launches outreach campaign on ‘struck-by’ vehicle accidents
OSHA has launched a regional outreach initiative in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska to educate workers and their employers about preventing “struck-by” vehicle accidents in the workplace. “Struck-by” injuries and fatalities are caused by conventional traffic/passenger vehicles, forklifts, and other moving powered industrial equipment such as cranes and yard trucks.
http://ohsonline.com/articles/2012/04/26/osha-launches-outreach-campaign-on-struckby-vehicle-accidents.aspx?admgarea=news

Tree man’s death probed at nudist club
Bernards Township Police and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are still investigating the death of a tree worker who was hit on the head by a falling tree limb at the wooded Sky Farm Nudist Club on Allen Road on Wednesday morning, police said.
http://baskingridge.patch.com/articles/osha-police-still-investigating-death-of-tree-man-at-nudist-camp

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Fatal work injuries rose in 2010, new data show | via @iwatch

Fatal work injuries rose in 2010, new data show
The Department of Labor reported today that 4,690 U.S. workers suffered fatal injuries in 2010, a 3 percent increase from 2009. The higher number in part reflects a string of high-profile disasters in 2010: An explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine in West Virginia that killed 29; BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, which killed 11; and a blast at the Tesoro Corp.’s oil refinery in Washington State that killed seven.
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/04/25/8755/fatal-work-injuries-rose-2010-new-data-show

US Labor Department’s MSHA releases first quarter mine fatality update
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today released a first quarter summary of mining deaths across the country. Ten miners died in work-related accidents at the nation’s mines during the first three months of 2012.
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/msha/MSHA20120763.htm

OSHA’s Michaels commemorates Workers’ Memorial Day in audio message
Every year on April 28, the nation recognizes Workers’ Memorial Day to remember and honor the workers who lost their lives while on the job. This year, in advance of Workers’ Memorial Day, OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels recorded an audio message about worker safety and rights.
http://ehstoday.com/standards/osha/Michaels-workers-memorial-day-0426/

New rules set on background checks for job seekers
Federal regulators Wednesday approved new rules that could make it easier to find work for convicted criminals and others who have gotten into legal trouble. By a 4-1 vote, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission approved the rules for employers who use criminal background checks, calling for careful consideration of how and when such reviews can be used in pre-employment screenings and in the workplace because of their potential to be biased against certain groups, such as racial minorities.
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/25/11394190-new-rules-set-on-background-checks-for-job-seekers

Bloomberg vetoes wage bill, pledges to sue
This time, he didn’t bring up the former Soviet Union. But in a strongly-worded speech Wednesday morning, Mayor Michael Bloomberg railed against two City Council bills that would raise wages for workers on city-subsidized projects. He promised to sue if they become law.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120425/LABOR_UNIONS/120429928#ixzz1t9so5qHz

Sarah Palin attacks Obama on farm work
Sarah Palin lashed out at the Obama Administration in a Facebook post on Wednesday, attacking regulations she says would ban children from working on family farms. Tapping into her Alaska roots and 4-H past, Palin called the rules a “nonsensical intrusion into our lives and livelihoods.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/26/sarah-palin-obama-farm-work-_n_1455315.html

Tetris-PTSD study suggests video game curbs flashbacks, other symptoms
A seemingly trivial task – playing a particular video game – may lessen flashbacks and other psychological symptoms following a traumatic event, according to research presented here at the British Psychology Society Annual Conference. Researchers are now corroborating what some trauma sufferers have happened upon by chance: Focusing on a highly engaging visual-spatial task, such as playing video games, may significantly reduce the occurrence of flashbacks, the mental images concerning the trauma that intrude on the sufferer afterward.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/tetris-ptsd-study-flashbacks_n_1453465.html

Gary Stein, Marine who criticized Obama on Facebook, will receive other-than-honorable discharge
The Marine Corps said Wednesday it has decided to discharge a sergeant for criticizing President Barack Obama on Facebook. The Corps said Sgt. Gary Stein will be given an other-than-honorable discharge for violating Pentagon policy limiting speech of service members.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/gary-stein-marine-obama-facebook_n_1453031.html

