Club for Growth: Never Underestimate the Stupidity of the American People

Check this out. And it's not from the Onion. What are these people thinking???

Conservatives Attack Two GOP Senators With Electronically Doctored Images

Washington Post
Sunday, April 20, 2003; Page A05


Politicians generally are happy to pose with a flag. But not the French flag, especially these days.

With the help of a little digital wizardry, the conservative Club for Growth is airing ads showing Republican Sens. Olympia J. Snowe (Maine) and George V. Voinovich (Ohio) in proximity to French flags in order to disparage their resistance to President Bush's tax-cut plans.

Snowe and Voinovich have said they will support only $350 billion of Bush's $726 billion proposal, and their critical votes in the closely divided Senate this month led to a deal aimed at limiting the tax cut to $350 billion. This raised the ire of the Club for Growth, an anti-tax advocacy group with a penchant for throwing political rocks at moderate Republicans.

The TV ads, which will run for 10 days in Maine and Ohio, recall France's opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. They go on to say "some so-called Republicans," naming Snowe in the Maine ads and Voinovich in the Ohio ads, "stand in the way" of Bush's tax-cutting plans at home. Digitally inserted French flags flutter beside the senators' images.

"It's hilarious," said Voinovich spokesman Scott Milburn. "It reminds me of the Iraqi information minister's daily briefing. It's so incredible that it barely deserves a response."

The Republican Main Street Partnership, representing about 65 moderate GOP lawmakers and governors – including Snowe but not Voinovich – is responding with newspaper and TV ads that defend Snowe and describe the Club for Growth as "misinformed New York City elitists."

As for the French flag, it may not have been such as good idea in the Maine ads. A good number of Snowe's constituents are of French Canadian ancestry, and they rather like the French flag.

Well if the French are opposed to tax cuts for the rich, huge deficits, underfunding education, cutting back on health care for children, the poor and the elderly, and defunding workplace health and safety and environmental enforcement agencies, then all I can say is Viva la France!

By the way, you can see the ads yourself at the Club for Growth's web page.

Their mission is to run conservative Republicans to the right of the moderates. Seems to work pretty well. Either they pick up a more conservative congressional seat (or at least a nomination), or they at least force the Republican moderates to always be looking over their right shoulders.

Now why can't the left do that? When a bunch of Democrats (Lincoln (D-AR), Hollings (D-SC), Breaux (D-LA), Landrieu (D-LA), Miller (D?-GA) and Baucus (D-MT)) betrayed the people who elected them by voting to overturn OSHA's ergonomics standard in 2001, the AFL-CIO jumped up and down and screamed and yelled and then worked their asses off to get them all re-elected. And given the situation, it was the only thing we could do. Given the situation.... But maybe we need to change the situation. Start our own "Club."

Have a nice weekend

Going to West Virginia for the weekend. No internet. Happy Easter. Later....

(Agent) Orange Alert

The Daily Grist reports on a NY Times story in the about a study showing that

The U.S. military sprayed twice as much herbicide on Vietnam during the war there than previously estimated, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. Relying on previously unexamined military documents and new assessments of dioxin concentrations, the study found that an additional 1.8 million gallons of toxic herbicides, mostly Agent Orange, were used by the Armed Forces. From 1961 to 1971, more than 10 percent of what was then South Vietnam was sprayed with defoliants in an effort to destroy food crops and remove forest cover from combat areas. An estimated 14 percent of Vietnam's forests were obliterated, and the herbicides have been blamed for birth defects and illnesses in both Vietnamese citizens and American veterans. The U.S. compensates veterans for diseases associated with the spraying in Vietnam but has refused recompense to the Vietnamese until more data are available.

Dr. Jean Stellman, of Columbia University, who authored the report said that the report "also suggested that a significantly higher number of Vietnamese civilians had been directly exposed to the spraying than had earlier been realized."

By the way, if you're interested in environmental issues, brought to you in a concise, interesting and often humorous style, you need to check out the Daily Grist. They'll also e-mail you a digest of articles every day.

Working Conditions Improve Due to Labor Struggles

Found a good article that talks about the role of Canadian unions in the struggle to improve workplace safety and health:

It was 1963, the year that coincided with the birth of Canadian Occupational Safety, that Joe Morris, then vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress, set out the principles that have guided labour in its efforts to protect the lives, health and limbs of employees in the workplace.

“It is the responsibility of the government to set minimum standards of working conditions; it is the responsibility of management to provide safe and comfortable working conditions; and it is the responsibility of labour to ensure that the conditions it enjoys are safe, and that they are maintained that way."

