New Study Finds U.S. Far Behind on Workers’ Rights

A study released last week by a research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Founding Director of McGill University’s Institute for Health and Social Policy finds that the U.S. lags nearly behind all other countries in terms of workers’ rights.

Based on a worldwide examination of workers’ rights in 190 countries and working conditions faced by 55,000 households, Raising the Global Floor also finds:

• The U.S. does not guarantee paid sick leave or annual leave, paid parental leave, paid time off to care for sick children or even one day of rest per week;
• While 177 nations guarantee paid leave for new mothers and another 163 nations mandate paid sick leave, the U.S. requires neither;
• The U.S. also falls behind 164 countries that guarantee paid annual vacation, 157 countries that guarantee workers one day of rest each week, 74 countries that offer paid leave to new fathers and 48 countries that allow paid time off to care for sick children;
• The only federal policy that the U.S. guarantees is a wage premium for mandatory overtime which translates into more pay, but for more work; and
• Finally, the study disputes the idea that providing family-friendly workplace policies will cost jobs or hurt a nation's competitiveness. Indeed, it found just the opposite is true.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Drops $1.6 M in a Week

Politico is reporting that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $1.6 million dollars last week running ads against members of Congress who voted for health care reform. Of the $24 million spent this year by foes of health care reform, the Chamber of Commerce accounts for about half of that.

To put this in perspective, the amount of money spent by this single organization is about the same as the amount spent by supporters of health care reform. That is all of organized labor put together, a huge coalition of grassroots organizations like Health Care for America Now, think tank brands like the Center for American Progress Action Fund, women's groups, civil rights groups, etc.

This single group--which is so out of touch with its members that those members are leaving in droves, doesn't believe in climate change and which the White House is ignoring to talk directly to the businesses who make up Chamber membership--that same group is footing the bill in the fight against meaningful reform.

Earlier this month the Chamber downplayed the risk of forcing people to work through their H1N1 infection, and last week an email came out about how they are paying out the nose for economists to put their names on bad research that hurts the push for real reform.

The Chamber is out of touch with their members, the workers who contribute to the success of American companies, the needs of small business, and the needs of the millions of people in this country who lack health coverage. Maybe instead of focusing its efforts on defeating health care reform and fighting climate change legislation, the Chamber should be asking what it can contribute to bringing us out of this recession. It's time for them to do some real organizational soul-searching.

GAO Report: OSHA Failed in Tracking Workplace Injuries

A report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed a complete and systemic failure in the way that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) tracks workplace injuries.

The report finds that:

• OSHA overlooks information from workers about injuries and illnesses because it does not routinely interview them as part of its records audits;
• OSHA also does not review the accuracy of injury and illness records for worksites in eight high hazard industries because it has not updated the industry codes used to identify these industries since 2002.

"Thousands of workers in America deal with workplace injuries everyday," said Mark Lauritsen, UFCW Vice President for Food Processing, Packing, and Manufacturing. "This epidemic of suffering is damaging to the workers, their colleagues, their workplaces, and their families and the communities in which they live. American companies, especially those in the food processing industries, must stop contributing to this problem by pressuring and intimidating workers to keep silent about these problems."

A summary of the report is available at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-10.

Feeding the Hungry

Yesterday, UFCW members and representatives of Smithfield foods got together, along with Paula Deen, to donate one million servings of protein to the Food Bank of New York City. A three-year partnership is expected to give over 20 million servings to food banks across the country.

That this program is going to be giving servings of protein is especially important. Food banks often focus on either purchasing food in bulk or getting donations of bulk goods. Canned foods and carbohydrates preserve well and are easy to get a hold of, but this isn't always the case with meats and other proteins. Additionally, distributing protein takes a good deal more planning due to cool storage space concerns.

As a result, many of the families who rely upon food banks aren't able to get the protein that they need from the food bank. Sometimes, this means going without.

The United Food and Commercial Workers is proud to be partnering with Smithfield to bring this food to needy families as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches.

Loose Nukes at Walmart?

Walmart bills itself as the store that has everything--but radioactive tritium? Evidently Walmart uses the material in signs at their stores. We would have never known this--but evidently Walmart didn’t realize that they should KEEP TRACK OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL!

That’s right, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has cited Walmart for failing to keep track of some of their more than 70,000 tritium-containing signs. In addition, Walmart was also cited for failing to dispose of signs properly and failing to dispose of broken or damaged signs properly. All in all – they failed to keep track of or dispose properly of almost 3,000 signs.

