In memoriam: The lasting impact of miner advocate Donald L. Rasmussen’s work – National Consumers League

Donald L. Rasmussen, a physician and dedicated advocate for coal miners’ health reform, died on July 23 due to the complications of a fall in May. His impact on the lives of coal miners was unforgettable and we hope to pay tribute to his life by sharing his accomplishments.

Shortly before Rasmussen was employed at the Miners Memorial Hospital in Beckley, West Virginia in 1962, black lung disease was only known to be detected by x-rays. Rasmussen quickly learned that through exercise, he could determine if his patient was suffering from a respiratory issue. He discovered that even when the disease couldn’t be viewed by x-rays, it could be detected by blood and treadmill endurance tests.

Rasmussen said that once he convinced the hospital to invest in a blood gas analyzer, the first patient he tested showed signs of severe lung disease. He found that in the 50,000 miners he had examined during his career, signs of black lung disease could be found in 40 percent. By bringing attention to this new method of diagnosis, he opened the door to healthcare benefits for a far wider group of miners.

At the time, doctors sided with mining companies and the companies attributed the disease to smoking or the reckless work of their employees. Cecil E. Roberts of the United Mine Workers of America said of Rasmussen: “When other doctors were taking the company line and denying that black lung disease existed, Dr. Rasmussen was testifying before state legislatures and Congress, fighting to win recognition that breathing coal dust was killing miners.” Rasmussen implored the government to recognize the greed and negligence of mining companies and save countless lives.

Rasmussen fought with the help of a team of physicians, consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and West Virginia democrat representative Ken Hechler to pass legislation that would ensure the compensation of miners affected and the protection of miners for generations to come. The passage of the laws to reduce the dust miners were legally allowed to be exposed to fueled the fire that led to the ousting of UMWA president W.A. Boyle from office. In 1968, Rasmussen testified before state legislatures and Congress to win recognition of the fact that breathing coal dust was killing workers and also presented his findings to groups of miners in union halls.

November 1968 marked a turning point for his cause when 78 miners were killed in a coal dust and methane explosion. This prompted miners to strike and ultimately led to the passage of the 1969 Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. Passed to provide compensation to disabled workers and limit the amount of dust allowed in coal mines, this law had a monumental impact on the conditions for workers in the mining industry.

Dr. Rasmussen was recognized for his work in 1968 when he received the American Public Health Association’s presidential award. He did not regard himself as a hero, but rather he said “I never felt like I was leading a charge, I don’t see myself as an advocate. I saw the miners who needed help… I was just a physician performing my duty.” Rasmussen’s fight to improve the safety of workers in the mining industry is inspiring. Today we stand with the UMWA in their continuing struggle to secure safer working conditions, pensions, and healthcare, and Dr. Rasmussen’s legacy will live on through the improved quality of life for all mine workers.

NCL intern Taylor Zeitlin contributed to this article.

Photo credit: By Corn, Jack, 1929-, Photographer (NARA record: 8464440) (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

World Day Against Child Labor event exposes dangers of child tobacco workers – National Consumers League

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The Child Labor Coalition, Human Rights Watch, International Labor Rights Forum, and NC Field recently joined together at a congressional briefing to share their perspectives on putting a stop to child labor in the dangerous tobacco industry in the United States and abroad, in honor of World Day Against Child Labor. Norma Flores-Lopez, the governance and collaboration and development manager of East Coast Migrant Head Start, the chair of Domestic Issues Committee of the Child Labor Coalition, and a former child laborer herself, was the moderator for the event. Four panelists were featured at the event to express their desire to combat exploitative child labor in the tobacco industry. 

Celia Ortiz, a tobacco worker from the age of 11 to 19 in North Carolina, gave a moving speech. Ortiz bravely described a typical day in the tobacco field as a teen. This included waking up at 5 a.m. to go blindly into work without any proper equipment, instructions, or warnings of the hazards of the job. 