The article highlights labor's contribution to addressing the hazards of asbestos, toxic chemicals, workplace stress, ergonomics, mining and the new issues like work processes.

Something to consider in the great debate over whether unions should devote resources to workplace health and safety. Makes you feel like the fight is worth it.

(This article is one of several interesting articles to the 40th anniversary issue of Canadian Occupational Safety magazine. Check it out.)

Moderate Republicans to Bush: Lay off Labor

E.J. Dionne in the Washington Post writes today about moderate, pro-labor Republicans who oppose Bush Administration efforts to harass the labor movement by increasing the burden and complexity of the required LM-2 Financial Reporting form.

The Republicans wrote to Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao earlier this month, stating that: "'We believe that union resources are best utilized when representing members during negotiations or grievance handling, not adapting and complying with an unprecedented level of detailed financial information and government forms," they wrote. 'While we share your concern over the burden of government regulation of small businesses, we believe the same standard should apply to labor organizations as well.'"

Dionne describes the recent Administration-Labor relationship: "The reporting rules are just one of many swipes the administration has taken at organized labor. Last year's homeland security bill was held up by a single issue: whether employees of the new department would be guaranteed collective bargaining rights and civil service protections. The president opposed the guarantees. He used the issue to win the 2002 congressional elections, and he got the bill he wanted. The administration quickly deployed its enhanced powers to deny collective bargaining rights to 56,000 newly federalized airport screeners."

Noting efforts by many labor leaders to get past the Ullico scandal by calling for the resignation of Ullico President Robert Georgine, Dionne concludes that: "American workers deserve honest unions. That means they also deserve an administration that doesn't see disabling the labor movement as one of its essential political goals. In their letter, the pro-labor Republicans argued that there are 'better ways to help rank-and-file members obtain useful information about their unions.' Too bad there's not much of an audience in these partisan days for such sweet reasonableness."

The Cost of Workplace Injury and Illness

Liberty Mutual insurance company has released its annual Workplace Safety Index showing that the direct cost of disabling work-related injuries and illnesses grew by 8.3% between 1998 and 2000 to reach $42.5 billion (that’s with a “b”) a year. The $42 billion only counts “direct” costs, which include “payments made to injured workers and their medical care providers.” Direct costs are only a part of the total costs.

“Indirect” costs, such as “overtime, training and lost productivity related to an injured employee not being about to perform their normal work” are estimated by Liberty Mutual to be between $127 billion and $212 billion, bringing the total financial impact of disabling workplace incidents to an astounding $170 billion to $255 billion a year. This is based on a survey of managers, 40 percent of whom report that each $1 of direct costs generates between $3 and $5 of indirect costs.

And even this is an underestimate as Liberty Mutual defines a “disabling incident” as six or more days away from work. This means that injuries resulting in less than 6 days away from work aren’t even counted in the total cost.

Ergonomic injuries accounted in 2000 for over a third ($14.7 billion) of the total direct cost of workplace injuries and illnesses, with “overexertion” accounting for $11.9 billion or 28% of total direct costs, and “Repetitive Motion” accounting for $2.8 billion, or 6.5% of the total. Liberty Mutual estimated ergonomic injuries to total only $13 billion in 1999 and $12.1 billion in 1998. As many states don't even compensate for many ergonomic injuries, these costs most likely seriously underestimate the total cost of ergonomic injuries as well.

During this same period that we saw the costs of workplace injuries and illnesses rising, the frequency of disabling workplace injuries fell a little more than 1 percent. Liberty Mutual blames the increase in costs to growing use of advanced and expensive medical treatments, people going to the doctor more, and, most curiously, the alleged fact that many jurisdictions have broadened their definition of work-related injuries, meaning that workers compensation covers more medical conditions that previously. I’m not sure if there is anyone involved in the workers compensation field who could cite a major movement toward broadening coverage workplace medical conditions, especially workplace disease. And the general trend in many states is to reduce workers compensation benefits.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Happy Passover

Tim Robbins on Patriotism, Dissent and Baseball

Tim Robbins gave a great speech at the National Press Club today which is being broadcast (right now!) on CSPAN. As Congress is out (thank God!), CSPAN is showing a lot of repeats, so maybe it will be on again. Check the CSPAN schedule. Watch it.

P.S. Or, thanks to Rory O'Neil, I now have a copy of the transcript. I'll send it to you if you E-Mail Me.

P.P.S. Or, you can also find it here.

OSHA: TB Standard? What TB Standard?

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Gerald W. McEntee today petitioned Labor Secretary Elaine Chao to immediately issue its long overdue tuberculosis (TB) standard to protect American workers against exposure to TB, a standard that will also protect workers against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). AFSCME was among the unions to originally petition the agency for a TB standard almost 10 years ago.

