| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2001 |
|
|
The Crippling of America: The Problem and the Solution Republicans on Capitol Hill are intent on derailing the most important workplace safety standards in modern history. These same political leaders would turn a blind eye to the real stories told first-hand by workers who are experiencing the benefits of ergonomics programs on the job. The United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) has successfully worked with employers in high-risk industries like meatpacking to develop and implement ergonomics programs that save money and stop the pain. Several major meatpackers, including Excel and IBP, have long seen the benefits of working closely with the UFCW to reduce serious injuries in the workplace. Ken Demaray, the chief union steward at the Excel meatpacking plant in Friona, Texas, knows first-hand how beneficial an ergonomics program can be for workers. With the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) making widespread meatpacking plant inspections in 1989, Excel turned to Ken's local union, UFCW Local 540, for a cooperative effort to solve the safety problems in the plant. The union bargained a solid ergonomics program but the program did not result in significant changes until Excel was cited by OSHA in 1996 for safety violations. Since then, the program has taken off. The Excel plant in Friona has lower injury rates than U.S. meatpacking industry average rates. "I'm here to say that ergonomic programs, like the one OSHA has in the standard, work. The company knows the program works, making workers more productive, saving health care and workers' comp costs. Workers in our plant are truly better off than in other plants because of this program," said Demaray, meatpacking worker and UFCW Local 540 member from Friona, Texas. Despite the success stories like Excel in Friona, the fact remains that without OSHA and the ergonomics standard, companies are not motivated to implement programs like this. The solution to preventing crippling workplace injuries is clear: a national ergonomics standard that will protect workers in meatpacking and every other industry. Tens of thousands of Midwestern meatpacking and poultry workers are at risk of serious workplace injury without the ergonomics standards. Republicans, at the behest of big business and trade groups like the National Association of Manufacturers, claim the standard would cost corporations too much to implement. Look at the real statistics to see that ergonomics programs save millions in workers' compensation claims, which save employers' money. Ergonomic injuries and illnesses are the nation's biggest workplace safety and health problem, causing over 600,000 serious workplace injuries and costing $45 - $50 billion each year. The ergonomics standard would bring basic changes and provide simple solutions, like those used in Friona, Texas, to prevent on the job injuries. The UFCW's experience with ergonomic's programs in the meatpacking and retail industries prove that the combination of worker advocacy and involvement with the company, supported by OSHA oversight, is the only effective combination to prevent serious workplace injuries. Scientific research clearly supports the need for an ergonomics standard. A recent National Academies of Science report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the association between work and musculoskeletal disorders and that ergonomic interventions in the workplace are effective in reducing these injuries. The report was commissioned two years ago by Congress, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence and a previous NAS report confirming that job modifications can prevent worker injuries. It was one of many roadblocks that industry and their conservative Republican allies in Congress have attempted to use for nearly a decade to block OSHA from publishing an ergonomic standard. The UFCW represents 1.4 million members in the retail food, meatpacking, poultry, health care, textile, chemical and other industries. |
|
 |
 |