AA Foundries hit with safety violations
San Antonio’s AA Foundries Inc. is facing $107,600 in proposed penalties by the federal Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration for various health and safety violations. OSHA said in statement Wednesday that AA Foundries exposed employees to excessive noise levels, lead and copper.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/article/AA-Foundries-hit-with-safety-violations-3510614.php

Identity of brewery worker killed in accident released
The identity of a worker killed in a keg explosion at a brewery Tuesday has been released, as an investigation into the accident continues. The Redhook Ale Brewery said Ben Harris was killed when a keg he was cleaning exploded.
http://www.wmur.com/news/30954022/detail.html

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EEOC ruling protects transgender individuals from workplace discrimination

Poor safety record no bar to winning government construction contracts
One might assume that when a government agency awards a private company a contract to do construction work – for bridge or sewer work or other public utility repairs, for example – evaluating the company’s safety and health record would be a prerequisite. This is, however, not the case. As the government watchdog organization Public Citizen details in a new report, numerous government contracts have been awarded to companies with chronic poor health and safety records.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/04/poor_safety_record_no_bar_to_w.php#comments

Employment commission ruling protects transgender individuals from workplace discrimination
Late yesterday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a comprehensive ruling giving transgender individuals sorely-needed federal protections against discrimination in the workplace. According to the ruling, employers who discriminate against employees or job applicants on the basis of gender identity can now be found in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, specifically its prohibition of sex discrimination in employment.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/04/24/employment-commission-ruling-protects-transgender-individuals-from-workplace-discrimination/

Why does OSHA move at a glacial pace? Democrat calls on Obama admin to speed up safety measures
Republicans typically accuse Democrats of not doing enough to streamline regulations. But at a hearing on Capitol Hill last week, Republican senators defended the Obama administration against criticism from labor leaders and workplace safety advocates who say the administration has made it too cumbersome to create and issue new workplace safety rules.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13081/harkin_criticizes_white_house_omb_over_holding_up_workplace_safety_rules/

New York state starts hearings on raising minimum wage
Supporters of a bill to raise New York’s minimum wage made their case to state lawmakers on Monday in Harlem, at a hearing called by Assemblyman Keith Wright. Wright and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, both Manhattan democrats, are sponsoring legislation that would raise the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. The current minimum wage in New York is $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum. Under the bill, the wage would also increase each year according to inflation.
http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2012/apr/23/supporters-bill-raise-minimum-wage-its-moral-issue/

OSHA: Captain fired for calling Coast Guard
A barge captain working in New Orleans was wrongfully fired for telling the Coast Guard about engine problems with a boat he was steering, the U.S. Department of Labor said Monday. The captain’s company, St. James Stevedoring Partners LLC, agreed to pay $245k in pay, compensation and attorney’s fees to settle the whistleblower case, the department said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57419850/osha-captain-fired-for-calling-coast-guard/

Virtually unemployable, undocumented Pulitzer-winning journalist pushes reform
Speaking to journalists with The Institute for Justice and Journalism at a conference at the University of Oklahoma this week, Jose Antonio Vargas explained that since his “coming out” as an undocumented immigrant, he is not legally able to be employed. Of course, almost 12 million people in the United States are undocumented, and most of them are employed—using fake Social Security numbers, working under the table or other situations. But given the high-profile nature of Vargas’s revelation, it’s unlikely any employer who knows how to use Google would hire him.
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13097/virtually_unemployable_undocumented_pulitzer-winning_journalist_vargas/

More workers work through lunch or eat at their desks
Today’s fast-paced work environment and sluggish economy have left many employees with more work and less time to do it, making the once-cherished midday lunch break a disappearing option. Only a third of American workers say they take a lunch break, according to a Web survey conducted last year by Right Management, a human resources consulting firm. The survey also found that 65% of workers eat at their desks or don’t take a break at all.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/story/2012-04-15/lunch-at-work/54167808/1

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Let’s honor workers who lost lives on the job