She would work for hours on end, wearing a black trash bag in the summer heat with no water, breaks, or a proper bathroom. Ortiz said, “It was either you burn to death in the trash bag or you get wet and get sick.” The child laborers working the field with her all wore black trash bags over their clothes to protect themselves from the nicotine absorbing into their skin when the tobacco was wet from condensation. But, this was clearly not adequate protection because Ortiz recalled experiencing Green Tobacco Sickness at least twice each summer. “It is such a horrible feeling. I can’t even describe it,” said Ortiz about the ailment.

The former child laborer said that she was afraid to speak up about the unfair working circumstances because she would lose her job and not be able to support herself or her family. “I knew it was wrong that there were no bathrooms. I knew it was wrong that they were spraying pesticides around us. But I couldn’t say anything,” recounted Ortiz, who was forced to urinate on the side of the road instead of having a proper bathroom to use.

She said she wanted to prove to the adults that she could do the job without any complaints and that she was a good worker. Ortiz explained that she, like millions of other child laborers worldwide, needed the money and was not old enough to get a job elsewhere in a safer and more regulated environment. Ortiz concluded with, “I’m here today to give you an image of what it’s like. But it’s even worse out there for some other people.”

Zama Coursen-Neff, the executive director of the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch, presented results from the Human Rights Watch report, which surveyed 141 child laborers in the U.S. Her organization found that there were children working all aspects of tobacco, including cultivating and harvesting the perilous crop. These kids were forced to work 50 to 60 hours a week in extreme heat with sharp tools and exposed to with pesticides. Three-fourths of these child workers reported getting sick at work, and two-thirds of them experienced acute nicotine poisoning, or otherwise referred to as Green Tobacco Sickness, which occurs when nicotine gets wet and is absorbed through the skin. Those affected by Green Tobacco Sickness recount feeling dizzy and like they “were going to die.”

Coursen-Neff pointed to a loophole in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which provides no protections for kids working in tobacco. She said, “There’s no way to make working in tobacco safe for children.” And although some progress has been made in policies that are helping child laborers in tobacco, Coursen-Neff added, “These policy changes are important. But they are not enough. It is time to close the loopholes that leaves the U.S. behind other countries and leaves kids without protections that others have.”

Judy Gearhart, the executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, spoke on Malawi’s addiction to tobacco. Sixty percent of the country’s export is tobacco and the tobacco industry is its largest private sector employer. Gearhart explained that due to living in abject poverty, Malawians often enter bonded labor, in which a person’s labor is pledged for the repayment of a debt or obligation. But those entering bonded labor in Malawi are often exploited and stuck in their poor circumstances. People migrate up to the tobacco farms for work, and then it becomes very difficult to leave so they become trapped. The International Labor Rights Forum reported that these workers typically only make about $50 a year.

Malawi is categorized as a Tier 2 in the Trafficking in Persons Report published by the U.S. Department of State. A Tier 2 label is given to countries whose governments do not fully comply with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s (TVPA) minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards. Gearhart expressed that there are solutions being proposed to help the problem of child labor in tobacco. She added, “We can’t just treat the symptoms of child labor, we need to treat the problem. We need to give the worker the dignity to sit at the table and negotiate a solution.”

The general secretary of the Tobacco and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOAWUM), Raphael Sandramu, also spoke of his personal understanding of child laborers involved in the tobacco industry in Malawi. He told attendees at the briefing: “Anyone in Malawi who sees [child labor] as a problem and wants to find a solution is seen as an enemy.” Sandramu explained that families are trafficked 500 kilometers away from their homes to work on tobacco farms with the hopes of making enough money to support their families and survive. The man of the family would sign a contract to work on the tobacco fields, but the man’s entire family was subject to the contract, and circumstances were often terribly unfair.

The laws are that no children under the age of 18 are allowed to work on tobacco fields; there are even signs on the fields that say “No workers under 18,” but these facades are far from the reality that children in Malawi face. Sandramu said he would see children as young as five years old working. And although his talk focused on child labor in Malawi, Sandruma said, “This is a worldwide problem, so let’s please join hands to bring an end to it.”