OSHA originally proposed a TB standard in 1997 and was close to issuing the standard when the Bush Administration came in and immediately shoved it to the back burner. OSHA even has a Compliance Directive enabling the agency to enforce violations of best practices for TB control. The standard was strongly opposed by such organizations as the American Hospital Assocation.Thirteen people have died of SARS in Canada and there have been 193 suspected cases in the U.S., but no deaths.

In what might be considered an understatement, James August, director of occupational safety and health for AFSCME warned that

"There is great anxiety among health-care workers that it could happen here because of international travel. And there is no reason to think it couldn't, given what happened in Toronto."

AFSCME was one of several unions to originally petition OSHA for a TB standard in 1995.

What's most interesting about this saga is that OSHA just posted a SARS Web Page. And although there are tons of references to OSHA's Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and references on its SARS webpage, there's not a single reference to tuberculosis, despite the fact that OSHA has an extensive TB webpage describing the same precautions that are needed to protect health care workers and others against SARS. Is the agency embarassed that it had deepsixed the standard when it's clear now that it was needed?

Actually, it's clear that a TB standard was already needed. Athough a serious outbreak several years ago was controlled, TB is still a serious problem in the United States. Drug resistant strains are especially deadly. And, as OSHA documents, in its Web Page, "TB is the leading cause of death due to an infectious agent in the world," which means it's a major problem among immigrants in the U.S.and anyone who is exposed to them.

AFSCME's petition referenced a National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2001 Report that "Overall, the committee concludes that tuberculosis remains a threat to some health care, correctional facility, and other workers in the United States. Although the risk has been decreasing in recent years, vigilance is still needed within hospitals, prison, and similar workplaces, as well as in the community at large." The IOM study also concluded that an OSHA standard was necessary to protect workers.

On the other hand, OSHA has designed an attractive SARS logo and the agency, which has basically gone out of the regulations business, has included its usual legal disclaimer on the SARS web page, assuring employers that while they can be cited under the General Duty Clause for not providing a safe workplace, the the information on its web site is not "itself is not a new standard or regulation, and it creates no new or independent legal obligations." Wouldn't actually want to cite employers for not protecting their employees.

According to a Reuters article, "Officials at OSHA declined comment." Must be busy with homeland security, and voluntary guidelines and, uh, stuff.

More McWane Violations: High Crimes, Low Fines

There was once a time in America where a small agency called OSHA sent big messages to American industry by handing out million-plus dollar fines to deserving enterprises. Of course that was when we had a pinkos in the White House named Reagan and Bush (I).

NY Times, Tuesday, April 15, 2003:

"McWane Inc., an Alabama-based pipe manufacturer with one of the worst workplace safety records in America, has been fined $196,000 for new violations at its largest plant, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced yesterday."

"Union officials, long critical of OSHA's enforcement efforts, said that yesterday's fines were far too light given McWane's history and the gravity of the new violations.

"These are things that kill people," Margaret Seminario, director of safety and health at the A.F.L.-C.I.O., said of the new violations at Tyler Pipe. "Here you have very, very serious hazards, an employer with an atrocious record. And you get basically a slap on the wrist with respect to enforcement."

More here.

Worker "Error" Department (Cont'd)

Workplace accidents seem so easy to figure out if you don't know what the workers were actually doing and what the working conditions actually were.

"The guy just wasn't paying attention. That's why he got hit by the truck/forklift/box." "The guy was supposed to be flagging, but he wasn't following proper procedures."

Cause identified.
Culprit found and duly punished.
Case closed.
Justice done.
Too bad.
You all be more careful next time.
Move on.

There was an excellent article in today's Newsday describing what actually went on down in the NY Subway when New York City Transit worker Joy Antony was hit by a train and killed when he was supposed to be "flagging," but had been told to do other duties by his supervisor, Deanroy Cox. Now they want to fire Cox and the Transport Workers Union is criticizing the decision, even though Cox is a supervisor and not a member of the union. I talked about this a few days ago, but this article goes into more detail about why this was a management system failure, and not a supervisor's error. It's nice to think that sometimes the "buck" stops at the top. But more often than not, the shit rolls downhill.

If I was King of the World, there would be a requirement that before passing judgment on any worker for an "error" that led to an injury or fatality, the "judges" would do the job, under the same conditions for a week. Then tell us who's to blame.

Broaden the Struggle: We all have a Right to Know

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a story about the Tualatin Valley Water District that had discovered that it bought products from McWane Industries, a company investigated by the NY Times and Frontline for the high number of worker deaths and injuries in their facilities. The water district was exploring the idea of changing suppliers due to the company’s record. Since then, I have received inquiries from municipal unions interested in taking similar actions against McWane.