Let’s honor workers who lost lives on the job
On Saturday, people across the globe will commemorate International Workers’ Memorial Day. Families across the U.S. will be remembering loved ones who have died as a result of a fatal job-related injuries and diseases. Sadly, our house will join in this emotional observance. My father, Ray Gonzalez, 54, died on Nov. 12, 2004, after suffering severe injuries and burns while working at the BP Texas City refinery.
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Let-s-honor-workers-who-lost-lives-on-the-job-3498833.php

A punishment BP can’t pay off
Two years after a series of gambles and ill-advised decisions on a BP drilling project led to the largest accidental oil spill in United States history and the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, no one has been held accountable. What is missing is the accountability that comes from real consequences: a criminal prosecution that holds responsible the individuals who gambled with the lives of BP’s contractors and the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.propublica.org/article/a-punishment-bp-cant-pay-off

Kentucky Darby mine operators have yet to pay for 2006 blast that killed 5
Nearly six years after an explosion killed five miners at Kentucky Darby Mine No. 1 in Harlan County, the operators have not paid nearly $700k in civil fines and interest fees for safety violations connected to the accident. Kentucky Darby admitted liability for the unpaid fines under an agreement finalized in January 2010 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in London, according to court documents.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120421/NEWS01/304210117/Kentucky-Darby-mine-operators-yet-pay-2006-blast-killed-5

New York named national leader in fight against wage theft
One year after New York’s new wage theft law took effect, the Progressive States Network has named the state the nation’s leader in confronting the issue. Speaking on a media call Wednesday, PSN Senior Policy Specialist Tim Judson said the 2010 law has proved “the strongest in the country.” But he warned that the national picture remains bleak: “Where wage theft is concerned, there are essentially no cops on the beat.”
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13084/new_york_wage_theft_labor_progressive_states_network_make_the_road/

Judge sides with workers in Jimmy John’s case
A federal administrative law judge has ruled that a Twin Cities Jimmy John’s franchisee violated the union organizing rights of six employees by firing them last year after they publicly protested the restaurants’ sick leave policy. The workers, activists in the Industrial Workers of the World’s attempt to unionize the local Jimmy Johns, must be reinstated with back pay, according to an order late Friday by the judge, Arthur Amchan.
http://www.startribune.com/business/148530485.html

Ferrero sets date to end cocoa slavery
Chocolate maker Ferrero has pledged to eradicate slavery from farms where it sources its cocoa by 2020, as part of a growing movement by the multi-billion dollar industry to clean up its supply chains. The Italian company, which produces Ferrero Rocher chocolates, Nutella spread and Kinder eggs, follows Nestle and Hershey as the third major chocolate manufacturer to announce new anti-slavery moves since September.
http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/ferrero-sets-date-to-end-cocoa-slavery/

SuperShuttle drivers say they face tough times under firm’s franchise system
Once, drivers of this ubiquitous blue-van airport shuttle service were salaried employees. But in the past 13 years, SuperShuttle has transformed its drivers into franchisees — what the company calls independent business owners. In doing so, SuperShuttle has shifted, in its own words, “hard to manage variable costs from the company” to the drivers, making “gross profits more stable and predictable.” Enajekpo and hundreds of other drivers across the country say the changes have done more harm than good — and, in a series of lawsuits, they say the company doesn’t allow drivers independence and is cheating them out of wages and benefits they would be entitled to as employees.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/supershuttle-drivers-say-they-face-tough-times-under-firms-franchise-system/2012/04/19/gIQAFbp9VT_print.html

Half of recent college graduates are jobless or underemployed
The disappearance of mid-level jobs during the Great Recession, along with overall high unemployment, have made it hard for recent college graduates to find good jobs upon leaving school. More than 50 percent of college graduates under age 25 are either jobless or underemployed, according to an analysis from Drexel University and the Economic Policy Institute.
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/04/23/469026/recent-graduates-underemploye/

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The unlearned lessons of the #BP disaster

