Dorry’s blog

Low Wage Workers, Safety, Labor and Women’s Groups Say   it’s “Our Turn”; Vow to End Sexual Harassment on the Job

Sign the  Our Turn  â€œCommitment to Unity and Action.”  

If local and regional newspapers had their say in it, the USDA would rethink its proposed poultry rule, which would drastically increase the inspection line speeds at poultry factories and would replace government inspectors with company-appointed ones.

In the past couple of weeks, the folly of the proposed rule has been opined about in editorial pages in newspapers from the most affected regions.

The hazards associated with grain bin storage and other “post-harvest” activities are well documented, and 2010 saw a record number of grain bin fatalities, with 26 workers perishing in these facilities.

When the American Association for the Advancement of Science comes out against a proposal called the “Sound Science Act,” it’s time to pay attention.

But, you see, the “Sound Science Act,” tucked ever so quietly in the must-pass, House-approved Farm Bill, would essentially bring all pending regulatory actions to a grinding halt- all in the name of science. In short, it would choke public protections through “paralysis by analysis.”

Lessons Unlearned: Too Many Similarities Between West Virginia Chemical Spill and West, Texas, Disaster

Happy New Year, everyone! We hope you had a relaxing holiday season and are as geared up as we are for another great year of worker health and safety.

First off, thank you to all of you who helped make the 2013 National Worker Safety and Health Conference such a wonderful event! We had approximately 300 attendees, hailing from COSH groups, labor unions, worker centers, advocacy groups, and academic institutions.

The holidays are a busy time. There is finishing up year-end projects, getting finances in order, and if you” re lucky, buying (and wrapping) gifts for loved ones. But you are not the only one keeping up the frenetic pace.

We at National COSH are busy wrapping up during the end of the year, especially as we sift through photos, edit videos, and read through evaluations from last week’s hugely successful National Worker Safety and Health Conference. (We promise an update about the conference and all of the accompanying goodies is coming soon!) But as we’re playing catch-up, we realize you might be ready to wind down for the year.

Looking for some health and safety holiday reads? Journalists have been churning out some quality work that is sure to fire you up for another year.

Can you believe the opening panel for the National Worker Safety and Health Conference is just one week away?! As we put the finishing touches on our workshops, panels, and other logistics, we thought we would remind you what a great time you had at last year’s conference. The rest of the blog post below was posted just after last year’s conference concluded. What are you most looking forward to this year?

Haven’t registered yet? Do it now before space fills up!

As the time winds down before we break from our conference planning to sit down for a nice Thanksgiving dinner, we want to take the time to share what we at National COSH are thankful for. We are thankful for you- all of our activists, advocates, trainers, leaders, academics, labor folk, and workers- who day after day put the health and safety of workers above all else. You provide a voice to those afraid to speak up; you empower workers to know their rights and stand up for themselves on the job; you fight for workers who have been put in harm’s way or retaliated against. You make it all happen.

In this season of giving thanks, it seems appropriate to announce the winners of the National COSH 2013 Health and Safety Activist Awards. Our decisions were not easy to make: We received more nominations than ever before, highlighting the excellent work of many worker safety and health leaders across the country.

The awardees will be honored during the National Worker Safety and Health Conference next month in Baltimore. Buy your tickets here.

Without further ado, here are our award winners:

Tony Mazzocchi Lifetime Achievement Award:  Bill Kojola, AFL-CIO

Trainer/Educator Award:  Joyce Sagi, American Federation of Teachers

Health and Safety Activist Award:  Christina Iturralde and Tom Fritzsche, Southern Poverty Law Center

Family/Community Award:  Adriana Martinez, Houston Area COSH