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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 15, 2008)
LaborDay-08-(1-14):NWLP 8/12/08 10:03 AM Page 11 Respected occupational safety and health boss out WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. John Howard’s last day as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was July 14. NIOSH, a division of the Center for Disease Control (CDC), U.S. Health and Human Services, conducts research and makes recommendations on preventing work-related illnesses, injuries and deaths. After six years as director, Howard was well respected and had wide- spread support from organized labor, “You’re going to have a huge wave of people retiring in the next decade — union leaders, activists, people with experience and institutional memory who have guided the union movement,” Bussel said. “So there’s going to be a real leadership vacuum that’s going to need to be filled.” And union workers seem to have lost the ability to strike: 2007 contin- ued a downward trend in the number crises and emphasizes loyalty to the party line.” William Kojola, an industrial hy- gienist with the AFL-CIO, told the Bureau of National Affairs that CDC’s failure to renew his contract is a loss for NIOSH. “It’s a pitiful decision that was a payback for John’s defending NIOSH and standing up strongly for worker safety and health,” Kojola said. various job safety and health associa- tions, even the Chamber of Com- merce. Lacking any stated performance reason for the ouster, lawmakers and others who work with NIOSH told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution they be- lieve that politics or personal animos- ity are at the root of the cause. Reportedly, Howard was an out- spoken critic of how the agency was funded, and he strongly objected to a 2004 plan by CDC Director Julie Ger- ...State of the unions (From Page 10) berding to restructure the agency. “Having guts is a dangerous char- acter trait in D.C. politics,” noted the American Industrial Hygiene Associ- ation. “Especially in the Bush Admin- istration, which circles the wagons in and length of major work stoppages — defined as strikes or lockouts in- volving more than 1,000 workers. Just 21 work stoppages of that size oc- curred last year, nationwide — and just 12 in the private sector. The 21 strikes involved 189,000 workers and lasted on average 10.5 days. Thus, American workers spent less than five thousandths of 1 percent of their work hours on strike. That’s about one hun- dredth the level that existed when strike activity peaked in 1959. ! ! ! % ( ' ! ) ! & ! ! "# ' $ % % *&( ! $ & ! Karl Bik, Co-Chairman Cement Masons Trust Funds for Northern California The bank of labor has on-the-job experience in Taft-Hartley trust fund management supports you with an expert labor team and one easy point of contact offers investment solutions to build and protect your hard-earned funds gives workers the benefit of customized health and retirement plans has worked on behalf of unions for more than 50 years. Invest in you ® Labor Management Trust Services Stephen Heady, Vice President, (503) 450-1270 Louis Nagy, Vice President, (503) 450-1273 Labor Management Deposit Services Diane Williams, Senior Vice President & Manager, (213) 236-5085 John Mendoza, Vice President & Relationship Manager, (415) 705-7112 Visit us at unionbank.com AUGUST 15, 2008 NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS ©2007 Union Bank of California, N.A. Member FDIC PAGE 11
