Why would environmental organizations like the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and 350.org have signed a pledge that they wouldn’t use a hotel chain’s environmental program? Because Marriott’s “Make a Green Choice” program, in which hotel guests are asked to opt out of having their rooms cleaned during a stay, is a classic case of …
Marriott’s ‘green choice’ isn’t so green, and it’s hurting workers Read More »
As a heat wave bakes large pockets of the United States this weekend, it is society’s most vulnerable who suffer most. Take the unnamed 32-year-old Ace Air Conditioning of Louisiana worker who died while installing duct work on July 20, 2017. The man began to show signs of heat exhaustion while working in the attic of a …
Despite assurances from Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta that he will boost the number of OSHA compliance officers this fiscal year, new data shows the number of inspectors has declined. According to statistics that POLITICO obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the number of compliance safety and health officers tasked with conducting workplace inspections at …
Number of workplace safety inspectors fall under Trump Read More »
APOPKA, FLORIDA — An election is happening on Tuesday, but Florida’s farmworkers seem largely underwhelmed. “I don’t think they care, to tell the truth, I really don’t think they care,” says Linda Lee as she sits in front of her small house near the sprawling Lake Apopka, just northwest of Orlando. A former farmworker and …
You should expect your employer to establish a strong safety culture that results in an injury-free, healthy, non-hostile workplace. Unfortunately, OSHA can only do so much to establish what “safe and healthy” means, or to enforce those protocols. Many people, like those at Public Citizen, recognize that “government protection of workers is far from adequate.” …
Workplace Safety: Expect Excellence From Your Employer Read More »
This week, dairy workers are using an annual ice cream giveaway day by Ben and Jerry’s to bring awareness to the long, hard hours and low wages that many in the industry face. In the state of Vermont and across the country, dairy workers and supporters of migrant farmworkers rallied outside the ice cream company’s …
Dairy workers call on Ben and Jerry’s to give them better hours and fair wages Read More »
The government just cracked down on the country’s largest meat and poultry processor for endangering its employees. It all began with a report to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of a finger amputation at a Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Texas. OSHA investigators determined the worker’s finger got stuck in an unguarded conveyer …
Tyson Foods Fined $263,000 Over Unsafe Working Conditions In Poultry Plant Read More »
The aroma of hot buttered popcorn evokes all sorts of childhood nostalgia, but for many workers, those savory vapors pose a modern industrial health hazard. Evidence has been building over the years of a respiratory illness primarily afflicting factory workers exposed to the microwave-popcorn butter flavorant, diacetyl (DA). Now, researchers have discovered another potential hazard …
Research Raises More Toxic Health Concerns for Popcorn Workers Read More »
From birth control pills to equal pay, women are a favorite target in the country’s most heated political wars. But a much quieter struggle is being waged over women’s bodies in their neighborhoods and workplaces, where a minefield of pollutants threaten working mothers and their children. According to new research from the the National Birth …
Working Women’s Bodies Besieged by Environmental Injustice Read More »
A little more than a year after taking office, the Obama administration and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis have taken significant steps to repair the damage to workplace safety and health left behind after eight years of the Bush administration. With Workers Memorial Day (April 28) approaching, this is a good time to look at the …
After 8 Years of Bush Neglect, Job Safety Gets New Boost from Obama, Solis Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