The unlearned lessons of the BP disaster
The BP disaster taught us many things: namely, that giant corporations cannot be trusted to behave responsibly absent strong public oversight, and that if 11 workers die on your watch, or unprecedented ecological damage from your negligence occurs from your operations – that none of it matters: You can continue to operate, business as usual, securing more government contracts and enjoying record profits the same as before.
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3589

The lessons we learned from Deepwater disaster
The aggressive pace of reform since the Deepwater Horizon is remarkable, but my agency has much more work to do. In particular, over the coming months, we will be implementing new, common-sense safety advances in three fundamental areas.
http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/The-lessons-we-learned-from-Deepwater-disaster-3495909.php

Scott Walker reinstates program to give bonuses, merit raises despite shortfall
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker quietly reinstated a program to give merit raises and bonuses to some state workers even as he preached cost-cutting and pushed through a law reducing most public workers’ pay and eliminating their union rights.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/scott-walker-state-worker-bonuses_n_1441000.html

Working moms’ challenges: paid leave, child care
The past week’s political firestorm in the presidential race focused on stay-at-home moms, but two-thirds of women with young children now work. Nearly half are their family’s primary breadwinner. What some feel is being lost in the political debate are the challenges they face in the workplace.
http://www.wbur.org/npr/150967376/working-moms-challenges-paid-leave-child-care

‘We don’t go to work to be touched’: sexual harassment in the warehouse
Constant remarks about their bodies, and unwanted touching, advances, mean-spirited “pranks” and other forms of sexual harassment are a regular occurrence for many of the more than 30,000 women—like Dickerson—who work in the warehouse industry in the Chicago area, according to a report (PDF) released this week by the group Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ). And women often face retaliation for reporting harassment.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/04/20/we-don%E2%80%99t-go-to-work-to-be-touched-sexual-harassment-in-the-warehouse/

USA Today journalists targets of online intimidation
Attention screenwriters, please take the following and run with it: Two USA Today journalists, Tom Vanden Brook and Ray Locker, claim that they have been the target of an extensive online smear campaign as they were investigating government propaganda contractors. According to The Washington Post, the two men were busy preparing a special report on the Pentagon’s “information operations” program, which spent millions on marketing efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, when they noticed that damaging fake Twitter accounts, websites and more were popping up.
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/usa-today-journalists-targets-of-online-intimidation_b58483

Obama tweets ‘Progress For The LGBT Community’ timeline
President Obama has weathered a sizable fallout from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocacy groups and voters for his surprising refusal to sign an anti-discrimination executive order in recent days. Perhaps in an effort to combat that criticism, the White House tweeted the following timeline image, titled “Progress for the LGBT Community,” today.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/20/obama-lgbt-progress-timeline-tweets_n_1441003.html
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At least 30 countries have unemployment benefits more generous than the U.S.

Congress gets ‘D’ from oil-spill panel for safety inaction
In the two years since a BP Plc (BP/) well blowout set off the worst U.S. offshore oil spill, Congress has failed to make drillers more accountable, according to members of the panel that studied the disaster. Lawmakers earned a “D” from members of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill for not enacting safe-drilling legislation, according to a report yesterday.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-04-18/congress-get-d-from-oil-spill-panel-for-safety-inaction

Injunction blocks new NLRB rule requiring bosses to post organizing rights
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an emergency injunction blocking implementation of new National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) rules that would require employers to post notices of workers’ legal rights to organize. The rules, In These Times reported on in detail here, would have gone into effect on April 30.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13063/federal_court_blocks_implementation_of_nlrb_rule/

At least 30 countries have unemployment benefits more generous than the U.S.
According to data from the International Monetary Fund analyzed by Tim Vlandas, there are at least 30 countries with unemployment benefits that are more generous than those that go to American workers.
http://www.todaysworkplace.org/2012/04/17/at-least-30-countries-have-unemployment-benefits-more-generous-than-the-u-s/

Women’s bureau: Fighting for equal pay, every day
Today, as we commemorate Equal Pay Day it is a time to reflect on how far American women have come. Coincidentally, it is also tax day and a fitting reminder of how long into 2012 women must work to earn the wages men earned in 2011. Since the creation of Equal Pay Day 16 years ago, the pay gap between women and men has barely moved — from 74 cents in 1996 to about 80 cents in 2011.
http://social.dol.gov/blog/womens-bureau-fighting-for-equal-pay-every-day/

