Flight Attendants Speak Out Against Rand Paul’s Health and Safety Attack
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Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) wants to deny safety and health protections for flight attendants. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill would extend Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) protection to flight attendants and other air crew, something air crew workers have been seeking for decades. Paul has offered an amendment to strip the OSHA protections from the bill. (Click here for details.)
Considering the high rate of workplace injuries and the impact on the flying public, flight attendants are speaking out about why this is a serious mistake. Sanitation, air quality, temperature and humidity levels, noise and blood-borne pathogens are just a few of the hazards that go unchecked for flight attendants in their workplace—the aircraft cabin.
Check out this new video from the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) that features flight attendants from Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA), Machinists (IAM) and Transport Workers (TWU) explaining why Paul’s amendment is a bad idea for workers and passengers.
’16 Deaths Per Day’ Highlights Weak Penalties for Worker Fatalities
Every day, 16 workers go to work and don’t come home. They are killed on the job. But far too often, employers that have created or ignored dangerous workplace conditions are not held accountable. Civil penalties are weak and criminal prosecutions rare.
Now, “16 Deaths Per Day,” a new video from Brave New Films, shines a spotlight on the weak deterrence and penalties of the nation’s workplace safety laws.
Along with the video, Brave New Films has created a website and Facebook page to build support for the Protecting America’s Workers Act (H.R. 2067), which would toughen enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and penalties for violating the law.
Hearing Highlights Need for Tougher Penalties for Job Safety and Health Violations
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Employers who violate workplace safety and health laws—even to the point where workers are killed or injured—now face such minimal penalties that too many ignore the law, witnesses told the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee during a hearing yesterday that coincided with Workers Memorial Day.
They called for tougher enforcement of safety laws and stronger sanctions against law-breaking employers.
Peg Seminario, AFL-CIO director of health and safety, told the panel:
Current OSHA enforcement and penalties are far too weak to provide any meaningful incentive for employers to address job hazards or to deter violations. As a result, workers are exposed to serious hazards that put them in danger and cause injury and death.