Child Soldier Draws Meaningful Similarities Between His Experiences and Education in America – National Consumers League

sidibay_edit.jpgMohamed Sidibay was born into the war-ridden country of Sierra Leone, which was engulfed in a brutal civil war from 1991 to 2002. Although he has been through difficult experiences in his past, he does not view himself that different from anyone else. He graciously shared his story during a recent meeting of the Child Labor Coalition, which NCL co-chairs and coordinates. 

In 1995, rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) killed his parents and his two older siblings in his home when he was 3 years old, during the midst of the civil war. He was then abducted as a child soldier into the rebel army that was responsible for killing his family and robbing him of his childhood. For the next seven years, he was equipped with a gun and forced to kill on behalf of the RUF. Before the meeting of child labor advocates, Sidibay recalled being mentally and physically stuck while longing to escape. He wanted to run away and go home, although he didn’t know where “home” was.  But, if he ran away, he knew there was a possibility that his captors would find him and kill him—captors who, on the other hand, could decide to kill him at any moment even if he stayed.

By the time the war ended in 2002, Sidibay was free but had not known any other life than that of following commands from murderers under the fear of being killed. Adjusting to civilian life was not easy for Sidibay, who was shunned and rejected by those in his community for what he had been forced to do. Although readjustment posed new kinds of challenges, Sidibay was determined to create a new life for himself. He didn’t want to erase his past, but to overcome it. “Our past and present make us who were are, without our past, we are incomplete. And without our present, we don’t exist,” said Sidibay.

The Family Homes Movement rescued Sidibay when he was 9 years old. From then on, he was just shifted around from one organization to another. At the age of 13, Sidibay managed to come to America. All he had in his pocket was $40 and an iPod. As a student in America, Sidibay would look around the classroom and see only African American students, with a few exceptions. He was advised to try to get into more difficult classes. In his higher-level classes, Sidibay looked around and saw a classroom full of white students. This is when he realized the segregation of America’s school system. Having been deprived of an education for most of his early years, Sidibay understood the importance of education. This is why he now advocates for eliminating the disparity in education in America.

 “It is my belief that if you give a man the world, that would can fall apart. But, if you give a man education, then he can rebuild that world,” said Sidibay. He hopes to use his education to give a voice to the voiceless – those fellow former and current child soldiers who cannot speak for themselves. Today, Sidibay is studying at George Washington University and is involved with the GW STAND chapter, an organization that works to “empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide.” 

Outrage! End child labor in American tobacco fields – National Consumers League

They are far too young to legally purchase cigarettes, yet children as young as 7 are being permitted to work in American tobacco fields and to be exposed to acute nicotine poisoning. Momentum is building to ban child labor from U.S. tobacco fields, as news is spreading of this American disgrace. Learn what is being done about this and how you can get involved.

 

For decades, advocates at the National Consumers League (NCL) and the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), which NCL co-chairs, have called for closing the loopholes that allow young children to work in agriculture. Exemptions to U.S. child labor law permit children to work long hours in the fields.

In May, CLC member organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the dangers in a report, Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming, finding that three-quarters of more than 140 child workers in tobacco fields interviewed in several states reported falling ill. Many of their symptoms—nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, headaches, and dizziness—are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning, or “Green Tobacco Sickness.”

In July, 53 groups signed onto a CLC letter urging the largest tobacco corporations to take voluntary action to ban children from tobacco fields. Last month, 50 organizations wrote President Obama to urge greater protections for child tobacco workers.

In September, the New York Times profiled child laborers in tobacco fields, exposing the horrific working conditions. Following the story, the Council for Burley Tobacco, an industry group that represents 5,000 tobacco growers, publicly distanced itself from child labor in tobacco fields: “We do not condone the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 for work in tobacco anywhere in the world.”

