With hundreds of workers dying, OSHA’s denial of petition for a heat stress standard is shortsighted
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has denied yet another petition from Public Citizen calling for a life-saving regulation – an action particularly shortsighted given the searing temperatures we are seeing in the summer and the number of workers who are dying from heat, Public Citizen said today.
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=3652
Who’s watching out for farm workers left out in the heat?
Farm worker organizing led to California’s first-in-the-nation heat illness regulation, which was passed in 2005 after five heat-related deaths that year. It’s supposed to guarantee water, shade, and rest for all outdoor workers, including the state’s 650,000 farm workers. So why are people still getting sick and dying?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hernan-vera/latino-farm-workers_b_1632403.html
House probes NY restaurant-harass group
The House investigations panel has opened a probe into a controversial labor-activist group accused of harassing New York City eateries, The Post has learned. The organization, the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), was formed after 9/11 to help displaced restaurant workers, including those from Windows of the World.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/pressure_cookers_VEWVCvvHxYUjuEkDgRcWON#ixzz1zm3WdLC6
GOP Rep. tells constituent who asks about raising the minimum wage to ‘get a job’
House Democrats earlier this month proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour, which would catch the minimum wage up to the buying power it had in 1968. The proposal hasn’t gone anywhere, though, since Republicans who control the House of Representatives oppose any increase. Asked by a constituent at a Fourth of July parade yesterday, Florida Rep. Bill Young (R) revealed that he is, predictably, opposed to the Democratic proposal. When a constituent asked him why he opposed boosting worker wages, Young replied simply, “Get a job.”
http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/07/05/511463/gop-rep-minimum-wage-get-a-job/
If former Massey Energy is now “Running Right,” why keep secret its safety progress report?
“We’re still in the dark,” explained one family whose son was killed 27 months ago at Alpha Natural Resources (formerly Massey Energy’s) Upper Big Branch mine (UBB). That comment came two weeks ago after learning that Alpha, one of the world’s largest coal companies, provided its first progress report to U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin as required by the December 2011 Non-Prosecution Agreement. The report was dated June 4, 2012. This family member and others feel “still in the dark” because a copy of that report has not been shared with them.
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2012/07/03/if-former-massey-energy-is-now-running-right-why-keep-secret-its-safety-progress-report/
Can you be fired for what you post on Facebook?
Which Facebook posts can get you fired? As more and more of our daily speech migrates online, business groups are hoping that the NLRB will make it easier for employers to control that speech. It shouldn’t.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/07/getting_fired_for_what_you_post_on_facebook.html
