Vegas workers on strike for safety

[chimx]

I just finished reading this article (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jun/03/workers-walk-citycenter-site-protest) about construction workers in Vegas walking of the job in protest of unsafe work conditions that have left a few people dead recently:


The Las Vegas Sun reported in March that state safety regulators found that a pattern of contractor safety violations contributed to deaths on numerous Strip construction sites. Those violations included inadequate training of workers, the use of faulty equipment and failure to cover holes in decking or place temporary safety floors or nets beneath workers to break any falls.

Many of those findings were later overturned during informal conferences between employers and Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration administrators. Contractors succeeded in arguing that the workers themselves were responsible for or contributed to their deaths.

The deaths have prompted discussions at union halls, contractor offices and construction sites.

Many workers say speed is the main underlying cause: Crowded work sites, pressure to finish work quickly and fatigue from extensive overtime lead to unsafe conditions, they say.

I thought that this would be a good opportunity to hear peoples thoughts on OSHA in the United States. Is it effective? Does it have workers best interests in mind? What are peoples experiences with OSHA?

edit add: just cruising through the aflcio news blog, and apparently the contractors caved pretty quickly. not too surprising (http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/04/las-vegas-construction-workers-win-safety-demands/) i suppose.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

OSHA is horrible. The only way to ensure workplace safety is through direct action. You can file an OSHA complaint, but it'll take forever and even if they find the employer at fault the fine is usually a slap on the wrist. If you read Fast Food Nation there's a part about a worker who had his head chopped off by a machine. OSHA fined the company 500 dollars. A friend of mine used to work at Starbucks, the only way they got rid of a dangerous expresso machine was to leave it on the manager's desk with a note saying "we will not be using this machine anymore, please buy a new one." That's the way you do it.

[chimx]

OSHA fines increase the more you get. While the first offense can be a slap on the wrist, I've been employed by people that have received fines of $10,000 -- and this is when nobody was even hurt.

My biggest gripe is that much of the stuff falls onto the employees. The quotation above is an example of this. Safety is much more than fall-protection and hardhats. Its a matter of safe and unsafe speeds. Safety protections and regulations inevitably slow you down, but when you are being pressured by an employer to complete a job at a certain time, it is the workers who will inevitably start failing to use these protections and follow these rules out of deadline necessities.

And then when something bad does happen, like deaths above, employers can appeal and say, "we provided them with fall protection, the employee chose not to use it". It's unsafe speeds and pressure to complete jobs by certain times to maximize profits, which is obviously unregulated.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

OSHA fines increase the more you get. While the first offense can be a slap on the wrist, I've been employed by people that have received fines of $10,000 -- and this is when nobody was even hurt.

My biggest gripe is that much of the stuff falls onto the employees. The quotation above is an example of this. Safety is much more than fall-protection and hardhats. Its a matter of safe and unsafe speeds. Safety protections and regulations inevitably slow you down, but when you are being pressured by an employer to complete a job at a certain time, it is the workers who will inevitably start failing to use these protections and follow these rules out of deadline necessities.

And then when something bad does happen, like deaths above, employers can appeal and say, "we provided them with fall protection, the employee chose not to use it". It's unsafe speeds and pressure to complete jobs by certain times to maximize profits, which is obviously unregulated.

Those OSHA fines often take forever to materialize and the employer can fight em in court iirc. The biggest problem is definitely the pressure to speed up. Workers need to enforce mandatory slow downs. I know some construction workers are thinking about enforcing a height ban so the worksite isn't as dangerous.

[chimx]

What do you mean a height ban? Require nets above a certain height?


Workers need to enforce mandatory slow downs

That's easier said than done. Often times then the employer will just yell or fire the foreman, who will just feel pressured to try and speed up his crew.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Workers have to struggle for a safer work environment.. OSHA came out of those sorts of struggles but in reality it has always been a joke -- since Nixon first authorized its creation.. it has become even more of a joke as of late (especially since it started "voluntary programs" and "partnerships with industry" when Reagan was president). If a boss willfully violates a regulation which directly results in a death of a worker, the most punishment they can get is 6 months in prison. And that's very rare.. only a dozen people have ever been convicted by OSHA in its history. Nowadays OSHA focuses on 'reducing costs' for the bosses by reducing workers' comp claims and premiums and 'increasing productivity.'

You can't expect the bosses government to look out for workers.

All gains - even miniscule ones - made under capitalism are reversible.

But that's OSHA.. MSHA - run by a former mine-operator - is even worse.

[Joe Hill's Ghost]

What do you mean a height ban? Require nets above a certain height?



That's easier said than done. Often times then the employer will just yell or fire the foreman, who will just feel pressured to try and speed up his crew.

As in a ban on buildings above a certain height. Its kind of like a Green ban where the workers refuse to build in areas that eliminate green space.

Yeah, the foreman is a boss, which is why working folk need to remain united in the face of boss demands. No one said this would be easy, but its the most effective. Direct action gets the goods for a reason.

[dusty]

My experience with OSHA is that workers who file OSHA complaints have no whistleblower protections and are retaliated against with impunity. The OSHA where I used to live would reject all complaints filed by workers, so workers would have to get a lawyer to proceed. Health and safety issues should be more of a focus for all unions, and direct action is the most effective way to get make it happen.

There is a good video produced by Studs Terkel about OSHA on google video.
The Title is "We Can't Take No More"
It would be good to see a remake of this film.

[Oneironaut]

OSHA basically doesn't exist as far as my union is concerned. I am a laborer for Kiewit Building Group renovated a huge hospital in Omaha, NE. OSHA comes around every so often (maybe 2 months) and our foremen are always well notified in advance of any inspection. I had a coworker who once filed a claim with OSHA and it took an innate amount of time to be processed. We generally just rely on direct action when it comes to pursuing our interests as construction workers.