Congress has responded to advocates’ cries. In July, Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) introduced legislation that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to eliminate child labor on tobacco farms. In September, Rep. Matt Cartwright (P-PA) called for regulatory reform that would strengthen the laws that protect these child workers. In the Senate, a 16-member coalition led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) wrote a letter to the largest tobacco corporations asking them to ban work by minors.

Advocates are hoping the recent media attention will raise awareness about the plight of these working minors and contribute to the momentum needed to enact reforms.

“As a nation, we have turned our backs on some of America’s most vulnerable workers. In tobacco-producing states, children as young as seven years old are facing Third World conditions,” NCL Executive Director and CLC Co-Chair Sally Greenberg wrote in an editorial that appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal. “Toiling in the hot sun, these child workers must don black plastic trash bags with holes poked for their head and arms to avoid contact with tobacco leaves. Without it, their skin absorbs nicotine — a lot of nicotine. On a humid day, when tobacco leaves are dripping with dew, a tobacco worker may be exposed to levels of nicotine equivalent to smoking three dozen cigarettes. Nearly a two-pack-a-day habit.”

For decades, health and child labor advocates have called for reforms to our laws to better protect the children working in American fields across all of agriculture. In 2012, they experienced a devastating setback when the Obama Administration buckled to the agriculture lobby and legislators from tobacco-producing states, withdrawing rules that would have increased protections for child farmworkers. The rules would have specifically banned tobacco work for children under 16.

“So often, we condemn labor abuses on the other side of the world,” said CLC Coordinator Reid Maki. “But we have a national disgrace right here in America. We must hold ourselves to the same or higher standards and no longer turn a blind eye to the scourge that is child labor in American tobacco. We must enact regulations to protect the nation’s most vulnerable workers—our children—from this dangerous work.”

What you can do

HRW has created an online petition calling on companies, urging them to require that growers in their supply chain hire only workers who are 18 years or older to work in hazardous jobs on tobacco farms, including any tasks where they have direct contact with tobacco plants or cured tobacco, and to develop an effective monitoring mechanism that ensures these rules are understood and respected. Get involved! Sign the petition and share it with friends today!

NCL: Protect children in tobacco fields – National Consumers League

childtobacco.jpgAs a nation, we have turned our backs on some of America’s most vulnerable workers. Right here, in Kentucky and other tobacco-producing states, children as young as 7 years old are facing Third World conditions. Toiling in the hot sun, these child workers must don black plastic trash bags with holes poked for their head and arms to avoid contact with tobacco leaves. Without it, their skin absorbs nicotine — a lot of nicotine. On a humid day, when tobacco leaves are dripping with dew, a tobacco worker may be exposed to levels of nicotine equivalent to smoking three dozen cigarettes. Nearly a two-pack-a-day habit.

America boasts progressive labor laws, yet hundreds of children working in our fields are subject to unhealthy, unsafe levels of nicotine exposure. These young workers often suffer from “green tobacco sickness,” which leads to dizziness, nausea, vomiting and other health complications. We should be ashamed that the laws protecting American child laborers on U.S. tobacco farms are weaker than the laws in many developing nations. In India and Brazil, for example, people younger than 18 are not legally allowed to work in tobacco fields. In America, children can work in tobacco fields at 16, and — in certain situations — children can legally begin working in other types of agriculture at 12 years of age.

As the most powerful country in the world, what kind of example are we setting?

It is time for our collective conscience to be stirred.

No longer can we turn our backs to the reality of girls in Kentucky working long hours in the fields through bouts of nausea and dizziness, making less than minimum wage. No longer should we ignore the image of a young man in North Carolina, thirsty, tired, and ill after working a 12-hour shift in the fields. Many of these young laborers come largely from Latino immigrant families, working with virtually no protections and in constant fear of losing their jobs. These horrid working conditions for children have no place in America.

Americans are rejecting cigarettes in record numbers: Today 18 percent of us smoke, compared with 45 percent in the 1950s. American retailers are discontinuing sales: CVS has sacrificed $2 billion a year in profit by removing tobacco products from its shelves. We are finally making progress in reducing tobacco use, yet we cannot muster the resolve to prevent children from being exposed to nicotine via dangerous, difficult farmwork.

