Clash over government role in worker safety intensifies as businesses reopen
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/18/clash-over-government-role-in-worker-safety-intensifies-as-businesses-reopen-265888
By REBECCA RAINEY
05/18/2020 06:18 PM EDT
Democrats and unions are trying to compel the Trump administration to aggressively police workplace safety as businesses from auto plants to retail stores begin reopening across the country.
The AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers, on Monday asked a federal court to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue mandatory workplace safety rules, which the agency so far has refused to do. And House Democrats on Friday passed a coronavirus aid package that would require the agency to issue emergency safety requirements for employers.
The moves come amid a standoff that’s been brewing for weeks over who’s accountable if workers get sick on the job. Business groups say the economic downturn won’t end until places of work can reopen, and that can’t happen if employers are getting sued over exposure to the highly contagious virus. That message is gaining traction with congressional Republicans, who are pushing for liability protections for employers whose workers fall ill. And OSHA says new rules aren’t needed.
“Because of the enforcement authorities already available to it and the fluid nature of this health crisis, OSHA does not believe that a new regulation, or standard, is appropriate at this time,” an OSHA spokesperson said....
...But David Michaels, who was OSHA chief during the Obama administration, said last week at a member briefing for the House Education and Labor Committee, “OSHA is essentially sitting back and saying, ‘We can’t do anything.’ It’s really appalling to me.”
Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia maintains his department can enforce worker safety under a provision in the 1970 statute that created OSHA called the “general duty clause,” which requires businesses to maintain “a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.”
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This is a shot across the bow to private industry from the Federal Government. The timing is not accidental.
perhaps the UFCW dude needs to be reminded of the interviews on record with meat packing employees where they admitted to coming to work sick because the pay was more important than their coworkers.
I keep telling people that OSHA is like a flea on a dog’s butt to business. The fine for Smithfield is probably their paper clip budget for the year. OSHA does not like to go to court usually. They want to fine you low enough that you’ll pay it instead of fighting it. And the comment:
“OSHA has rarely used the general duty clause in enforcement”
That’s BS. I’ve been cited under the general duty clause before. It’s not unusual.