Grocery workers have become some of the most essential workers of the coronavirus crisis—making clear that we’ve relied on them all along. But it’s also a dangerous job, exposing workers to hundreds of customers a day, often without adequate protective gear. The terrible, predictable result is that grocery workers are starting to die of the …
The stock market fell 7% at the open Monday morning. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s a catastrophic collapse—a financial crisis type number. Typically, the market might gain or lose in a whole year the value that was lost by the time the sound of the opening bell faded. The collapse appears to …
Government Must Act to Stop Spread of Economic and Financial Consequences of Coronavirus Read More »
Labor unions, employee rights, fair wages, and America’s workforce are all hot topics this election season. While these issues are always important, an election year really works to bring these issues to the forefront of the minds of companies and politicians. Regardless of which side of the political fence you sit on, we can all …
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 »
Temperatures reached 97 degrees on June 21 at the French Robinson Unit prison the day Seth Donnelly collapsed. The Texas Observer reported Seth passed out during his prison job of training attack dogs—running around in a 75-pound “fight suit” while the dogs tried to bite him. Seth’s internal body temperature was 106 when he reached the hospital, where …
For Incarcerated Workers, Summer Heat Can Be a Death Sentence Read More »
The dangers of working in excessive heat and humidity often get overlooked. Yet OSHA reported 24 heat-related injuries or fatalities between May and October in 2018. Employer Responsibilities OSHA requires employers to provide safe work environments, although there are no specific OSHA standards that apply to heat and humidity in warehouses. Some individual states have …
Protecting Yourself When the Heat’s On in the Workplace Read More »
Thousands of Amazon workers struck on “Prime Day” this week in what was perhaps the largest multinational action to date against the online behemoth. European Amazon employees have been waging coordinated strikes against the company since 2013, but this time they were joined by U.S. counterparts at a Shakopee, Minnesota fulfillment center, where workers staged …
Angry About Low Pay and Sweltering Heat, These Amazon Warehouse Workers Are Organizing 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 …
Summer means high temperatures … and, for farmworkers, hard work in hot fields. We’re talking fields where, without proper precautions, workers die from the heat. The United Farm Workers is trying to keep that from happening, though in some states they have better options than others. California, where so much of the nation’s produce is grown, has laws protecting …
Soaring summer temperatures mean danger for farm workers Read More »
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 »
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.