For decades, health and child labor advocates have called for reforms to our agriculture laws to better protect the children working in our fields. In 2012, these advocates — and American child farmworkers — suffered a devastating defeat when the Obama Administration buckled to the powerful agriculture lobby and legislators from tobacco-producing states, withdrawing rules that would have increased protections for child farmworkers and specifically banned tobacco work for children under 16.

Efforts to right this wrong are building momentum.

In May, Human Rights Watch released a jarring report documenting the working conditions of 141 children, ages 7 to 17, who work in U.S. tobacco fields. This led to a rapid response by the advocacy community who, on Aug. 28, sent a letter to the president urging him to take immediate action to protect child tobacco workers. The letter, written by the Child Labor Coalition, a group of more than 30 advocacy organizations that is co-chaired by the National Consumers League, was signed by more than 50 groups.

On Sept. 6, the New York Times profiled child laborers in tobacco fields, exposing the unthinkable conditions under which these children work. And more recently, the Council for Burley Tobacco, an industry group that represents 5,000 tobacco growers, stated publicly: “We do not condone the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 for work in tobacco anywhere in the world.”

In the halls of Congress, there too now exists a glimmer of hope for new legislation that would better protect children in tobacco fields. In July, Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., introduced legislation that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to eliminate child labor on tobacco farms. More recently, Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa., has called for regulatory reform that would strengthen laws that protect these child workers. In the Senate, 16 members, led by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, wrote a letter to the largest tobacco corporations asking them to ban work by minors.

We are now at a critical juncture. The tobacco harvest is at its peak, and the children picking this crop face green tobacco sickness every day they work in the fields.

So often we are disapproving of labor abuses on the other side of the world. We must hold ourselves to that same standard, and no longer turn a blind eye to this national disgrace that is happening in our own backyards. We must enact regulations to protect the nation’s most vulnerable — our children — from this dangerous work.

This Sally Greenberg op-ed was originally published in the Courier-Journal on Thursday, October 2, 2014.

Paycheck fairness: Fighting for moms and all women

In this week leading up to Mother’s Day, advocates working across the country in workplace fairness and women’s health are focusing on issues that affect women – in particular mothers – and their economic security. We can strengthen the American family by better protecting women in our workforce and eliminating the pay gap that, on average, results in a woman making 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.

Advocates are ramping up this week to draw attention to workplace issues affecting women, ranging from pregnancy discrimination to sick leave and health care. Congressional events and daily “tweetstorms” at 3pm EST will explore the following themes:

  • Monday – Maternal Health & Child Care
  • Tuesday – Pregnancy Discrimination
  • Wednesday – Paid Leave & Paid Sick Days
  • Thursday – Equal Pay & Minimum Wage
  • Friday – Health

You can follow and join the National Consumers League and our partners in the chats using the hashtag #WhatMothersNeed.

One of the biggest issues facing women and their economic security is the lack of equality in pay. More than 50 years after John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, women continue to make far less than men. On average, a woman makes 77 cents for every dollar a man makes. A new effort in Congress is aiming to help reduce the barriers to equality faced by women in the United States, and NCL is getting involved.

The American gender pay gap is even more severe for women of color; African American women making just 64 cents for every dollar a white man makes, and Latina women make even less — 55 cents.  Over the course of a year, women will make significantly less than their white male counterpart: $10,784 for a white woman, $19,575 for an African American woman and $23,873 for a Latina woman.

Under current law, women often struggle to successfully sue their employers if they suspect they are victims of discriminatory workplace practices because the burden of proof needed to prove an employer has violated the law is too great.  The Paycheck Fairness Act would help reduce these barriers to equality. If the Paycheck Fairness Act were passed into law, women would be empowered to negotiate for equal pay in the workplace. New protections barring employers from punishing employees for discussing salaries with colleagues and requiring employers to prove pay disparities between men and women exists for legitimate reasons, would give women a renewed ability to pursue justice in our courts.

