Workers employed at call centers in Bangalore, India often work in the middle of the night because their callers are largely from the U.S. and 11 time zones away. Their health may be adversely affected by their sleep-interrupting schedule, but also by the job requirements that strip them of their identity.
Workers from 28 Walmart stores go on strike against a notoriously anti-union company; New York City considers requiring employers to provide paid sick leave; and clothing retailer Kik offers $1,930 in compensation per victim of the Karachi factory fire that killed 259 workers.
The workers’ compensation system doesn’t always work as intended. The new Workers’ Comp Hub has information for injured workers and for those advocating to improve the system.
Injury Control & Violence
Explosion in January at Oklahoma oil rig hospitalized four workers, employer pays $6,700 OSHA penalty
Several workers were injured when a January explosion rocked El Dorado Drilling’s Logan Rig #7 in Logan County, Oklahoma. The company said “these things happen,” but accident investigators know otherwise.
Researchers studying workers’ compensation claims have found that almost one in 12 injured workers who begin using opioids were still using the prescription drugs three to six months later. It’s a trend that, not surprisingly, can lead to addiction, increased disability and more work loss – but few doctors are acting to prevent it.
Cancer
Hotel workers at Hyatt struggle for justice, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization supports workers’ cause
Canceling a hotel contract for a major conference is no small feat, but the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization did just that to support hotel workers call for a global boycott of Hyatt Hotels.
The Oregonian reports on children doing farm labor, and the Obama administration’s response to their FOIA request regarding an abandoned proposal to limit dangerous agricultural work by children; Foxconn workers on an iPhone 5 production line went on strike for several hours over working conditions; and four Unicef vaccine workers were kidnapped and released in South Waziristan.
California Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed two bills that worker advocates promoted: The Humane Treatment for Farm Workers Act and the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights.
It’s not news that unemployment is bad for a person’s health. But it turns out that just the threat of unemployment is bad as well.
Warehouse workers employed by Walmart subcontractors march 50 miles to LA for safer working conditions; researchers investigate an alarming incidence of kidney disease among Sri Lankan farmers; and Washington, DC doesn’t know if employers are complying with its law requiring paid sick leave.