After problems plague Hawaii State Labor Agency, feds may take over workplace investigations
The federal government, in two reports issued in 2009 and 2010, noted that Hawaii’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is understaffed, untrained, underfunded and not keeping up with inspections – and apparently not much has improved since then. That has led the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division to discuss “concurrent jurisdiction” with the state this year, which means the federal agency may take over many of the state functions. However, both the state and federal government officials involved are refusing to release details about the plan.
http://watchdog.org/14440/after-problems-plague-hawaii-state-labor-agency-feds-may-take-over-workplace-investigations/

Off the clock: Employees fighting for overtime pay
Everyone from pharmaceutical reps to home health care aides to waiters and waitresses in fancy restaurants are sick of working off the clock, and they’re looking to finally punch in. This week, the Supreme Court is reviewing a case involving pharmaceutical representatives who claim they’re owed overtime pay even though their employer, GlaxoSmithKline, contends they’re sales people and not entitled to it.
http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/18/11250818-off-the-clock-employees-fighting-for-overtime-pay

Breathing devices fail test, but not ordered out of mines
Federal coal mine regulators have concluded that a widely used emergency breathing device doesn’t meet safety standards but have not yet taken any action to get the equipment out of the nation’s mines. This week, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health issued a long-awaited report on its investigation of problems with CSE Corp.’s SR-100 model self-contained self-rescuer, or SCSR.
http://wvgazette.com/News/BeyondSago/201204170168

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@HuffingtonPost writer @woodwriter wins #Pulitzer today for coverage of lives of severely wounded vets

Huffington Post wins Pulitzer Prize
Huffington Post senior military correspondent David Wood has spent decades covering war, watching as wounded combat troops are loaded onto medical evacuation helicopters and, he said, “go off in a cloud of dust.” But after their sacrifice on the battlefield, Wood said, “you never know what happened to them.” So for eight months this past year, Wood reported extensively on the lives of severely wounded veterans and their families in “Beyond the Battlefield”, a 10-part series awarded Monday with the Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/huffington-post-pulitzer-prize-2012_n_1429169.html

Keeping a promise to home care aides
Evelyn Coke, who died in 2009 at age 74, was a home care aide whose case for fair pay went to the Supreme Court in 2007, where she lost 9 to 0. At issue were federal rules that define home care aides as “companions,” a label that exempts employers from having to pay minimum wage and time-and-a-half for overtime. The justices said that only Congress or the Labor Department could change the rules.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/16/opinion/evelyn-coke-and-pauline-beck.html?src=rechp

Oil worker’s death renews debate on safety of extraction method
California’s largest oil company failed to warn employees of the dangers in an oil field where a worker was sucked underground and boiled to death last year, state authorities found — and then they fined the firm $350. The small regulatory penalty, levied after a first investigation cleared Chevron, has angered labor leaders and reignited a debate over the risks of the extraction technique that led to the worker’s death.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/14/local/la-me-oil-death-20120412

Needed: Non-profit organizations to provide occupational safety and health training
Are you a non-profit organization interested in providing training on identifying and controlling occupational safety and health hazards — from bloodborne pathogen exposure control to managing excavation hazards? Then the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is looking to accept your application to provide classroom instruction in occupational safety and health for private sector workers, supervisors and employers as part of its OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Centers Program.
http://social.dol.gov/blog/needed-non-profit-organizations-to-provide-occupational-safety-and-health-training/

Cal-OSHA’s new local presence most welcome
Kern County is home to a high concentration of dangerous jobs, from oil fields to farm fields, refineries to construction sites. On top of this, the number of undocumented immigrants living and working in the community creates the likelihood that some, due to their reluctance to speak up, could be exploited by hazardous work environments. So it is welcome news that Cal-OSHA, the state workplace safety watchdog, has opened an office in Bakersfield.
http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/x1322083231/Cal-OSHAs-new-local-presence-most-welcome

