Posted on Mar 7, 2017
Senate votes to kill worker safety rule aimed at federal contractors
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It's all fun and games until someone literally loses an eye.
From the article:
Hours before the Senate vote on the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a staff report that says that 66 of the federal government’s 100 largest contractors have at some point violated federal wage and hour laws. Since 2015, the report says, more than a third of the 100 largest OSHA penalties have been imposed on federal contractors.
Warren criticized the Republican-led effort during a speech on the Senate floor moments before the vote. “Instead of creating jobs or raising wages,” she said, “they’re trying to make it easier for companies that get big-time, taxpayer-funded government contracts to steal wages from their employees and injure their workers without admitting responsibility.”
From the article:
Hours before the Senate vote on the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a staff report that says that 66 of the federal government’s 100 largest contractors have at some point violated federal wage and hour laws. Since 2015, the report says, more than a third of the 100 largest OSHA penalties have been imposed on federal contractors.
Warren criticized the Republican-led effort during a speech on the Senate floor moments before the vote. “Instead of creating jobs or raising wages,” she said, “they’re trying to make it easier for companies that get big-time, taxpayer-funded government contracts to steal wages from their employees and injure their workers without admitting responsibility.”
Senate votes to kill worker safety rule aimed at federal contractors
Posted from washingtonpost.com
Government
Safety
United States Senate
Contractors
Posted >1 y ago
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It would be nice if the article gave more details on how companies are "stealing" wages from their employees.
The contractors are not being allowed to injure their employees without admitting responsibility. They are given relief from having to report unfounded allegations and workplace safety "violations" which they contest, prior to adjudication. The company still must report any OSHA findings they do not contest, no longer contest, and those which have been adjudicated against the employer.
It would be analogous to a person being denied a security clearance because someone from their past says "yeah that guy was the biggest pot peddler in my high school", and then finding out he meant the other John Smith in the class of 06.
The contractors are not being allowed to injure their employees without admitting responsibility. They are given relief from having to report unfounded allegations and workplace safety "violations" which they contest, prior to adjudication. The company still must report any OSHA findings they do not contest, no longer contest, and those which have been adjudicated against the employer.
It would be analogous to a person being denied a security clearance because someone from their past says "yeah that guy was the biggest pot peddler in my high school", and then finding out he meant the other John Smith in the class of 06.
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Removing regulation is usually code for removing worker, customer and public protections so the taxpayer in one way or another pays for the fallout. Privatize profit, socialize the risk.
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As a former OSHA Inspector, I can tell you that the "the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule" would not have prevented a single accident. What it would have done is allow government officials to pick and choose who wins or retains government contracts. In other words it would allow politics to intrude on worker safety.
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