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Election 2004 How are Working Families Doing Under the Bush Administration? Print copies for distribution. JOB SAFETY |
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| People Like Them | BANKRUPTCIES
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| Employers
let off the hook The administration has allowed employers to avoid costs of protecting workers from ergonomic injuries. Free trade agreements have encouraged businesses to relocate operations to countries with little or no regard for worker safety. OSHA enforcement has been weakened. The administration was forced to abandon a plan to shield private contractors that operate two-dozen nuclear plants from government safety standards, allowing them to write their own standards. [BushWatch, AFL-CIO, 5/04] |
Worker
health and safety in jeopardy One of the administrations first acts in 2001 was to repeal the nations first ergonomic standard. The labor movement fought for 10 years to initiate the standard, designed to protect workers from repetitive motion injuries. The administration has also limited the participation of unions in formerly joint union-management committees on worker safety. President Bush has appointed management representatives to head agencies that are supposed to protect workers. David Lauriski, now head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, spent more than 30 years in the coal mining industry, and in his new position he has moved to weaken standards to protect miners from coal dust and diesel matter. [Louisville Courier-Journal, 8/04] |
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