President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to issue mandatory workplace safety rules that employers must follow to protect workers from coronavirus exposure. It’s likely to be one of his first big fights with American business and a test of how far he can go to create a national strategy to slow a pandemic that is still …
Businesses brace for mandatory workplace safety rules under Biden Read More »
Day laborers, many of them undocumented, are reportedly being exploited as they rebuild after Hurricane Harvey, and their health and economic well-being are are stake. According to a report from the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and University of Illinois Chicago that surveyed 360 workers, 26 percent of workers have experienced wage theft in their post-Harvey …
Workers’ rights are being abused as they rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Harvey Read More »
In November, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced fines against businesses with workers who were killed when they were pulled into a wood chipper, burned in a refinery fire and crushed in collapsing grain bins and construction trenches. In all, OSHA issued 33 enforcement news releases that month, and over 50 more from Dec. 1 …
Labor Department goes silent on workplace safety enforcement under Trump 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 »
Organized labor and its allies are rightly alarmed over the high incidence of on-the-job accidents that have killed or maimed many thousands of workers. But they haven’t forgotten – nor should we forget – the on-the-job violence that also afflicts many thousands. Consider this: Every year, almost two million American men and women are the …
The American workplace has changed dramatically over the last two decades, and so have the inherent hazards for workers. New, bigger, more powerful equipment has come online. New chemicals and other toxic substances have come into routine use. New production and construction methods have been introduced. Created in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, OSHA, is charged …
We’re accustomed to reading statistics from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration about workplace injuries. Every year, for instance, there are 4 million work-related injuries. But ever wonder where OSHA gets those numbers? According to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, the Department of Labor and OSHA may not be doing enough …
The H1N1 (swine flu) virus is now the first global flu pandemic in 41 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) yesterday declared the virus a Phase-6 pandemic, its highest level of warning. The declaration means the virus has circled the globe and poses a threat to spread more rapidly among populations. So far, there have …
Now Labeled a Pandemic, Swine Flu Poses Threat to Health Care Workers 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.