David Coppedge, ex-NASA worker, says ‘intelligent design’ views led to firing
David Coppedge, a former computer specialist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, spent much of his free time advocating for the idea that a higher intelligence must have had a hand in creation. Now, a judge will decide if his commitment to that belief has also cost him his job.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/16/david-coppedge_n_1427939.html

OSHA inspectors make surprise visit to troubled St. Peter Hospital
After months of turmoil, state OSHA inspectors visited the Minnesota Security Hospital for the first time in more than 20 years, Minnesota Public Radio reports. The surprise inspection was conducted on March 13 over concerns regarding worker safety.
http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/04/13/osha-inspectors-make-surprise-visit-to-troubled-st-peter-hospital/

Titanic’s shipbuilders tackled an olympic task
Titanic’s construction required 3,000 men to work for six days a week for two years straight with few holidays or breaks. Shipbuilding was dangerous, hard work. There were almost 250 documented incidences of severe work-related injuries and 10 deaths. There were few workplace safety standards at the time, so considering the magnitude of the project, Harland and Wolff’s track record is still thought to be remarkable.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-04-14/building-titanic-white-star-line/54205842/1

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Why did Obama refuse executive order on #discrimination? #LGBT #labor

Why did Obama refuse executive order?
If President Obama had issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors against gays and lesbians, he would have followed a proud tradition set by Democratic and Republican presidents. Instead, he punted. At least five previous presidents issued anti-discrimination directives, according to a count by the American Civil Liberties Union, but those did not cover gays and lesbians in companies doing business with the government.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/why-did-obama-refuse-executive-order/2012/04/12/gIQAhSWfDT_story.html

Gay rights groups vow more pressure on Obama to sign nondiscrimination order
Gay rights activists vowed Thursday to step up political pressure on the White House over President Obama’s refusal to sign a nondiscrimination executive order, with some decrying the decision as an attempt to avoid controversy before the November election.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gay-rights-groups-vow-to-increase-pressure-on-president-obama-on-discrimination-issue/2012/04/12/gIQAz5pTDT_story.html

Worker safety rule stuck in White House black hole, disease risk persists
More than 425 days—-that’s 14 months—-have passed since the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a draft proposed regulation designed to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. The hazard is one of the oldest known causes of work-related lung disease, yet OSHA does not have a comprehensive, protective standard on the books to address it.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/04/worker_safety_rule_in_white_ho.php

States with the biggest wage gap between men, women
The difference between a man’s paycheck and a woman’s paycheck may have something to do with where people live. A new analysis from the National Women’s Law Center finds that the pay gap between men and women varies widely among the states.
http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/13/11166011-states-with-the-biggest-wage-gap-between-men-women

Reports: Indiana State Fair stage where seven died was inadequate
Scaffolding that collapsed during a storm and killed seven people during the Indiana State Fair last year was not up to standard, and the fair’s commission did not have adequate emergency planning in place, according to two investigative reports presented Thursday.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/12/us/indiana-state-fair-reports/index.html

Kan. grain elevator that was scene of a deadly explosion cited for willful, serious violations
The federal government cited a Missouri grain company Thursday for willful safety violations and proposed a hefty fine for an explosion that killed six workers last October at a northeast Kansas grain elevator. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said in a news release the deaths at the Bartlett Grain Co. elevator in Atchison “could have been prevented” if the operators had addressed hazards known in the industry.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/kan-grain-elevator-that-was-scene-of-a-deadly-explosion-cited-for-willful-serious-violations/2012/04/12/gIQAv0ZFDT_story.html

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Federal government disagrees with Ann Romney: raising children not ‘work’ via @huffingtonpost

Obama won’t order ban on gay bias by employers
President Obama disappointed and vexed gay supporters on Wednesday with his decision, conveyed to activists by a senior adviser, not to sign an executive order banning discrimination by employers with federal contracts. The executive order, which activists said had support from the Labor and Justice Departments, would have applied to gay, bisexual and transgender people working for or seeking employment from federal contractors.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/us/politics/obama-wont-order-ban-on-gay-bias-by-employers.html?_r=1&ref=us

