Child Labor Coalition: U.S. should implement proposed farm safety rules for children – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

March 27, 2012

Washington, DC–Legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress in March 2012 to block proposed safety rules for child farmworkers will endanger children who work on farms, said advocates from the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), representing more than two dozen organizations concerned with protecting working youth. The group called on the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to implement immediately its proposed updates to safety rules listing dangerous agricultural tasks that are off limits to hired child farmworkers.

“The Department of Labor’s proposed safety rules are rooted in expert research and designed to protect child farmworkers,” said Sally Greenberg, the executive director of the National Consumers League and the co-chair of the CLC. “Agriculture has long been exempt from many child labor and occupational safety protections granted to all other industries. As new farm equipment is developed and our knowledge of pesticides and other risks to children evolve, it only makes sense to update the list of tasks that employers should not be allowed to hire children to do.”

The 15 proposed rules—known as “hazardous occupation orders”—would, for the first time in decades, update the list of farm tasks considered too dangerous for children under age 16 working for hire. New restrictions would include operating certain heavy machinery, working in silos and grain storage facilities, and handling pesticides.

Bill S. 2221, introduced on March 21 by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), would stop the Labor Department from issuing the occupational child safety rules. A version was introduced March 7 in the House (H.R. 4157) by Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa), with the misleading title, “Preserving America’s Family Farms Act.”

The Department of Labor has long held responsibility for restricting employers from hiring children to do tasks that are considered hazardous. In agriculture, those restrictions lift at age 16; while in all other jobs, hazardous work cannot be done until age 18. The rules do not apply to children working on farms owned or operated by their parents, and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis said at a House hearing recently that she intends to expand the “parental exemption” to allow children to work without safety restriction on farms owned by other relatives.

Agricultural exemptions to U.S. child labor law allow children to work for hire at age 12 on any farm with their parents’ consent. There is no minimum age for children to work on small farms.

Agriculture is the most dangerous industry open to children. Three quarters of working children under age 16 who died from work-related injuries in 2010 worked in agriculture. Thousands more are injured each year. Agricultural injuries tend to be much more severe than other youth injuries according to a new study in the April 2012 edition of the journal Pediatrics, resulting in a hospitalization rate that is 10 times as high as that in all other industries.

“As a former child farm worker, I know how dangerous the fields can be,” said Norma Flores Lopez, the Children in the Fields Campaign Director for the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs. “Pesticides, razor-sharp tools, and farm machinery were ever-present dangers. Last summer two 17-year-olds in Oklahoma lost their legs in a grain augur accident. Banning grain facility work, which killed 26 workers in 2010, would prevent those tragedies from happening to others.”

The proposed legislation inaccurately suggests that the proposed safety rules would make it difficult for children to work or get hands-on training on farms. Instead the Department of Labor’s proposed rules merely require more rigorous training for some hazardous work and remove training exemptions for other tasks.

“The Department of Labor’s proposed safety rules would be a huge leap forward in keeping children safer while they’re at work and while they’re learning to be farmers,” said Zama Coursen-Neff, deputy children’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “Job training for farmworker youth is important, but it shouldn’t involve the few tasks that experts find are most likely to kill and maim them.”

The proposed legislation also inaccurately implies that occupational child safety rules would be an attack on the family farm.

“The proposed rules represent long-overdue protections for children working for hire in farm communities,” said Reid Maki, the CLC coordinator. “They will save lives and preserve the health of farm children so they can grow up to be farmers. The department should implement them as soon as possible.”

“We must push back against the attacks against safety protections for children,” said Lorretta Johnson, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers and a co-chair of the CLC. “It is our task to protect the most vulnerable in our society and all over the world. All children should be afforded the opportunity to go to school and thrive and not be placed in harm’s way by working in the fields or in other dangerous occupations.”

###

About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is comprised of 28 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women’s groups. It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers. Its mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. For more information, please call CLC Coordinator Reid Maki at (202) 207-2820 [reidm@nclnet.org].