According to the article in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star, “the NRC requires proper record keeping and disposal of the signs because a damaged or broken one could cause minor radioactive contamination of the immediate vicinity, requiring environmental cleanup.”

Clean up of radioactivity on Aisle 12? H1N1 in the checkout lane?

Good to know I’m at least saving money and living better.

No Help on Preexisting Conditions, GOP? Really?!?

When it comes to the health care debate, there are some things that you thought that everyone, even the House Republicans, thought was a good idea. So there is disagreement about the public option, about how to implement an employer mandates, who should be responsible for buying insurance, and a whole host of issues. That there would be disagreements about such things is understandable. But, if you'd been following the news, you would think that everyone is against the abhorrent insurance company practice of denying coverage based upon a preexisting condition, right?

Wrong. House Republicans released their bill today and it did not include a ban on the despicable practice. Instead it focuses on capping non-economic damage in medical malpractice cases, a "remedy" not driven by any evidence that it will save money, or even conservative philosophy, but by a hatred for and a scapegoating of trial lawyers.

The skimpy 230 page bill , which the AP got a hold of, does little to nothing to actually keep down costs. It encourages health savings accounts, "encourages" creation of pools for high-risk individuals (though does nothing to make sure those pools guarantee affordable insurance and provides not even a tax credit to consumers), and allows for the purchasing of insurance across state lines.

That last point should read: all insurance companies will relocate to the states with the most lax enforcement and least consumer protections, and the consumer will be stuck with the “choice” of the less of many evils.

Just another example of bad policy from those who oppose health care reform. These folks want one thing: the status quo and great big profits from the insurance companies. Doesn't hurt them that those same companies write big campaign checks.

Wal-Mart's Sick Leave Policy Puts Workers at Risk for Spreading H1N1

According to information released by the National Labor Committee, Walmart's punitative sick leave policy puts the employer "on track to on track to be a major spreader of swine flu this fall." The Committee says that Walmart "gives workers demerits and deducts pay for staying home when they are sick or to care for a sick child."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that:

During an influenza pandemic, all sick people should stay home and away from the workplace, hand washing and covering coughs and sneezes should be encouraged, and routine cleaning of commonly touched surfaces should be performed regularly.

But Walmart has, according to the NLC's report, "routinely flouted" the CDC's recommendations. The NLC says that:

[A] Wal-Mart associate told us, “Wal-Mart won't even look at a doctors note. If you are out sick, youre going to get a demerit and lose eight hours wages.”

In fact, when the NLC interviewed Walmart associates across New York State, employees said:

they had no choice but to work sick. One Wal-Mart employee from a supercenter explained: “Plenty of girls are coughing their brains out. But they cannot go home because of points. Everyone comes in sick. You cant stay home and God forbid if you leave early.” “Associates” –including food handlers working in the grocery, meat and even deli departments—are routinely coming to work with the flu, conjunctivitis, fevers, strep throat, diarrhea and vomiting. It is only when an employee is coughing too loudly and violently that he or she will be transferred from the food section to another department, where the sick worker will still be interacting with customers.

When the New York Times interviewed Walmart employee Paul Hotchkiss in Hastings, Minnesota, he said that:

the point system pressured him to report to work two weeks ago even though he had swine flu.

“There are a lot of people who have swine flu right now who are going in because they worry about getting fired for having too many points,” Mr. Hotchkiss said.

His supervisor sent him home because he looked pale, he said, adding that he did not see a doctor because he could not afford the company’s health insurance.

At a time when children and families nationwide are concerned about H1N1, Walmart needs to follow in the footsteps of more responsible employers, and follow the CDC's recommendations. They need to understand that punishing workers for being sick hurts, not helps in combating the H1N1 virus and keeping workers healthy.

Update #2: From a release by Education and Labor Committee:

U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee, announced emergency temporary legislation today that will guarantee five paid sick days for a worker sent home or directed to stay home by their employer for a contagious illness, such as the H1N1 flu virus. The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on the legislation the week of November 16.

“Sick workers advised to stay home by their employers shouldn’t have to choose between their livelihood, and their coworkers’ or customer’s health,” said Miller. “This will not only protect employees, but it will save employers money by ensuring that sick employees don’t spread infection to co-workers and customers, and will relieve the financial burden on our health system swamped by those suffering from H1N1.”

Update #1: Pat Garofolo over at WonkRoom points out this response from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

“The vast majority of employers provide paid leave of some sort,” said Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor at the United States Chamber of Commerce. “The problem is not nearly as great as some people say."