| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 10, 2002 |
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Bush Administration Betrays Working America (Again) The Bush Administration has betrayed working America for a second time on the issue of protection against workplace ergonomic injuries. Last year, the Bush Administration and the Republican congressional leadership killed the ergonomic safety standard that required employers to protect workers. Now, the Department of Labor has announced an upside down plan that makes protection against ergonomic injuries voluntary and has employers developing the workplace safety guidelines. Corporations get the protection and workers get the pain under the Administration's plan, according to the 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW). "Workers depending on voluntary guidelines developed by the big corporations for workplace safety protections is like depending on an Enron 401(k) plan for your retirement security. Nobody gets hurt in the boardroom, but workers lose everything," said UFCW President Doug Dority. More than a year after it killed the ergonomics standard and promised quick action on an alternative, the White House plan offers more delay and no effective action. The Administration plan for voluntary industry specific guidelines ignores the scientific research on the prevention of ergonomic injuries?research that compellingly demonstrates that work process and workplace design are crucial in eliminating or mitigating the causes of ergonomic injuries. Over the last 15 years, UFCW has been at the forefront of the fight to stop the pain of repetitive motion injuries. The union began working with the Department of Labor more than a decade ago to develop a standard for preventing repetitive motion injuries in meat packing and poultry plants, in supermarkets, in the health care industry and in manufacturing-industries that employ a majority of UFCW members. The UFCW demands, today, what it has demanded since the early 1990s, an ergonomics standard, a standard, with strong enforcement measures, that requires employers to take action to protect workers from crippling injuries. Last month, faced with inaction by the Administration, the UFCW filed a complaint under the General Duty clause of Occupational Safety and Health Act to force the agency to take action to protect workers from preventable workplace injuries. The complaint focuses on ergonomics injuries to workers at a Pilgrim's Pride poultry plant in Lufkin, Texas. More than 1.8 million workers have suffered ergonomic injuries since George W. Bush signed legislation repealing the OSHA ergonomics standard last March. (The 1.4 million member UFCW represents workers in retail food, meatpacking, food processing, health care and chemicals. The UFCW is one of the largest single organizations of workers directly impacted by an ergonomic standard. The UFCW initiated the effort for an ergonomic standard during the George Bush Administration. Bush's Secretary of Labor, Elizabeth Dole, began work on the ergonomic standard following a meeting with the UFCW President. The current standard is a direct result of the work of the UFCW more than a decade ago.) United Food and Commercial Workers International Union: A Voice for Working America-www.ufcw.org |
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