Health care in America on trial this week – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director

This is a very big week for health care in America. The constitutionality of Affordable Care Act is being argued in the Supreme Court. This landmark legislation that provides near universal health care in America after many decades of failed attempts – and that groups like NCL have been working for throughout our history- is in hot dispute. Despite the fact that the United States remains the only Western country that doesn’t provide universal health care for its citizens, this one issue has generated more noise – on the right in particular – than practically anything else.

This highly unusual argument is going to be spread over three days. Tuesday the court will hear from proponents and opponents on the individual mandate’s constitutionality.

The law’s opponents include 26 states that are arguing that Congress has no power under the Constitution to order people to buy anything-and that if the law stands, Congress will have sweeping new authority to dictate our behavior. Also on the table is whether – if the individual mandate is struck, and I hope it isn’t because the law really doesn’t work without it – whether the rest of the law falls down.

One lower court has ruled that individual mandate is unconstitutional, but several others said it could remain. The thing is, the public wants people to be covered even if they have a pre-existing condition and parents want their kids covered til 26, especially since many young people don’t have jobs. Both are guarantees in the ACA.

The Court will also review requirements that poor people be covered by the states, and imposes new requirements on the states to ensure that this coverage is available. I agree with those who believe that this case may be the most important set of rulings since FDR’s New Deal legislation was challenged at the Supreme Court.

Florence Kelley, NCL’s first leader, was stymied in many of her initiatives – minimum wage, maximum hours and child labor laws when the Court struck such laws she worked so hard to get enacted. (though she – and Justice Brandeis won the right for women to be covered by maximum hours laws in Muller v. Oregon) But ultimately, justice won out and all are laws and protections we cherish today. I can only hope that the Affordable Healthcare Act withstands the challenges and survives intact.

But if we lose this round, and I don’t think we will, I expect that justice will ultimately win out and Americans will enjoy universal health care at long last.

NCL urges AG Holder to do more to protect consumers from fraud – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By John Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud

Earlier this month Executive Director Sally Greenberg and I, along with representatives from several national consumer groups, met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.  The meetings, part of the task force’s Consumer Protection Summit, were an opportunity for NCL to discuss emerging fraud trends and recommend solutions to the country’s highest law enforcement officer.

Greenberg called on Attorney General Holder and the members of the task force to do more to protect consumers from fraud on a number of fronts.

First, she urged the task force to bring Internet scammers to justice, particularly those fraudsters operating overseas.  NCL’s Fraud Center staff routinely hears from fraud victims who are as frustrated by international fraudsters’ seeming immunity from justice as they are by the crime itself.  Greenberg called on the task force to publicize high-profile extraditions and prosecutions of overseas scam artists to serve as a warning to those who would victimize American consumers.

Second, Greenberg called for revisiting consumer education initiatives to measure the effectiveness of different strategies for getting consumers to change their behavior.  Too often, she said, there appears to be a diminishing return on the consumer education dollar and rarely do consumer protection agencies have good visibility into what works and what doesn’t.  She urged the task force to consider making more government-owned complaint data available to the general public so that emerging fraud trends can be identified earlier.

Finally, she highlighted the frustration that advocates feel at the seeming ubiquity of advertisements for dubious or outright fraudulent products and services on television and radio. She called on the task force to work with broadcasters and cable channels to ensure that they are doing their due diligence when vetting potential advertisers so as to keep fraudulent ads off the airwaves.

President Obama created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in the wake of the 2008-09 financial crisis.  Its goal is to bring financial scammers to justice, get restitution for victims and address financial discrimination on Wall Street.  More than two-dozen federal law enforcement agencies participate in the task force.  The task force maintains a website at StopFraud.gov with news on recent law enforcement actions, tips on avoiding scams and information for victims of financial fraud.

Verizon decision to end third-party billing a victory for consumers – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

March 12, 2012

Contact: NCL Communications, (202) 835-3323, media@nclnet.org

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League today applauded Verizon for its pro-consumer decision to protect its customers from cramming fraud by ceasing to provide third-party billing for most non-telecommunications services. NCL, along with a coalition of allies in the public interest community, has long urged the industry to end wireline third-party billing for so-called “enhanced” services.

