Hundreds of hotel workers, union leaders and elected officials gathered at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City today to witness the signing of a bill requiring hotels to equip certain employees with “panic buttons” for their protection against inappropriate conduct by guests. “We must protect the safety of workers in the hospitality industry,” Gov. Phil Murphy …
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not have enough workplace safety inspectors before Donald Trump arrived on the scene, and as with just about everything else, it’s gotten worse in Trump’s two-plus years in office. The number of inspectors has fallen to a record low in the history of the agency, and a new analysis …
Workplace safety enforcement plummets under Trump … but fatality investigations rise Read More »
As we sit here mired in yet another pointless government shutdown stranding tens of thousand of workers without paychecks, we pause to reflect over the past year in workplace safety and health. The madness in Washington DC continues, and while we can’t make any guarantees for the White House or the Senate, things are at …
2018: The Workplace Safety and Health Year in Review Read More »
Amazon warehouse workers in several European countries took to the streets in protest this week over what they called “inhuman” working conditions. In the U.K., Germany, Italy, and Spain, workers walked the streets holding signs reading “Treated like a robot at Amazon” and “We are not robots.” According to The Washington Post, some walked off the …
Amazon employees across Europe protest ‘inhuman’ working conditions Read More »
A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about how “freak accidents” are neither “freak,” nor “accidental.” As I explained then: First, the phrase implies that this type of incident hardly ever happens and there is, therefore, not much you can do about it. In fact, the phrase “freak accident” is a double-whammy. Not only does …
The trial in one of the nation’s worst workplace negligence cases began this week in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee. The workers assigned to clean up the massive coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Kingston coal-fired power plant are finally getting their day in court. After the jury was seated, it didn’t …
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a memo Thursday weakening workers’ protection against employer retaliation for reporting injuries and illnesses. Section 1904.35(b)(1)(iv) of the Obama administrations 2016 “Electronic Recordkeeping Rule” told employers that “You must not discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee for reporting a work-related injury or illness.” According to Deborah Berkowitz, …
OSHA Weakens Workers’ Protections Against Retaliation for Reporting Injuries Read More »
Good news! Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh does not think it is unreasonable for workers to expect to come home safely at the end of the day, even if they work in the entertainment industry. So he claims in his response to a written question from the Senate Judiciary Committee. Unfortunately, “expecting” isn’t doing. And …
I read a lot of articles about workers getting killed on the job in preventable incidents. They’re always upsetting. But one of the things that infuriates me most is the all-too-common statement from a company spokesperson that “Safety is our top priority” after a preventable fatality. Now, I’m not doubting that losing an employee is …
It’s no secret that Donald Trump is not exactly out serving as the champion of workers he suggested he’d be during the 2016 campaign. But the scope of the attack he’s mounted on working people is staggering … and mostly under the radar. Steven Hill rounds up some of the damage at Working In These Times: The …
Trump’s war on workers is flying under the radar, but it’s relentless 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.
