A disproportionate level of workplace violence occurs in the health care industry. Nurses, in particular, endure a huge share of the abuse.
The Teamsters get ready to become a ‘sanctuary union’; a Florida bill would protect immigrant workers injured on the job; low-wage workers return to the streets to fight for $15; and the death of a social worker highlights the risks of occupational violence.
It’s time for federal lawmakers to catch up with the quickly changing relationship between employers and workers; an upcoming Supreme Court case could upend public-sector unions; New York farmworker loses court case to gain organizing rights, but vows to appeal; and the country’s biggest janitorial company faces new allegations of sexual abuse in the workplace.
Alexander Acosta told lawmakers that negotiations are underway to resolve industry’s and labor’s concerns about OSHA’s silica rule. He answered questions about workplace violence and requirements for injury reporting.
An in-depth look at how lobbyists squashed an Illinois bill to prevent discriminatory hiring practices in the temp industry; thousands of coal miners in Kentucky rally to save their health benefits and pensions; Chicago gets closer to a sick leave ordinance; and two workers lose their lives in the Bakken oil fields in the span of a few days.
California
Report: Lower wages, labor violations part of the ‘race to the bottom’ world of subcontracting
Hardly a day goes by lately without another story on companies like Uber and their model of classifying workers as independent contractors while treating them more like traditional employees and sidestepping traditional employer responsibilities. It’s a model that has serious implications for workers’ rights and wages. However, there’s another form of employment that may be even more damaging to hard-fought labor standards: subcontracting.
Government
California poised to adopt violence prevention standard for health care workers: ‘Violence shouldn’t be part of the job’
In 2010, Donna Gross, a psychiatric technician at Napa State Hospital for more than a decade, was strangled to death at work by a mentally ill patient. While on-the-job violence in the health care sector was certainly nothing new at the time, the shocking and preventable circumstances surrounding Gross’ death helped ignite a new and coordinated movement for change. Now, just a handful of years later, California is set to become the only state with an enforceable occupational standard aimed at preventing workplace violence against health care workers.
The importance of protecting vulnerable workers in efforts to combat climate change; Dallas officials vote for mandatory rest breaks; University of Chicago’s nontenured instructors vote to form a union; and Cal/OSHA launches investigation into porn production company.
Child Labor
7-Eleven workers organize against workplace violence: ‘Convenience store workers deserve to be safe’
In February 2015, a group of 7-Eleven night shift workers in Buffalo, New York, filed a complaint with OSHA. Sick of enduring regular bouts of verbal harassment, racial slurs and even death threats from customers — threats they often experienced while working alone with no security guard — they hoped OSHA could help bring about safer working conditions. Unfortunately, the agency decided not to investigate.
Affordable Care Act
Public health researchers, activists gather for 143rd annual meeting: Highlights from Day 3
As “the water cooler for the public health crowd,” The Pump Handle is in Chicago reporting from the 143rd annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. Here are some highlights from yesterday’s events, including the intersection between social justice and public health, efforts by nurses in California to address work-related assaults, and community interventions to raise health babies.