Coal miners are concerned that a program that assists individuals who are disabled by black lung disease is in debt. The problem will explode if Congress fails to act before the end of the year.
Nashville’s housing boom brings new high in construction worker deaths; EPA drops chemical safety rules proposed after the West, Texas, fertilizer explosion; new research identifies nearly 5,000 cases of severe black lung disease; and Tesla reports missing worker injuries after journalists expose unsafe working conditions at its California plant.
A fraction of coal miners who develop black lung disease will receive lung transplants. The treatment costs for this work-related disease should be borne by coal mine operators, but taxpayers through Medicare, are picking up the tab.
Child Labor
Trump’s deregulators have their hands in everything. Next up: Wood chippers for 16 year olds
Trump’s Labor Department is considering a plan to rollback rules that prohibit teenagers from doing certain hazardous tasks at their jobs.
A 90 year old monument to workplace safety made its way into a Worker Memorial Day commemoration in Houston.
Don Blankenship’s Senate run is a heartbreaking ordeal for families of the Upper Big Branch mining disaster; California Supreme Court ruling will make it much harder to misclassify workers as independent contractors; farmworker families struggle with respiratory health problems; and workers around the world take to the streets for May Day.
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health is marking International Worker Memorial Day with the release of its report, “The Dirty Dozen 2018: Employers Who Put Workers and Communities at Risk.”
A new law in Kentucky will make it even more difficult for coal miners with black lung disease to be reimbursed for their medical care costs and lost wages. Findings from radiologists–the specialists in interpreting xrays—will no longer be considered a relevant piece of evidence to support a coal miner’s case.
Investigation finds serious worker safety problems and under-reporting of injuries at Tesla; advocates fight for stronger laws to protect waste collection workers; farm workers take to the streets to protest Trump’s immigration policies; and JetBlue flight attendants vote to unionize.
The Trump Administration’s April 2018 may turn out to be one of the worst for its rollback of worker safety protections.