<\/p>\n
March 21, 2011<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Contact:\u00a0Laura Catalano,\u00a0(202) 641-5922,\u00a0catalanolaura@rocketmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n Washington, DC\u00a0\u2013\u00a0A coalition of labor, consumer and environmental groups is calling on Congress and the White House to take steps in the next 100 days to preserve, protect and bolster labor laws in the United States. The call to action covers several issues ranging from minimum wage and child labor laws, to OSHA and Mine Safety Act reform and collective bargaining rights.<\/p>\n The move comes in response to efforts by lawmakers in Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana and 37 other states to pass anti-labor legislation, including repealing minimum wage laws, banning prevailing wage standards, repealing child labor laws, passing \u201cright-to-work-for-less\u201d laws, and abolishing collective bargaining rights.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of today\u2019s corporate titans have shown the same callous disregard for America\u2019s working families as the owners of the Triangle company,\u201d said Eric Frumin, Safety and Health Director, Change to Win. \u201cBut like the Triangle workers, we will not be deterred from our fight for a fair economy that looks out for everyone. The struggle continues, in the memory of the Triangle workers of 1911, the Massey miners of 2010, and workers everywhere seeking justice on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n The five-point call to action urges Congress and the Obama Administration to:<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong>\u00a0Update and reform workplace and mine safety and health laws.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) are working with limited resources and severely restricted enforcement powers. Approximately 4,300 workers die every year in workplace incidents, roughly 12 workers a day , while tens of thousands die annually from occupational diseases. OSHA\u2019s maximum fine for serious violations of safety rules is piddling\u2014only $7,000 per violation. Only when an employer willfully violates OSHA safety standards — creating conditions that lead to a worker fatality — can be charged with a criminal violation, which is a misdemeanor\u2014six months or less in jail for killing an employee.<\/p>\n The House of Representatives and Senate will consider legislation that would overhaul OSHA and MSHA. The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety and Health Act would address these concerns and significantly strengthen the powers of the agencies responsible for worker safety, and provide real protection to workers who complain about hazardous conditions.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong>\u00a0Preserve, protect and enhance minimum wage and child labor laws.<\/strong><\/p>\n In Missouri and Maine, bills to\u00a0literally<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>repeal child labor laws and prevent state agencies from investigating child labor abuses have been introduced.https:\/\/www.senate.mo.gov\/11info\/BTS_Web\/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=4124271<\/a>;<\/p>\n The bill has caused a stir in Missouri and throughout the nation. The Governor of Maine is supporting that state\u2019s bill.\u00a0https:\/\/www.sunjournal.com\/state\/story\/997624<\/a><\/p>\n In addition, anti- labor legislation has been introduced in 37 states, including bills to repeal minimum wage laws, ban prevailing wage standards, and pass right-to-work laws.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong>\u00a0Pass federal legislation<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>to<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>protect child farm workers.<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently farmworker children are denied the protections given to other working young people because agriculture workers are exempted from federal labor protections. Children as young as 12 can legally work in the fields and oftentimes children far younger can be found there as well. The CARE Act (The\u00a0Children\u2019s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE)<\/a>\u00a0) would change that paradigm. CARE would create a number of disincentives for children to work in the fields, and would help to ensure that young people are in school where they can get an education and end the cycle of poverty that keeps farmworkers in low wage work.<\/p>\n 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Preserve and protect existing worker protection programs, and support the Administration\u2019s request to increase the Labor Department\u2019s budget.<\/strong><\/p>\n President Obama’s 2012 budget requests an increase of 4.7% for the Department of Labor, which is intended to reverse “years of erosion in funding for labor law enforcement agencies.”<\/p>\n By contrast to the President\u2019s budget,\u00a0\u00a0the Congressional Research Servicesays that the recent GOP budget cuts for FY 2011 will require the National Labor Relations Board to furlough all staff for roughly two entire months.[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0OSHA is facing similar cuts to its enforcement budget if those cuts are adopted.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n We oppose any budget cuts and applaud the president\u2019s call for increased funding for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, to allow it to “vigorously enforce workplace safety laws and oversight,\u201d provide more resources for the Wage and Hour Division to ensure workers get the pay that is due them, and increase funding for the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, which is charged with pursuing a fair and diverse federal contract work force. Restoring such basic enforcement of labor standards is essential to protecting law-abiding employers from underbidding and competition by unscrupulous executives who\u00a0\u00a0exploit workers without penalty.<\/p>\n 5.<\/strong>\u00a0Uphold the right of collective bargaining for public and private workers that include protections for worker health and safety.<\/strong><\/p>\n In Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, public workers have had their rights to engage in collective bargaining with management taken away, which denies them a voice on everything from wages, working conditions, protective equipment, overtime, and maximum hours. The right to collective bargaining\u00a0is a cornerstone of basic labor protections and is a right recognized through international human rights conventions, including Article 23 of the\u00a0Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year as we mark the 100th anniversary of the Triangle fire, workers and workers\u2019 rights and protections are under attack by corporate interests at the federal and state level,\u201d said Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO Safety and Health Director.\u00a0\u201cJust as after the Triangle fire, workers, unions and their allies are rising up and taking action to defend the right to organize and to have a union, and to demand the right to dignity, respect and safe jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n “The Triangle fire reminds us that the welfare and protection of workers \u2013 their wages, benefits and their safety and health \u2013 must be high on our agenda,\u201d said Sally Greenberg, Executive Director, National Consumers League. \u201cRoughly five thousand workers die on the job every year \u2013 that\u2019s far too many. We can and we must do better. This week\u2019s anniversary of the terrible Triangle fire reminds us that we need to redouble our efforts to preserve and protect worker safety and health.”<\/p>\n The call to action came following a symposium today on Capitol Hill sponsored by the coalition to commemorate the 100th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary of the historic Triangle Shirtwaist Company factory fire in New York City. The fire, which claimed the lives of 146 mostly young immigrant garment workers, changed the politics of our country and improved working conditions for all Americans. During the symposium a panel of safety and labor experts, historians, academics, and victims and the relatives of victims of recent workplace disasters reviewed the status of worker health, safety and rights in the 100 years since this historic fire. The Washington symposium was one of dozens of events held across the country to commemorate the fire.<\/p>\n Members of the coalition: AFL-CIO; Alliance for Justice; American Rights at Work; BlueGreen Alliance; Change to Win; Coalition of Labor Union Women; Consumer Action; CWA; International Labor Rights Forum; National Consumers League; Public Citizen; Roosevelt Institute Campus Network; SEIU; UFCW; UNITE HERE!<\/p>\n For more information, contact Laura Catalano,\u00a0catalanolaura@rocketmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n [1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0https:\/\/democrats.edworkforce.house.gov\/documents\/112\/pdf\/CRSNLRBanalysis.pdf<\/p>\n [2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0https:\/\/go.usa.gov\/4Jl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March 21, 2011 Contact:\u00a0Laura Catalano,\u00a0(202) 641-5922,\u00a0catalanolaura@rocketmail.com Washington, DC\u00a0\u2013\u00a0A coalition of labor, consumer and environmental groups is calling on Congress and the White House to take steps in the next 100 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1617"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11070,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions\/11070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nclnet.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}