But why stop with McWane? McWane may have been one of the worst actors, but certainly not the only bad actor in the United States, much less the rest of the world. How can public entities and other companies and organizations that are interested in sending a real message to corporate outlaws get the information that is needed about their environmental, labor and human rights practices?

Good question. One coalition is already working on this problem. The International Right To Know Campaign is a coalition of labor, environmental and human rights groups with the following purpose:

At this time of heightened concern about international issues, U.S. companies are informal ambassadors of our country around the world. When operating abroad, they should represent our democratic ideals and our values. However, American companies have too often been implicated in human rights abuses, environmental destruction and labor rights violations.

Here at home, U.S. companies are required to report specific environmental and labor information publicly. However, U.S. corporations have no legally binding obligations whatsoever to disclose comparable information for their operations abroad. Restoring trust in corporate America means U.S. companies must not only provide accurate financial information, they must also disclose information concerning their environmental, labor and human rights practices. Disclosure would allow investors and consumers to make educated choices – choices that are based on a factual and comprehensive portrayal of a company’s business activities – both here at home and abroad.

Check it out.

Southwestern Exposure

And, if you’re interested in what’s happening below (and on) the U.S.-Mexican border with U.S. companies, unions on both sides of the border, and campaigns to protect workers, check out the Maquiladora Health & Safety Support Network, which is a network of 400 occupational safety and health professionals providing

information, technical assistance and on-site instruction regarding workplace hazards in the 3,000 "maquiladora" (foreign-owned assembly) plants along the U.S.-Mexico border. Network members, including industrial hygienists, occupational physicians and nurses, and health educators among others, are donating their time and expertise to create safer and healthier working conditions for the one million maquiladora workers employed by primarily U.S.-owned transnational corporations along Mexico's northern border from Matamoros to Tijuana.

More SARS

More information on labor unions' response to SARS:

Airline Unions Recommend That Members Be Cautious

Officials at the nation's airlines said last week that the cleaning methods they had in place were already sufficient to rid an aircraft of a mystery respiratory illness, even if an infected passenger was found on board.

But airline unions are recommending that their members take even more stringent action to protect themselves against severe acute respiratory syndrome, known as SARS.

OSHA on SARS

OSHA had develped information on SARS that can be found here.

CDC's SARS webpage is here.

AFL-CIO SARS news is here.

Rumsfeld to Iraq's Heritage: "Hey, Shit Happens."

"In the months leading up to the Iraq war, U.S. scholars repeatedly urged the Defense Department to protect Iraq's priceless archaeological heritage"

"Months before the invasion of Iraq, Pentagon war planners anticipated the fall of Saddam Hussein would usher in a period of chaos and lawlessness, but for military reasons, they chose to field a light, fleet invasion force that could not hope to quell such unrest when it emerged, Pentagon officials said yesterday."


Rumsfeld: "We don't allow bad things to happen. Bad things happen in life, and people do loot."

Yeah, I mean it's not like we're, uh, responsible for anything that happens in Baghdad. Anything bad, that is.

Meanwhile, Back On The Ranch....

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has hit hardest at those most involved in fighting it -- hospital workers. And hospitals, supposed to be havens during medical emergencies, have often turned out to be fountainheads of contagion.

INFECTING THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
Hospital Staff Are Hit Hardest by Deadly Lung Disease

Patricia Tamlin was working the night shift at Scarborough Hospital in Toronto when she started feeling hot. She was caring for a man fighting a dangerous new pneumonia, but had been protecting herself with masks and gloves. So she swallowed a Tylenol and finished her shift. What no one knew was that another man Tamlin had nursed was also infected. Read the rest in the Washington Post

And in the NY Times: Mystery Illness Changes Life of Hong Kong Doctor

Short Takes

The House of Representatives has once again voted in favor of drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for the umpteenth time. The Senate will inevitably vote against. No one really believes it's going anywhere. "Insiders" think the only reason the Republicans keep brining it up is not that they think they'll prevail, but only to try to split the labor movement. Fortunately, on our side is Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who has done more to build political solidarity within the labor movement anyone else I can think of.

Who's Minding the Store?

I don't know why the NY Times story about sacking the National Museum of Iraq strikes me so hard. They're just "things," contrasted with with pictures and stories of dead and mutilated children and parents, no medical care, non-stop looting and mayhem -- but the fact that "Nothing remained, museum [in the museum] at least nothing of real value, from a museum that had been regarded by archaeologists and other specialists as perhaps the richest of all such institutions in the Middle East," while the U.S. Army did almost nothing to stop it makes me kind of sick.

