Behind BP Disaster: Multinational with Dismal Safety Record
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Rep. George Miller didn’t mince words today when describing what’s at the core of the BP/Deepwater Horizon disaster that killed 11 oil rig workers and is poisoning the Gulf of Mexico and putting tens of thousands of people out of work: “A multinational corporation with a dismal safety record in this country.” In House hearings today examining health and safety enforcement on oil rigs and onshore clean-up efforts, Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee, said:
The oversight and regulation of Deepwater and similar operations is a jurisdictional mishmash between three federal agencies and international shipping laws.
The hearing focused on the roles of the various agencies and did not delve into the causes and responsibility for the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster.
Bush Denies Bargaining Rights to 8,600 Federal Workers
In a final-days attack on workers’ rights, President Bush yesterday issued an executive order that denies collective bargaining rights to about 8,600 federal employees who work in national security, law enforcement and intelligence.
Nearly 1,000 of the workers currently are represented by a union, and some have been for more than 30 years. The biggest group affected by the order is the 5,000 employees of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is now part of the Justice Department.
Peter Winch, national organizer for AFGE, the largest federal employee union, says the union is determined to fight the executive order.
