Former head of the federal Wage and Hour Division talks about efforts under Obama, challenges under Trump; news releases on OSHA enforcement actions disappear from its website; Texas lawmakers propose bills to improve farmworker housing conditions; and congressional Republicans vote to roll back OSHA reporting rules.
Not violating federal labor law seems like a commonsense precursor for being awarded lucrative federal contracts. House Republicans, however, disagree.
An injunction temporarily prohibits implementation of an executive order requiring companies bidding on large federal contracts to disclose whether they’d been cited for violating labor laws in the past three years. This demonstrates a need to give businesses with safe workplaces the same kind of deference we give small businesses.