PAGE 4 | April 20, 2018 | NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
... Trump record on worker safety
From Page 1
Exposure to loud noise on
the job doesn’t just cause
hearing loss. According to
the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), it’s also
associated with high
blood pressure and high
cholesterol. Too much in-
formation? Congress has
now twice rejected a pro-
posal by the Trump Ad-
ministration to cut
NIOSH’s annual budget by
more than $100 million.
“Health and safety regula-
tions are written in the blood of
working people,” CWA Presi-
dent Chris Shelton said in a
press statement about the law-
suit, “and this executive order
treats those lifesaving rules like
bargaining chips. Essentially, it
tells workers: ‘If you want to be
free from asbestos, you’ll need
to contend with lead poisoning
or infectious disease.’”
Deregulation might sound
good in the abstract
In his campaign and in office,
Trump’s constant narrative has
been that regulations are bur-
densome. Many Americans
agree in the abstract yet disagree
when they learn the details.
That’s because when it comes to
regulations, there are burdens ei-
ther way. Take toxins: You could
require employers to shoulder
the burden of preventing worker
exposure to hazardous sub-
stances, or you could let work-
ers suffer the burden of debili-
tating and fatal diseases.
Even though OSHA strives to
find the most practical, cost-ef-
fective methods of preventing
occupational injuries and dis-
eases, business groups mount
major political and legal fights
against new requirements.
For example, late in 2016, the
Obama-era OSHA announced a
new rule: To improve the effec-
tiveness of OSHA investiga-
tions, employers would have to
accurately record injuries in the
workplace and keep those
records for five years. Business
groups said that was too burden-
some. In early 2017, the Repub-
lican Congress passed a bill
striking down the rule, and
Trump signed it into law.
The lawsuit continues
In its lawsuit, CWA asks the
court to declare Trump’s order
unlawful and bar agencies from
implementing it. But that hasn’t
happened yet. On Feb. 26, 2018,
a federal district court judge
ruled that CWA and the other
groups don’t have standing to
sue because they didn’t identify
particular members who would
be harmed. The judge didn’t re-
ject the merits of their argument,
however, and he left the door
open for them to show that con-
crete harm has been done. The
groups filed further arguments
April 2.
Since Trump issued the “one
in, two out” executive order,
progress on new rules to protect
workers appears to have halted.
More than a dozen prospective
rules have been taken off the of-
ficial list of new regulations be-
ing developed by OSHA and the
Mine Safety and Health Admin-
istration, including standards on
combustible dust, workplace vi-
olence, infectious diseases,
noise in construction, styrene,
Turn to Page 16
“I’m working to build safe, livable communities
where local families have good-paying jobs and
great schools, and local businesses thrive.”
ENDORSED BY:
Northwest Oregon Labor Council
Columbia Pacific Building Trades Council
United Food & Commercial Workers #555
Paid for by Henry Heimuller for Columbia County Commissioner