News
Child labor law violations in Massachusetts
The Boston Globe - April 29, 2013
Sixteen-year-olds on the job for more than nine hours straight, and sometimes over 48 hours in a week. Minors operating forklifts and motor vehicles or handling alcoholic beverages. Teenagers working late without adult supervision.
Those are some of the charges that have resulted in the state’s levying child-labor law fines against more than 100 companies, including national chains such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Subway.
Texas Plant Explosion Reveals Wide Gaps In Workplace Safety Laws
April 20, 2013 - The Huffington Post
WASHINGTON -- The staggering death toll continues to rise -- not in Boston, but in the small town of West, Texas.
Buried by the extraordinary developments in the marathon bombing case, the confirmed deaths of at least 14 people and the injuries of 200 more have been all but lost in the breaking terrorism news. But about 1,800 miles from Boston, rescuers and investigators are sorting through the wreckage of the devastating industrial disaster.
Impact of 'bully' boss extends to victim's co-workers
indianexpress.com - February 25, 2013
Abusive bosses who target employees with ridicule not only have a bad effect on them but negatively impact the work environment for their co-workers, who suffer from "second-hand" or vicarious abusive supervision, a new study has claimed.
OSHA cites concrete plant after fatal accident
Springfield News-Sun - Feb. 4, 2013
OSHA issues two very serious violation citations to a cement plant where a worker was killed.
Bringing You More Than the Weekend: Union Membership and Self-rated Health in the United States
Social Forces - March 30, 2012
Union membership improves health
Flu Season Has Boston Declaring Health Emergency
WBUR - January 10, 2013
Health commission leaders report that the inner-city neighborhoods of Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan have been hardest hit by the flu, and they attribute that partly to those communities having a higher number of lower-wage workers with less paid sick time.
New report: The Year in US Occupational Health & Safety
9/3/2012
To mark Labor Day, Liz Borkowski and Celeste Monforton prepared and released today "The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety: Fall 2011 - Summer 2012." It highlights some of the key peer-reviewed research, reports in the grey literature, investigations by journalists, and notable action at the local, state and federal levels.
COALITION FOR HEALTHIER SCHOOLS RELEASES 2012 ACTION KIT
Protect EPA Healthy Schools/Children’s Health Programs from the Fiscal Cliff of Sequester
(Albany, NY) Today, 08.21.12, the Coalition for Healthier Schools, coordinated by Healthy Schools Network, released the national Coalition’s 2012 Action Kit for Back to School and Beyond for parents, educators, and activists to use to boost federal and state and local policies to address the dark, dank, dirty conditions of too many schools, and to improve children’s health and ability to learn, as well as improve staff productivity.
Patrick signs law to protect temporary workers
Temporary staffing agencies in Massachusetts must provide day workers with such basic job information as rate of pay and job descriptions under a bill signed into law by Governor Deval Patrick on Monday. The law, which goes into effect in January, also prohibits agencies from charging certain fees that could drive a worker’s pay below the minimum wage, including the cost of registering with the staffing agency or for performing a criminal record check.
OSHA cites Tribe Mediterranean Foods following death of Fall River man at Taunton plant
The Taunton Gazette - June 18, 2012
The Taunton-based Tribe Mediterranean Foods faces $702,300 in proposed fines following an investigation into the workplace death of a Fall River man last year. Daniel Collazo Torres, 28, a Fall River resident, was crushed to death on Dec. 16, 2011 while cleaning and sanitizing a machine used to manufacture hummus at Tribe's Taunton plant.The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Monday that it is citing Tribe Mediterranean Foods for 18 alleged violations of federal workplace safety standards.
