News

In the past year, the Obama administration has worked to restore the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's mission to protect workers on the job. It's a real contrast to the previous eight years, when the Bush administration did everything possible to deregulate OSHA, slash funds and hand out jobs to business and management friends.

On that dreadful September day eight years ago, Jack Noonan was among the thousands of people running from lower Manhattan through a fog of ash as the sky rained rubble.

For CWA, workplace safety and health protection is a top priority. Making up CWA's Occupational Safety and Health program are safety and health coordinators from every district and more than 75 percent of locals have safety and health committees. Across CWA, there are more than 2,500 workplace safety and health activists who work together to advance health and safety efforts for every CWA sector.

Thanks to CWA efforts in Districts 4, 6 and 9, a potentially serious problem affecting back-up batteries for AT&T's U-Verse system has been fixed. This action alleviated a real job hazard before any injuries were caused to workers or consumers.

Since World War II, many significant technological advancements have occurred within the telecommunications and other industries. One of these is the increased use of radio frequency, i.e., microwave and radio wave radiation equipment. Such equipment is widely used in the broadcasting and communications fields in the form of cellular telephones and towers; in the health care industry for medical treatment; in the food industry for the processing and cooking of food; in the wood, textile, and glass fiber industries for drying materials; and in the automotive, electrical, rubber, and plastic products industries for fusing and sealing operations.