The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“CONCERN FOR THE AMERICAN WORKER” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Labor was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1460-E1461 on July 27, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
CONCERN FOR THE AMERICAN WORKER
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HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, July 27, 2001
Mr. HONDA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my deep concern for the health and safety of the American Worker. Ergonomic hazards contribute to hundreds of thousands of injuries each year, we must do more to address the problem. Unfortunately, instead of dealing with this serious problem, the President with help from the majority party in the House of Representatives, took the drastic step of overturning workplace safety regulations that had been carefully studied for the past 10 years.
The ergonomic rule that was overturned earlier this year protected over 100 million working women and men in this nation and covered over 6 million work sites around the country. These critically important ergonomic regulations would have prevented 4.6 million musculoskeletal disorders, including carpal tunnel syndrome and other ailments related to repetitive motion, force, awkward postures, contact stress and vibration.
Now the Bush Administration, in conjunction with its Labor Department, is going through the motions, dare I say ``repetitive motions`` of having ``field hearings'' to review the effects of ergonomic related injuries. These problems have been studied for the past 10 years, how much more information does this administration need to be convinced that this is a pressing matter?
I have seen recent testimony by Amy Dean, Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council given at one of the Labor Department's ergonomic standard hearings. I believe this testimony illustrates the real life consequences of not protecting workers in this nation from ergonomic hazards and so I include it in the Congressional Record for the information of my colleagues.
Testimony of Amy B. Dean, Executive Officer South Bay AFL-CIO Labor
Council, July 24, 2001
My name is Amy Beth Dean and I am the Executive Officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council. The Labor Council represents more than 100,000 working families throughout Silicon Valley
In this community, there are union members in every occupation. We work in manufacturing. We work in construction. We work in health care. We look after young children, We're even the people who keep this building clean.
But far more important than any of those differences in the work we do, are the values we all share--values that begin with the belief that each of us has the right to a safe and healthy workplace. That's why I'm here today.
A number of years ago a British journalist once wrote that,
``in politics, being ridiculous is more damaging than being extreme.'' By destroying OSHA's ergonomics standard--and then stacking these forums in favor of big business--the Bush Administration has demonstrated itself to be both. And American workers are paying for George Bush's extremism every single day.
Since George Bush and the Republicans in Congress killed this safety standard, more than 500,000 workers have suffered carpal tunnel syndrome and other injuries. That's one more worker every 18 seconds.
What kinds of workers are we talking about? Some of them are people who work in poultry processing plants. Some work with heavy equipment. Others work in places like nursing homes and warehouses. But many of these women and men work in high technology. They're clerical and technical workers. And many are professionals.
They're people like Patricia Clay. She works at the Referral Center at the Valley Medical Center. She worked for five years at a desk that was too high. She raised the issue with her supervisor, but her employer was indifferent. Eventually, she began noticing that something was wrong with her right hand. She found out it was carpal tunnel syndrome. Eventually, she lost so much strength that, after a while, she couldn't hold anything over two pounds. That meant she couldn't even pick up the baby grandson she was helping her daughter to look after. A week ago, Patricia Clark had surgery, but her doctor tells her she'll never be the same that she was before.
We know from experience that, with the right equipment and practices, injuries like those suffered by Patricia can be avoided. Just ask anyone who
I'm not talking about workers suffering an ache every now and then, but sometimes excruciating pain. I'm talking about the kind of pain that keeps you from leading a normal life. Well, those workers at the Mercury News were lucky. At that time, thanks to the effort of the San Jose Newspaper Guild--and the cooperation of the Mercury News--changes were made. The paper began investing in the kind of equipment computer users need. And guess what? By 1998 repetitive strain injuries declined by 49%!
But, the fact is, not every worker has an employer who wants to do the right thing. The fact is that far too many employers still believe they don't have an obligation to provide safe and healthy working conditions. Employers who would rather see workers wear wrist splints or undergo physical therapy, or even suffer through surgery than invest in computer keyboards that are safe to use.
It's the women and men working for those kinds of employers who need this ergonomic standard most of all. And those are the very people George Bush chose to betray.
I know that three questions are being asked of those participating in these forums. You've asked what is an ergonomics injury. You've asked how OSHA can determine whether an ergonomics injury was caused by work.
And you've asked what the most useful and cost effective government measures are to address ergonomic injuries. It seems to me that if the Department of Labor reviewed the 10 years of research and expert testimony it compiled to draft the ergonomics standard it could find the answer to those and many other questions.
Instead, I have a fourth question I would like to ask this Administration. When a young newspaper reporter's hands are numb after hours of typing at an obsolete keyboard, who is going to help her to drive her car?
When a baby cries out in the middle of the night and the pain in her mother's arms and hands is so severe from working at an obsolete keyboard that she can't reach down to lift that child from her crib and that young mother is left standing there with her heart breaking, who will be there to comfort her baby?
Will it be the company she works for? Will it be Secretary Chao? Or will it be George W. Bush?
I have no further comments.
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