In April, the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) committee held a hearing on the Paycheck Fairness Act. On Equal Pay Day (April 8th) the Senate held a floor vote on the Act. However, they failed to make cloture on the bill. Equal Pay Day marks the day on the calendar that women’s earnings catch up to men’s earnings from the previous year. It takes a woman approximately 465 days to earn what a man, on average, earns in 365 days. Esther Peterson, one of the League’s past leaders, ran the US Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau in the Kennedy Administration and she called for equal pay for women. Today, the League continues that fight. NCL is working with members of the Senate HELP Committee on the Paycheck Fairness Act and meeting with Congressional staffers to educate and advocate for it along with other economic security bills including the Pregnant Worker Fairness Act, the FAMILY Act and the Minimum Wage Fairness Act.

A recent populist strain in the national political conversation has shined a bright spotlight on social and economic inequalities. The time is now for meaningful social and economic change and the passing of the Paycheck Fairness Act would be a great step in the right direction. The pulse of the nation is longing to eliminate inequalities between the rich and poor, old and young, women and men. From the fast food strikes held around the country in the second half of 2013, to President Obama boldly stating in his 2014 State of the Union address that, “Wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do,” to GAP declaring that they will raise the minimum wage for their employees to $10 an hour by 2015, the direction of the country is clear.

The fact that women get less money for equal work is not only a women’s issue but also a family issue. A woman is the primary breadwinner in four in 10 households with children under 18, according to a Pew Research Center Analysis. At a time when women contribute an increasingly growing percentage of a family’s income, 71 percent of mothers are part of the labor force, a pay gap unfairly targets children in households with single mothers or where both parents work. The Paycheck Fairness Act deserves a vote in Senate as women continue the long and steady march towards equality.

Go union-made for the Big Game – National Consumers League

With the Super Bowl nearly upon us, it’s time to start thinking about all the fun foods we might indulge in at Super Bowl parties. Everything from chips and dip to hotdogs and beer, Americans love having a good time while watching the Big Game.This year, consider buying union-made products – it’s easier than you may think and you can support American workers and American business.

This year it’s important to remember that when buying goodies for the big day, we look to include union-made products that support good-paying American jobs. That list is a bit bigger than one would suspect, especially with the pervasive assumption that nothing is made in the USA anymore. Consider serving some of these union-made items at your Super Bowl party.

And, at halftime, consider working off some of those calories with some backyard football featuring the same union-made game balls used in the Super Bowl – Wilson footballs. While cheering on your favorite NFL player, a member of the NFL Players Union, please take the time to think about all the things you enjoy that are brought to you by union jobs.

Snacks

  • Better Cheddars
  • Bugles
  • Chex Mix
  • Chips Ahoy!
  • Corn Nuts
  • Crunch & Munch
  • Delimex taquitos
  • Doritos
  • Frito-Lays chips & snacks
  • Ghirardelli chocolates
  • Heinz baked beans
  • Hormel chili
  • Kraft snack products
  • Lay’s potato chips
  • Oreos
  • Oroweat buns
  • Planter’s Nuts
  • Ritz Crackers
  • Rosarita refried beans
  • Sara Lee buns
  • Snyder of Berlin
  • Tostitos
  • Wheat Thins
  • Wise snacks

Meats

  • Armour sausages
  • Ball Park hot dogs
  • Butterball poultry
  • Eckrich sausages
  • Healthy choice poultry
  • Hebrew National hot dogs
  • Hormel hot dogs
  • Hormel poultry
  • Johnsonville brats
  • Nathan’s hot dogs
  • Oscar Meyer hot dogs
  • Tyson poultry

Condiments

 

  • French’s mustard
  • Gulden’s mustard
  • Heinz ketchup
  • Hidden Valley Ranch
  • Land O’Lakes butter
  • Lea & Perrins Worcester sauce
  • Old El Paso
  • Open Pit BBQ sauces
  • Pace salsa & picante sauces
  • Vlasic pickles

