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New Administration Policies Attack Worker Protections
During the holiday lull, President George Bush quietly revoked President Clinton’s order designed to bar companies from receiving federal contracts if they violate environmental and labor standards. The administration has also announced it will shut down the 80-year-old Department of Labor Women’s Bureau and close its 10 regional offices.
Bush suspended the contract rule just two months after being sworn in, then killed it altogether in December. He did so in spite of a congressional report that found the government recently awarded $38 billion in contracts to at least 261 companies operating unsafe or unhealthy work sites.
“The message from the Bush administration is this: If you continue to violate workers rights to organize and bargain collectively and pollute our water and air, you may be rewarded with a federal contract funded by taxes paid by the very people who were injured,” CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Bush’s action stirred noted Washington Post columnist David Broder to write a stinging response, including harsh criticism of the administration’s lack of concern about ergonomics. “That is the game: Kill the rules you don’t like quickly and quietly, then take your sweet time writing new ones. Don’t worry about how many strained backs or stiff wrists people suffer in the meantime. And now, don’t worry if the companies that tolerate unsafe conditions are getting fat government contracts at the same time,” Broder wrote.
Eliminating the women’s bureau in the 2003 budget means thousands of women will lose critical services, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said. The bureau educates women about legal protections against workplace abuse, provides information about training programs and other aid, assists women who need language or computer assistance and offers many other services.
“The mission of the Women’s Bureau remains — as it has through all Republican and Democratic administrations since 1920 — to promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency and advance their opportunities for profitable employment,” Easterling said. “The ten regional offices play an invaluable role in ensuring that this mission is carried out effectively at the local level.”
Bush’s action also eliminates the Women’s Bureau Equal Pay Program. Last year, the Bush administration shut down the White House Women’s Initiatives Office.
Bush suspended the contract rule just two months after being sworn in, then killed it altogether in December. He did so in spite of a congressional report that found the government recently awarded $38 billion in contracts to at least 261 companies operating unsafe or unhealthy work sites.
“The message from the Bush administration is this: If you continue to violate workers rights to organize and bargain collectively and pollute our water and air, you may be rewarded with a federal contract funded by taxes paid by the very people who were injured,” CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Bush’s action stirred noted Washington Post columnist David Broder to write a stinging response, including harsh criticism of the administration’s lack of concern about ergonomics. “That is the game: Kill the rules you don’t like quickly and quietly, then take your sweet time writing new ones. Don’t worry about how many strained backs or stiff wrists people suffer in the meantime. And now, don’t worry if the companies that tolerate unsafe conditions are getting fat government contracts at the same time,” Broder wrote.
Eliminating the women’s bureau in the 2003 budget means thousands of women will lose critical services, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said. The bureau educates women about legal protections against workplace abuse, provides information about training programs and other aid, assists women who need language or computer assistance and offers many other services.
“The mission of the Women’s Bureau remains — as it has through all Republican and Democratic administrations since 1920 — to promote the welfare of wage-earning women, improve their working conditions, increase their efficiency and advance their opportunities for profitable employment,” Easterling said. “The ten regional offices play an invaluable role in ensuring that this mission is carried out effectively at the local level.”
Bush’s action also eliminates the Women’s Bureau Equal Pay Program. Last year, the Bush administration shut down the White House Women’s Initiatives Office.