“We commend Verizon for taking an important step to protect its subscribers from cramming fraud that affects millions of consumers annually,” said John Breyault, the League’s Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud. “Third-party billing is the tool that allows cramming to flourish.  We would urge other telephone companies to follow Verizon’s lead, heed the advice of consumer groups, the FTC and state attorneys general and end wireline third-party billing once and for all.”

In late 2011, NCL led a coalition of consumer groups in filing comments calling on the Federal Communications Commission to adopt common-sense rules that prohibit third-party billing for “enhanced” services.  This system allows unscrupulous scam artists to use consumers’ telephone bills like a credit card, charging them for anything from directory listings to “enhanced fax” and even online diet services.

As the Senate Commerce Committee found in a July 2011 report, industry self-regulatory efforts since the late 1990’s have failed to control an epidemic of cramming fraud.  Indeed, the telecommunications industry was found to have profited handsomely from a third-party billing system that enabled fraud to proliferate.  In response to the Committee’s findings, NCL called on Congress to enact legislation, based on successful Vermont state law that prohibits wireline third-party billing for services not overseen by the FCC.

While Verizon’s announcement does not apply to third-party billing on wireless devices, NCL would urge the company as well as regulators and legislators to keep a close eye on this platform to ensure that crammers do not simply migrate from wireline to wireless billing systems.

###

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org.

Considering raw milk? This might spoil it for you – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

A recent outbreak of foodborne illness caused by raw milk has made headlines lately, sickening at least 80, and drawing more attention to a pretty controversial issue.

Raw milk advocates claim it has increased health benefits that commercially pasteurized milk doesn’t. Here’s one raw milk enthusiast’s blog. But experts like those at the FDA say not so fast. With all the rhetoric surrounding the topic, it can be difficult for consumers to get a straight answer about raw milk. NCL has recently published a Q and A for consumers considering switching to what fans call “real milk.” Check it out.

Business lobby seeking the repeal or end of anti-wage theft laws – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By Michell K. McIntyre, Director of NCL’s Special Project on Wage Theft

Incredible! The old adage “one step forward, two steps back” may soon apply to the groundbreaking New York Wage Theft Prevention Act of 2010 and the Miami-Dade County (Florida) Wage Theft Ordinance. These laws were designed to give workers stronger protections against employers who commit wage theft violations, usually in the form of unpaid wages.

New York

In the New York legislature, some state Republican senators are calling the Wage Theft Prevention Act “a burdensome, costly mandate on every employer in the state” and a “misguided job-killing regulation”. Unfortunately, these same state senators have been able to pass their bill, repealing the law, in the State Senate and are working to have the State Assembly pass a similar bill. The component that state senators seem to have the biggest problem with is the requirement that employers provide employees annually with a written notice on their wages in the primary language of the employee. How is a written notice that explains a person’s wages, in their primary language, be a job killer? The National Consumers League urges the New York Assembly to recognize this thinly veiled attempt by business groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Business Council to repeal a law that protects workers from an illegal action used by employers to help pad their bottom line and not support this GOP-sponsored bill.

Florida

In the Florida legislature, the Florida Retail Federation has joined forces with some state Republican House Members to pass a bill prohibiting all local governments from passing anti-wage theft ordinances. The bill is aimed at stopping counties and cities from following the lead of Miami-Dade County, which passed an ordinance in 2010 protecting workers from wage theft and set up procedures for workers to recover their unpaid wages.

Since the implementation of the anti-wage theft ordinance, the Miami-Dade County Small Business agency has recovered nearly $400,000 in unpaid wages for 313 workers who unlawfully had their wages withheld from them. According to the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy, the US Department of Labor recovered just under $16 million for more than 24,000 workers in Miami-Dade, Hillsborough, Broward, Palm Beach, and Orange counties. With all the rampant wage theft violations, especially in Florida’s key industries of tourism, retail trades, and construction, why would state legislators seek to prohibit the strengthening of protections for its workers?

In both states the business lobby seeks an end to the crack down on wage theft violations and the strengthening of worker protections. Do they care more about their bottom line than their employees? The answer seems clear.