Soft drinks

 

  • Barq’s Root Beer
  • Coca-Cola
  • Minute Maid
  • Pepsi
  • Sprite
  • Welch’s

Beer

  • Anheuser Busch
  • Bud Light
  • Budweiser
  • Busch
  • Icehouse
  • Labatt Blue
  • Leinenkugel’s
  • Michelob
  • Miller High Life
  • Miller Lite
  • Milwaukee’s Best
  • Molson
  • Pabst
  • Rolling Rock
  • Shock Top

Liquor

 

  • Bacardi Rum
  • El Jimador Tequila
  • Jim Beam
  • Knob Creek
  • Seagram’s
  • Wild Turkey

Consumer, worker regulations being held up in broken process – National Consumers League

From the safety of the food we eat to the air we breathe and the cars we drive—Congress has enacted landmark laws to ensure our air, food, and autos meet minimum safety standards. Yet today, many of the rules required to execute these laws have been delayed and/or weakened as a result of a sluggish, and often hostile, regulatory agency. Due to unjustified delays, Congressional mandates and sensible safeguards are being held up, and consumers pay the price.

Many people don’t realize that even a law enacted by Congress can remain caught in regulatory doldrums because of a system set up to review and often delay a protective law from taking effect. The White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) plays the role of gatekeeper to a fault, too often, by trapping legitimate consumer, labor, or environmental protections. Some have described OIRA as the place where regulations “go to die.” At an October Senate briefing following the federal government shutdown, NCL and partnering organizations hosted a discussion of the broken regulatory process and the Congressional mandates being thwarted as a result.

An example: in 2010, 73 Senators joined forces to pass the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the largest revamp of food safety efforts in decades, following a series of contaminated food outbreaks. President Obama signed the law in 2011. Nearly three years later, major changes needed to implement the law have not been finalized by the Food and Drug Administration. Despite clear statutory deadlines, several proposed regulations have been stalled in OIRA for more than a year—a period significantly beyond the executive order limiting review to 120 days. Even the food industry is welcoming this new set of guidelines to ensure their products are safe.

Many times, however, industry is not aligned with the wishes of consumer organizations and public health and safety groups. Car safety and worker safety regulations have been delayed due to industry complaints. In both instances, the corresponding industries have fought the regulations arguing the costs for implementation outweigh the benefits.

One of the delayed rules is the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, passed in 2008. This law mandated that the Department of Transportation create a rear visibility safety standard which would expand the required field of view when backing up and provide drivers with a means of detecting the presence of a person or object behind their vehicle. Backup cameras, now widely available, would fix the visibility problem. Hundreds of children are killed and thousands seriously injured every year because a driver can’t see them while backing up.

The auto industry has been fighting the regulation, arguing it costs too much. Most car companies, however, offer a backup camera as an (oftentimes pricey) option. Honda offers the backup cameras as standard equipment on every vehicle it sells, providing the high water mark for the industry. NCL strongly believes that protections that would save children’s lives should not be available only to those who can afford it, but should be available as a standard piece of safety equipment.

Another delayed rule deals with worker exposure to silica dust. Breathing tiny particles of silica, which is basically sand, can damage the lungs and cause silicosis. Those who are afflicted can’t get enough oxygen and they become weak. There’s no cure. Workers can encounter silica dust while doing all kinds of jobs, from mining, to manufacturing, to construction.

Experts estimate that there are thousands of new silicosis cases each year, and hundreds of deaths. Silica has also been linked to other diseases like lung cancer. But for almost two years, the Department of Labor (DOL) Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations have been stalled at OIRA. While the government does limit the amount of silica workers can be exposed to, that exposure limit was set in the 1960s. The proposed regulation would cut the amount of exposure in half and potentially save thousands of workers lives. Industry groups argue that the current level is adequate to protect worker health and safety, and that any change could cost billions of dollars.

