IWJ Issues Red Cross Blood Drive Guide with Focus on Safety, Workers’ Rights
The Red Cross has come under fire recently for its blood safety practices and unfair labor practices. Today, Interfaith Workers Justice (IWJ) issued a Congregational Guide urging congregations to hold the American Red Cross accountable for improving its blood safety practices and respecting workers’ rights.
Every year the Red Cross holds 200,000 blood drives across the country and many are hosted by faith groups. But, says IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo:
There’s something that many faith groups may not know. We believe that the Red Cross is not honoring another important teaching and that is to treat others as we wish to be treated and that laborers deserve their just reward. While we don’t want congregations to stop holding these important blood drives we do want to empower them to hold the Red Cross accountable for the safety of the blood supply and the treatment of their workers.
The Congregational Guide for Red Cross Blood Drives highlights 10 questions to ask the Red Cross around issues of ensuring safety at blood drives, respecting the rights of its workers and addressing its longstanding compliance problems with FDA blood safety regulations. The questions cover staffing levels, certification, blood handling procedures, donor screening, working conditions and labor relations. Click here for more.
5 Refinery Workers Killed, Industry Group Lauds Its Safety Record
After an explosion at a Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Wash., killed five United Steelworkers (USW) members and severely injured two other workers, the petroleum industry claimed its safety record is exemplary. Says USW President Leo W. Gerard:
It’s incredible this industry brags about its safety record just after five people were killed in a refinery explosion.
After the April 2 explosion, officials of the American Petroleum Institute told reporters that the industry was not getting enough credit for its health and safety record, citing drops in injury and illnesses rates during the past several years. Read the rest of this entry »
Solis Backs Employee Free Choice, Strong Enforcement of Wage, Safety Laws
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Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says workers face increasing obstacles when they try to form unions and “we need to restore their freedom to do so.” In testimony before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee today, Solis looked back at the department’s actions in 2009 and forward to its 2010 agenda.
In reiterating the Obama administration’s support for the Employee Free Choice Act, Solis said:
I will work to ensure that workers’ rights will be protected. In order to Read the rest of this entry »
SMWIA Member Gets Missouri Labor Post; N.Y. State AFL-CIO Endorses Candidate with Union Background
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Carla Buschjost, a member of Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) Local 36, in St. Louis, is the new director of the Division of Labor Standards in the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations (DOLIR). Meanwhile in New York, Scott Murphy, a candidate in the special election for the 20th Congressional District seat, won the backing of the New York State AFL-CIO this weekend. Murphy is the son of a postal worker and a teacher.
Appointed late last month, Buschjost will oversee the division’s worker safety sections as well as the state’s child labor and prevailing wage laws. Says Buschjost:
I am passionate about stronger enforcement of laws that create stronger and safer workplaces.
Sen. Chambliss Gets Angry When Asked About Role in Sugar Dust Blast
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Sen. Saxby Chambliss, the anti-worker senator fighting for his career in a tight Georgia runoff election, is facing a subpoena to testify about his relationship with Imperial Sugar. As we’ve noted, Imperial Sugar—an ally and patron of Chambliss—is hoping to evade responsibility for a deadly sugar dust explosion that killed 14 workers last February.
Yesterday, Chambliss responded to a question about the subpoena by swatting away a camera held by a volunteer (see video). Not only is he dodging a court order, but he doesn’t want to discuss his relationship with the company or his attacks on a whistle-blower who exposed the dangerous conditions at the Imperial plant.
As Firedoglake reported, Chambliss received $21 million in campaign contributions this election cycle from the sugar industry.
