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Labor Re-Ignites Fight for Ergonomic Rule
Labor Re-Ignites Fight for Ergonomic Rule
CWA is joining with the AFL-CIO to push for a genuine ergonomics standard in the wake of the Bush administration's announcement of a plan to support only voluntary guidelines for employers, meaning no enforceable safety standards.
Labor is backing a bill being crafted by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) that would require OSHA to develop a comprehensive ergonomics standard within two years. Breaux proposed a similar bill last year but it wasn't as broad.
Meanwhile, CWA and other unions will attend an April 18 hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at which Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and others are expected to grill Labor Secretary Elaine Chao about the false promises and delays on ergonomic safety over the past year.
Bush's plan for voluntary guidelines won't require most employers to do anything about poorly designed work areas and the risks of repetitive motion. Nearly 2 million workers every year are injured due to poor ergonomics and a third of them suffer crippling injuries.
"We are outraged but not surprised by the administration's failure to safeguard workers," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "Let's be clear: Guidelines aren't regulations. And no regulations mean no enforcement, no rule with any teeth to require businesses to do what's right."
The announcement set off a chorus of fury in the labor community, which has worked for more than a decade to help develop an ergonomics standard, with CWA a leading advocate. The OSHA rule issued at the end of the Clinton administration was the result of years of research and hearings, a process that started under Republican Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole.
In spite of the bipartisan effort, one of President Bush's earliest acts in office was to bow to corporate demands and repeal the standard. The White House and Chao promised to return with a revised plan to protect workers, but labor leaders say they've failed miserably.
"Ergonomics is not an exotic problem that affects only a few workers. Injuries occur in all types of workplaces and include a tremendous scope of employees from nurses to manufacturing employees and office workers," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "The new 'plan' is only a stated intention to develop voluntary guidelines for selected industries that aren't even identified. Instead of action to fix dangerous workplace hazards, the plan relies on voluntary assistance and passive outreach tools such as new web sites."
CWA is joining with the AFL-CIO to push for a genuine ergonomics standard in the wake of the Bush administration's announcement of a plan to support only voluntary guidelines for employers, meaning no enforceable safety standards.
Labor is backing a bill being crafted by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) that would require OSHA to develop a comprehensive ergonomics standard within two years. Breaux proposed a similar bill last year but it wasn't as broad.
Meanwhile, CWA and other unions will attend an April 18 hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions at which Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and others are expected to grill Labor Secretary Elaine Chao about the false promises and delays on ergonomic safety over the past year.
Bush's plan for voluntary guidelines won't require most employers to do anything about poorly designed work areas and the risks of repetitive motion. Nearly 2 million workers every year are injured due to poor ergonomics and a third of them suffer crippling injuries.
"We are outraged but not surprised by the administration's failure to safeguard workers," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "Let's be clear: Guidelines aren't regulations. And no regulations mean no enforcement, no rule with any teeth to require businesses to do what's right."
The announcement set off a chorus of fury in the labor community, which has worked for more than a decade to help develop an ergonomics standard, with CWA a leading advocate. The OSHA rule issued at the end of the Clinton administration was the result of years of research and hearings, a process that started under Republican Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole.
In spite of the bipartisan effort, one of President Bush's earliest acts in office was to bow to corporate demands and repeal the standard. The White House and Chao promised to return with a revised plan to protect workers, but labor leaders say they've failed miserably.
"Ergonomics is not an exotic problem that affects only a few workers. Injuries occur in all types of workplaces and include a tremendous scope of employees from nurses to manufacturing employees and office workers," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said. "The new 'plan' is only a stated intention to develop voluntary guidelines for selected industries that aren't even identified. Instead of action to fix dangerous workplace hazards, the plan relies on voluntary assistance and passive outreach tools such as new web sites."