“The regulatory process has been hijacked by this unelected, largely hidden entity known as OIRA, where regulations can languish for years,” said NCL’s Sally Greenberg. “By relying on flawed cost-benefit analysis, demanding study after study, and listening to industry complaints to the exclusion of other commonsense arguments, OIRA too often failed to do its job, which is to review and release regulations in a timely fashion.”

Make it a union-made Halloween! – National Consumers League

Have you bought candy to give out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween yet? Later this month, children across the country will cheerfully announce their presence at doorways hoping to receive sweet treats. While Halloween certainly belongs to children, adults get to make some decisions too—especially when it comes to buying treats that are American- and union-made. 

This year, the National Consumers League and its labor allies are calling on parents to be smart about the candy they purchase, and try to buy union- or American-made products made by workers who are paid a living wage.

A few labor-friendly candy manufactures include Nestle, Ghiradelli Chocolates, Gimbals Fine Candies, Just Born, Necco, Jelly Belly’s Candy Company, and Pearson’s Candy Company. One fly in the ointment, however, is child labor, which can be found in the supply chains of chocolate companies. Many chocolate companies have taken steps to trace their cocoa purchasing to reduce child labor from their supply chains.

At Union Plus, consumers can view a list of union-made candy choices provided by the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM); snack foods by members of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); or fruit and nuts from members of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW).

So get out there and vote with your pocketbooks and support worker-friendly candy manufacturers this Halloween!

Minimum wage movement building momentum – National Consumers League

Our economic recovery is well underway, the stock market has reached record highs, and corporations are registering record profits. Yet American low-wage workers are struggling. A movement to increase the minimum wage, however, is gaining momentum. What could this mean for workers across the country? Will the federal government act to lift millions of Americans out of poverty.

“Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets.”

– President Barack Obama, 2013 State of the Union Address

Our economic recovery is well underway, the stock market has reached record highs, and corporations are registering record profits. Yet American low-wage workers are struggling. The federal minimum wage of $7.25/hr has not increased in four years, and the tipped minimum wage has remained stagnant for 22 years at the meager $2.13/hr. A movement to increase the minimum wage, however, is gaining momentum. How will this turn out for workers across the country?

At a time when unemployment remains high, the biggest employers of low-wage workers are able to play a game of supply and demand with workers and salaries as pawns. High unemployment rates means no need for competitive wages; if one person quits, another worker (or 50) will be anxiously waiting to fill the position. Unless new legislation mandating an increase in the minimum wage is passed, big companies can continue to pay low wages, and low-wage workers will continue to suffer.

This week, fast food workers are holding a series of one-day strikes in cities across the country. From New York, to Chicago, to Kansas City, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Flint, workers will take to the streets, risking their jobs, to demand increased wages. These strikes follow a series of stoppages by hundreds of federally contracted workers in Washington, DC last month.

Big companies claim that they cannot afford to pay workers more money. A close examination of their financials, however, tells a much different story. According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), 78 percent of the 50 largest low-wage employers have been profitable every year for the last three years. During this time, the average top executive has received a $9.4 million salary each year.

Median pay for chief executives at the nation’s top corporations jumped 16 percent last year. Between 2006 and 2012, the bottom 20 percent of workers, however, have seen their income fall 5 percent—proof that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer, with a growing income gap.

In addition to stagnant wages, many companies have devised other methods for ensuring that what they pay their employees remains low. Caterpillar Inc., for example, pressured its long-term employees to accept six-year pay freezes despite record profits of $4.9 billion last year. Walmart has started hiring only temporary workers to fill open positions. Employees who work part time make, on average, $7/hr less than their full-time counterparts.

Despite some growth, the economy could use a boost. Increasing the minimum wage would result in a raise for millions of Americans and, with more money in their pockets, millions of consumers would spend more.

In his State of the Union Address, President Obama proposed a $9.00 minimum wage; the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (S. 460) (H.R. 1010) proposes a $10.10 minimum wage; the Washington, DC City Council recently approved a $12.50 minimum wage at big-box stores.

What do you think? Is it time to raise the minimum wage? Join the discussion at our Facebook page.