Considering raw milk? Not so fast – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

With the recent outbreak of foodborne illness — which has sickened at least 80 — caused by raw milk, more attention has been drawn to this contentious issue. Advocates of drinking raw milk claim that it has increased health benefits not available in milk that has been commercially pasteurized. With all the rhetoric surrounding the topic, it can be difficult for consumers to get a straight answer about raw milk. Here are some basic things you should know to make healthy decisions for you and your family.

What is raw milk?

The term raw milk refers to milk that has not been pasteurized. Pasteurization is a processing step that involves heating milk in order to kill off any bacteria that may be living in it. These bacteria come from the cows that are milked, especially from feces.

Is raw milk legal?

The sale of raw milk across state lines is illegal throughout the United States. This means that it is not widely available. However, certain states do allow the sale of raw milk within their borders.

Is raw milk safe?

There are many risks to drinking raw milk. Pasteurization is an essential part of making conventional milk safe and has been so for decades. Without the benefit of pasteurization, bacteria which may be in milk are not killed and are given an opportunity to multiply and grow. Risk of foodborne illness is increased by the consumption of raw milk.

Does raw milk cause foodborne illness?

A recent report from the CDC showed that raw milk contributes substantially to the burden of foodborne illness in this country. While raw milk accounts for only 1 percent of the total milk drunk in the US, it accounted for 73 of 121 dairy-related foodborne illness outbreaks between 1993 and 2006. Additionally, the report showed that illnesses from raw milk were more severe and resulted in higher rates of hospitalization.

Why do some people choose raw milk?

Given the dangers associated with raw milk, one might reasonably ask what the supposed benefits to drinking it are. Proponents claim that raw milk helps ameliorate a number of health conditions, such as asthma. Despite anecdotal support for this claim, no scientific studies have confirmed that raw milk confers additional health benefits. Furthermore, raw milk is nutritionally equivalent to pasteurized milk.

Our recommendations when it comes to raw milk? Drinking it means taking a gamble with your health, so we strongly recommend against it. Especially avoid giving raw milk to young children, pregnant women, the elderly, or those with a compromised immune system.

Want to make $2 an hour? Neither do tipped workers – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By Michell K. McIntyre, Director of NCL’s Special Project on Wage Theft 

You think your pay is low? You should check out the federal minimum wage for tipped workers – $2.13 an hour.

While nearly all of the non-agricultural jobs in the U.S. must pay the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, tipped workers (servers, bartenders, bussers, etc.) make the federal minimum wage of $2.13 an hour – frozen since 1991 due to the strong-arm tactics of the restaurant industry tapping down the calls for change. Employers are allowed by law to pay $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as tips make up the difference between $2.13 and $7.25, however surveys and interviews with workers indicate that employers frequently ignore this requirement – a clear example of wage theft.

Now you may think – ‘That’s low but okay since most tipped workers are teenagers looking for pocket-money.’  That’s not true – the restaurant industry employs 10 million workers in one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy. It offers some of the country’s lowest paying jobs, with little to no access to benefits and career advancement.

A report, Tipped Over the Edge: Gender Inequality in the Restaurant Industry by the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), paints the disturbing picture of gender exploitation and abuses throughout an industry that is set to make record profits, even in this current economy. Women make up nearly two-thirds of workers in tipped occupations and are more than 71 percent of wait staff – the largest group of tipped workers. According to Terry O’Neill, President of the National Organization for Women Foundation, the gender wage gap is stark: women servers are paid only 68 percent of what men in the same job are paid ($17,000 vs. $25,000 annually) and African-American women are paid only 60 percent of what their male counterparts are paid. The poverty rate for women, in tipped occupations, is nearly three times the poverty rate for all workers. According to ROC United, ‘servers rely on food stamps at nearly double the rate of the general population’ – meaning, after serving customers food all day they can’t afford to eat.

Is there any light at the end of this long tunnel and what can we do about it? There maybe some light, Congresswoman Donna Edwards has introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, the WAGES Act (H.S. 631), which seeks to raise the federal minimum wage for all tipped employees. Unfortunately, she only has 27 co-sponsors, to date, and with the powerful restaurant industry – mostly run by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) – it will be an uphill battle.

For more information on the federal tipped minimum wage please check out ROC United, National Women’s Law Center, and the National Employment Law Project.

