Northwest labor press., April 18, 2008, Image 1

Inside
MEETING NO TICES
See
Page 6
V olume 109
Number 8
April 18, 2008
P ortland
Labor will honor
Or egon w orkers
killed on the job
Workers Memorial Day, April 28, is
a day to remember workers killed on
the job.
This year, the Northwest Oregon
Labor Council will conduct a memo-
rial service immediately following its
monthly delegates meeting Monday,
April 28, at the IBEW Local 48 Hall,
15837 NE Airport Way, Portland.
The meeting starts at 7 p.m. and the
memorial service will begin at 7:30
p.m.
At the service, the names of the 59
workers killed in Oregon in work-re-
lated accidents in 2007 will be read. As
their names are read a bell will toll and
a flag will be raised in their memory.
[A list of workers killed and their oc-
cupations is posted on Pages 8 and 9 of
this issue.]
Michael Wood, administrator of
Oregon-OSHA, will be the keynote
speaker, and proclamations declaring
April 28 as “Workers Memorial Day”
will be presented from the offices of the
governor of Oregon, mayor of Port-
land, and chair of Multnomah County.
The 59 workers killed on the job in
Oregon in 2007 are recorded as “work-
related deaths” by the Department of
Consumer and Business Services. That
means they are compensable under
state workers’ compensation claims.
Another 24 people died at work from
heart attacks and other natural causes.
Those deaths are not part of the official
number of work-related deaths as re-
ported by OR-OSHA.
Nationally, 5,703 workers were
killed in 2006 (the latest year data is
available) and
more than 4.1
million workers
were injured due
to job hazards.
Another 50,000
died due to oc-
cupational dis-
eases.
The first Workers Memorial Day
was observed in 1989. April 28 was
chosen because it is the anniversary of
the 1970 Occupational Safety and
Health Act and the day of a similar re-
membrance in Canada. Trade unionists
around the globe now mark April 28 as
an International Day of Mourning.
Decades of struggle by workers and
their unions have resulted in significant
improvement in working conditions.
“But the fight must continue,” said
Judy O’Connor, executive secretary-
treasurer of the Northwest Oregon La-
bor Council. “We must demand strong
enforcement of job-safety laws, defend
the gains we have won, and push for-
ward to address problems that remain.”
Some of those problems include
getting public-sector workers and
flight attendants covered under OSHA
laws; bringing
outdated workplace standards up to
date; and helping to establish stiffer
penalties for employers who disregard
safety rules.
Everyone is invited to attend the
Northwest Oregon Labor Council’s
memorial service. For more informa-
tion, call 503-235-9444.
ATU Local 757
Bus drivers’ union steers industry toward healthier workplace
By DON McINTOSH
Associate Editor
Driving a bus might not be top of the list
when most people think of hazardous occupa-
tions. Bus drivers aren’t rushing into burning
buildings or handling downed electric wires. But
it turns out driving a city bus eight or 10 hours a
day can be one of the most dangerous jobs, from
the standpoint of chronic health conditions.
Much of it comes down to an inability to take
bathroom breaks, constant stress, and the day-in,
day-out vibration of operating a heavy motor ve-
hicle.
Fifteen years ago, Susan Stoner was just days
into a new job as a labor attorney for Portland-
based Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local
757 when she noticed something peculiar.
“At my first ATU meeting, within an hour I
noticed that over half the people in the meeting
were standing against the wall,” Stoner said. At
the time, she just thought it was strange. Later,
she realized it was because their backs were
killing them.
“When you’re bouncing along in a vehicle all
Adjustable seats with shock absorbers and
hydraulics help ease back pain of TriMet bus
operator and ATU member Sandy Guengerich.
day, that’s what can happen,” Stoner said. “It
trashes your spine. So many end up with bad
backs, and people could barely stand or sit any
more.”
A combination of union complaints and in-
volvement by the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) helped the in-
dustry face up to the problem. Better seats were
developed, and now, adjustable seats with shock
absorbers and hydraulics are the norm, so that
drivers can be properly positioned and the seat
can absorb more of the road shock.
Seats weren’t the only contributor to health
problems.
“We process death benefits at the union,”
Stoner said, “so we get a copy of the death cer-
tificates. It’s not just that they were too young.
What people die of was kind of surprising.”
There seemed to be a high incidence of car-
diovascular problems, and of cancers, especially
urinary and gastroinstestinal cancers.
The union was lucky. The National Institutes
of Health decided to produce a summary of stud-
ies of transportation industry health problems.
From that, Local 757 generated a document for
members to give to their doctors.
“Doctors often don’t understand what they’re
looking at is caused by the job,” Stoner said.
The studies gave confirmation to what bus
drivers knew already: Theirs is a stressful job.
Not only do they operate a large vehicle safely
and weave in and out of the farthest right lane in
heavy traffic. They also must deal with hundreds
of passengers a day, be courteous and helpful,
announce stops, and aim to be on time but never
early. At TriMet, bus drivers get in trouble if the
bus is more than a minute early.
Stress contributes to hypertension, obesity,
type II diabetes, gastric ulcers, and a variety of
cardiovascular health conditions, all of which
bus drivers suffer from in higher numbers than
the general population. As for the bladder and
urinary tract cancers, Local 757 leaders are con-
vinced it has to do with inadequate bathroom
breaks.
“When you hold it too long, eventually your
bladder becomes so painful it spasms, and you
urinate involuntarily,” Stoner said. Considering
the shame and indignity of that, it’s not the kind
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