Occupational Safety and Health-Can We Rise Again?

Introduction

The devastation of the attack on the World Trade Center turned public attention to those neglected Americans who work with their hands, as well as their heads. The public was shown that government service is a solution, not a problem. We now have to show that workers need protection every day, not just in crisis situations.

The anthrax attack showed our public health infrastructure to be in tatters. If we can get the public to hold those thoughts, we can progress in the face of a slowed economy and an Administration intent on diminished protection.

The first significant act of the Bush Administration in the labor arena was signing business-sponsored legislation to repeal OSHA's ergonomic standard. Ten years of effort to protect workers against the largest cause of occupational injury, pain and suffering was wiped out by conservatives in a week. The Administration also proposed cutting OSHA- funded worker training and standard setting, and nominated the organizer of the business anti-ergonomics campaign, Eugene Scalia, to be the Solicitor of Labor. This Administration's core strategy is to wrap vague, moderate rhetoric around hard-right policies that cater to the most anti-worker factions of the business community.

Immediately after the Congressional blow to ergonomics protection, the terrain improved somewhat. Self-styled Senate "moderates" who had voted to kill the standard immediately decided to revive it through legislation. The Administration gave lip service to the notion that something needs to be done about ergonomic injuries and the Senate changed hands, giving Democrats more influence on oversight hearings and appropriations. Public concern over an inactive OSHA grew, giving us opportunities to bring pressure. We must remember that even in the days of the first Bush Administration, we were able to progress in safety and health by uniting unions and our natural allies in the public health and environmental communities.

UAW members need more protection at work. Fatalities continue to afflict our members, especially skilled trades workers and among public employees. Yet, there are no OSHA standards for robotic equipment. Most public employees, such as the heroic World Trade Center rescue workers, are without any OSHA protection. Chemicals at work, such as metal working fluids, cause illness on nearly a daily basis, but the OSHA standards permit these exposures. Public sector and health care workers face emerging hazards such as infectious disease and workplace client violence.

Next: Facing Attack on Four Fronts