Spring is in the air – achoo! – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

Spring seems to be arriving earlier than ever this year, and — along with it — allergy season. As seasons change and rains bring budding trees, green lawns, and fields of flowers, millions of Americans are plagued with spring allergies. More than 35 million people in the United States suffer from allergic rhinitis — and some may be surprised to learn it’s possible to develop allergies later in life as well. It is estimated that the work missed due to allergies amounts to $250 million annually. So, what’s an allergy sufferer to do?

Seasonal allergies often come in three forms: eye allergies (conjunctivitis), skin reactions (dermatitis), and the most common – allergic rhinitis. More than 35 million people in the United States suffer from allergic rhinitis, and it is estimated that the work missed due to allergies amounts to $250 million annually.

Pollen triggers

The first pollen triggers tend to come from tree pollen, especially in the northern parts of the country. Grass pollen tends to fill the air in late spring. Mold allergens emerge after the first thaw through the first frost, and peak in the late-summer throughout much of the United States.

If you are unsure of your allergy triggers, you can visit your primary care doctor or an allergist to have a skin test.  An allergy skin test is the quickest, cheapest, and most accurate way to determine what allergies you have.

Once you know your triggers, it is important to check the local pollen counts and to stay ahead of the triggers.  If you decide to treat your allergies with medication, you should ideally start your over-the-counter allergy regimen 1-2 weeks before the pollen season begins.

Allergy treatment: avoid pollen

There are many ways to treat allergies. One of the best ways is to avoid the pollen.

  • Keep windows and doors shut at home and in the car – pollen makes its way through screens and open spaces and into your carpeting, seats, and bedding.
  • Avoid peak pollen periods – try to avoid early- to mid-morning outdoor activity when pollen counts are highest.
  • Minimize pollen contact – if spending a lot of time outside, remove and wash clothes upon returning inside, try to rinse the pollen off your body with a shower, and even consider wearing a dust mask if spending a lot of time in a pollen-rich environment.
  • Be careful with pets who go outside – don’t let pets who play outside spend time on your couches or beds, as they will bring pollen with them.
  • Don’t hang laundry outside to dry – pollen will stick to clothes that have been hanging outside.

Hot, dry or windy days result in higher pollen counts and often spread the pollen beyond the source; rain helps lower pollen counts by washing it away.

Allergy treatment: medications

Seasonal allergies can also be treated with medications, usually OTC medications. The first step in treating allergic rhinitis is to use over-the-counter, non-sedating antihistamines each morning. If you are still congested, try using a saline nasal rinse or an oral decongestant (talk to your doctor if you have high blood pressure).  Saline nasal rinses, when used 1-3 times daily, help reduce congestion and sinus drainage.

If you are unable to find relief through these treatments, talk to your doctor about other options, including corticosteroid nose spray.

You can also treat many allergy-related problems with simple over-the-counter remedies such as lozenges for sore throats and antihistamine drops for itchy, watery eyes.

Talk to your doctor

If you continue to feel badly, are unsure of your symptoms, or have questions about seasonal allergies, talk with your doctor or care team.

CPSC database turns one – National Consumers League

/in imported/by

By Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director 

March 11, 2012 marks the first anniversary of the launch of the Consumer Product Safety Commission database, which can be found at www.SaferProducts.gov.

I recently gave the consumer perspective on the database at the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO) annual meeting in Florida. The creation of the safety database has been a longstanding interest of mine and of other consumer advocates. In 2007, while working at Consumers Union, I testified before the Senate asking that consumers have access to critical information about products that have caused injury or harm.

We said then that consumers need and want safety information when making an important purchase. Whether it be buying a car, lawn mower, or items for a baby, consumers want the benefit of information about a certain product’s safety record. The database was finally authorized by Congress and I believe it is one of the most important consumer tools to emerge from Washington in several years.  A lot of work goes towards ensuring the database is as accurate as possible. When consumers lodge a complaint, the CPSC gives the named manufacturer 10 days to respond before the incident is made public. Consumers also have to provide specific information about the product and the information is then screened by CPSC for accuracy.