Federal government disagrees with Ann Romney: raising children not ‘work’
Ann Romney may believe that focusing exclusively on raising children counts as work, and the majority of Americans may agree with her, but that’s not how the federal government sees it. As far as Uncle Sam is concerned, if you’re poor, deciding to stay at home and rear your children is not an option. Thanks to welfare reform, recipients of federal benefits must prove to a caseworker that they have performed, over the course of a week, a certain number of hours of “work activity.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/12/ann-romney-hilary-rosen_n_1420976.html

Calif. court: Managers don’t have to ensure lunch breaks
In a case that affects thousands of businesses and millions of workers, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that employers are under no obligation to ensure that workers take legally mandated lunch and rest breaks.
http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2012/04/calif-court-managers-dont-have-to-ensure-lunch-breaks

Consumers willing to sacrifice for worker welfare
With the National Consumers League’s newly commissioned survey, conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, consumers have once again shown that they feel strongly (87 percent) about the products in their lives and they do not want products to be manufactured in unfair, overly harsh, or dangerous working conditions – and they are willing to make some sacrifices for it. Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of responders agreed that they would be “willing to wait longer to get the latest electronic gadgets if [they] knew it was produced under humane working conditions.”
http://savvyconsumer.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/consumers-willing-to-sacrifice-for-worker-welfare/

Rockwall teacher fired for out-of-wedlock pregnancy
Cathy Samford, a volleyball coach and science teacher, was fired from Heritage Christian Academy for getting pregnant and not being married, the school acknowledged.
http://www.wfaa.com/news/education/Teacher-fired-for-out-of-wedlock-pregnancy-146926755.html

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Maryland to ban employers from asking for Facebook, Twitter passwords

Maryland to ban employers from asking for Facebook, Twitter passwords
In a victory for privacy hawks and worker advocates, Maryland legislators passed a bill Wednesday that would ban employers from asking job candidates or current employees for their passwords to social-media sites like Facebook and Twitter. If the bill is signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) and becomes law, Maryland will be the first state to ban such practices in the workplace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/11/maryland-facebook-twitter-employers_n_1417844.html?1334161361

Romney spokeswoman: We won’t get rid of Lilly Ledbetter Act
Mitt Romney will not repeal the Lily Ledbetter Fairy Pay Act, according to spokeswoman Andrea Saul. After advisers said in a conference call they were unsure of Romney’s position on the law, which gives women greater freedom to sue employers over pay discrimination, Democrats quickly pounced and put a statement from Ledbetter herself expressing disappointment.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/romney-spokeswoman-we-wont-get-rid-of-lilly

OSHA begins National Emphasis Program on worker safety in nursing and residential care facilities
Government regulators are beginning a three-year program focusing on protecting workers at nursing and residential care facilities from serious safety and health hazards. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) initiated a new National Emphasis Program for Nursing and Residential Care Facilities with a goal of reducing occupational illness and injury in nursing and residential care facilities.
http://newyorkcity.injuryboard.com/workplace-injuries/osha-begins-national-emphasis-program-on-worker-safety-in-nursing-and-residential-care-facilities.aspx?googleid=299870

State moves to strip UBB foreman of license
Back in late February, when the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training issued its report on the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, agency officials said they were taking action against several individuals found to have violated safety laws at the Massey Energy operation. I realized this week that the state had still not publicly identified that third Upper Big Branch employee, so I asked the state agency for that information, and they emailed me a copy of this filing, which identifies UBB foreman Jeremey L. Burghduff as that person.
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2012/04/11/state-moves-to-strip-ubb-foreman-of-license/

Reno air race pilot likely incapacitated before crash: safety board
U.S. safety regulators investigating the crash of a World War Two-era plane at a Nevada air race that killed 11 people said on Tuesday they found evidence the pilot exceeded tolerable G-force limits and likely was incapacitated seconds before the accident.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/11/us-usa-aircrash-investigation-idUSBRE83A01720120411

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