How is the database working for consumers? Well, there have been 6,300 incidents posted in less than one year. That tells me that the database has been a great success, despite an effort by some manufacturers and their supporters in Congress to shut it down. For example, Representative Joann Emerson, a Republican of Missouri who sits on the House Appropriations committee, said about the database: “Funding should go for other priorities of the agency before being spent on a poor and inaccurate resource for consumers.”

With all due respect, I beg to differ with the Congresswoman. Let’s look at the data on inaccuracies- of the 1,600 reports now included in the database, only 194 were found to contain inaccurate information, most often because the consumer mistakenly named the wrong manufacturer or model number of the product and CPSC’s Communications Director, Scott Wolfson said that most of these mistakes are “easily corrected.” In fact, there’s been several analyses of the database. An analysis from the House Commerce Committee Democratic staff last June contained these findings:

  • Only a few months after it was launched, the database had more than 1,600 incident reports from consumers, health care professionals, and public safety officials, 1/3 of those reports involved deaths or injuries.
  • 11 incidents reports were of fatalities – infants dying in cribs and playpens, and teenagers and adults killed riding ATVs.
  • The database contained 483 reports of incidents that resulted in injuries, including to children suffering amputations when their fingers got trapped in the hinges of strollers with the stroller make and model provided so other consumers can be aware of the problem.
  • Many other reports were of product defects that could cause injury – a baby gate whose hinges broke and fell down the stairs, a hair dryer that sparked when a Mom was drying her daughter’s hair, front loading washing machine that burned the clothes, and electronics that began overheating and smoking with normal use.

Kids and Cars Analysis:

Another analysis from the nonprofit group Kids in Danger that has done so much excellent work on product safety and children also analyzed 2,433 entries on the database from April 1 to August 1, finding that:

  • 20% of the reports involved injuries to children.
  • 14% of the reports involved recalled products, telling us we need to do a better job of getting them out of the marketplace
  • Product failures – like Pogo sticks coming apart or improperly constructed trampolines were very much in evidence.

Then the CPSC itself has its own analysis. As for the accuracy of the information in the database, the CPSC’s analysis shows that 84 percent of 6,300 reports include the model and serial numbers. Eighty-two percent of people who filed reports also allowed their contact information to be passed on to the manufacturing company, allowing the company to address their complaints.

I think these numbers demonstrate the overwhelming success of the website. Why? Because it is doing exactly what Congress intended it to do and doing so with a lot of specificity. And it is giving consumers who encounter dangerous products a place to go to help warn other consumers so they don’t get injured.

Let me add that what goes onto the website is very carefully screened by CPSC: consumers can’t just post any old piece of information. They need to provide a description of the product or substance, the name of the manufacturer, they must describe the death, injury or illness caused by the product, and they must provide a date when the incident occurred.  Then *upon filing, the consumer must say who they are – consumer, a health care professional etc, provide their name and address, and verify that the report is accurate.

Consumers are offering very detailed and very helpful reports of their interactions with products, information that is useful to consumers and manufacturers alike. One mother found her son’s head wedged under a baby bumper – the manufacturer of the bumper refused her a refund since she hadn’t bought it from them directly. Another found a bottom tubular rail of a crib had collapsed. The manufacturer’s website was down so she couldn’t report it to them. One grandmother bought a crib and tried to put it together but it lacked an important part. When she called the manufacturer they said they knew there was a problem and would send her the part.

And I think the staff at the CPSC have done a marvelous job in designing the website – including 10 days to respond a posting, CSPC has provided more than due process to manufacturers and retailers who wish to comment, respond or defend their product.

Once again, consumer advocates believe the database has provided an invaluable tool for consumers and to consumers’ great  credit, they have more than risen to the occasion. There has long been a demand for this kind of place to share information and I’m proud of consumers for their many responses.

To the manufacturers who are seeing defunding of the database, and your supporters in Congress  – we ask you to resist the urge to shoot the messenger.  A far better approach would be to embrace the database, review it daily, and find out where the hazards are. A quick response and a fix of the hazard could prevent lawsuits and most importantly, you’ll be demonstrating that your first priority is to protect the health and safety of the customers that buy your products and keep you in business!

*Links are no longer active as the original sources have removed the content, sometimes due to federal website changes or restructurings.