There's another reason all this is bothering me. While no one's watching to museums or hospitals in Baghdad, who is not watching the alleged chemical weapons and nuclear depots in other parts of the country (assuming they exist?) I'm afraid we're all going to have some whirlwinds to reap.

Worker Error Department, Part 2

Yet another in an occasional, but never-ending, series on how management blames workers (even if they’re supervisors) in order to cover up failures in management systems.

Transport Workers Union Calls Transit Authority Staffing Levels Dangerous

The New York City Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 has come to the defense of a New York City Transit (NYCT) supervisor who is being charged with responsibility for the death of a transit worker last November. NYCT management has proposed to fire the supervisor, Deanroy Cox, who is not a member of Local 100.

"Management is scapegoating Cox for something that was the fault of managers above him," said Local 100 Vice-president John Samuelsen. "The problem is staffing levels. If they put all the blame on Cox, it undercuts our effort to make sure that staffing is adequate so work can be done safely."

On the day of the fatality, Cox headed up a 3-person crew to test track signals. According to Samuelson, the minimum number of people who can do that kind of work is four, one of whom must work exclusively at flagging, to protect the rest of the crew from moving trains. With a 3-person crew the flagger must spend part of the time assisting with the signal testing. "Cox didn't decide to go out with two men, he was assigned two men," said Samuelson "He wasn't in a position to say how many men he was taking. Management told Cox to do it one way and then when a fatality happened they told him he wasn't supposed to do it that way. The only way Cox could get the work done was to have someone flagging and working on signals at the same time. Joy Antony tried to do that and it killed him."

The circumstances that led to Antony's death are indicative of the difficulty faced by Local 100 in trying to prevent on-the-job injury and illness. A month before Antony was killed, Local 100 had won a ruling from NYCT's Office of System Safety, which stated that signal-testing crews must include at least four workers. But, according to Local 100 Safety Director Toney Earl, "signal management ignored the Office of System Safety mandate," and continued to send out teams of three men to test signals, like the team that included Antony.

Less than two months after Antony's death, Local 100 negotiated a new contract, which gives Local 100 members the right to refuse unsafe work. "It makes a tremendous difference to us, even though many managers in the system aren't aware that we have that right," says Samuelson. "We have caught managers trying to do things the old way but for the most part they are sticking to the safety terms of the new contract."
Source: NYCOSH UPDATE ON SAFETY AND HEALTH, Vol. VII, No. 21, Friday, April 11, 2003 See also NY Times Article

The GOP Ridiculous Quote Log

A Buzzflash New Analysis

Making it's way around the web . . .

"All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith...The reason that Christian schools and Christian universities are growing is a result of a strong value system. In a religious environment the value system is set. That's not the case in a public school where there are so many different kids with different kinds of
values."
- U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige [Washington Post, 4/9/03]

"My sons are 25 and 30. They are blond-haired and blue-eyed. One amendment today said we could not sell guns to anybody under drug treatment. So does that mean if you go into a black community, you cannot sell a gun to any black person?"
- U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin [Congressional Record, 4/9/03]

"Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes."
- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay [NY Times, 4/3/03, CongressDaily, 3/17/03]

Labor Demands PPE Payment Standard From OSHA

The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), joined by eight additional labor organizations, filed a petition today with the Secretary of Labor to demand a rule within 60 days that mandates employer payment for personal protective equipment. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also joined in the request. This standard has been stalled at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for three years.

Since its inception, it had been OSHA practice to require employers to pay for all Personal Protective Equipment such as gloves, boots, hearing protection and other protective equipment required by OSHA standards, although this requirement was not specifically written into OSHA's 1994 PPE revised standard.. The OSHA Review Board ruled in 1997 that OSHA could not require employer payment unless it was written into a standard. So, in 1999 OSHA proposed the "Payment for PPE Standard," took comments and held hearings.

As the petition states, "The rulemaking record overwhelmingly supported OSHA's determination that a rule was needed to clarify this issue and protect workers from the risks posed by their employer's failure to pay for protective equipment." In addition to testimony from unions, "NIOSH, the International Safety Equipment Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, the State of Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, and many other groups all strongly supported the issuance of the rule. In addition, the rule was generally supported by a number of employer groups including Shell Offshore Inc., Southwestern Bell Telephone, Heavy Constructors Association of The Greater Kansas City Area, National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. , the Mechanical-Electrical-Sheet Metal Alliance , and the American Trucking Association.

The standard was almost ready for publication when the Bush Administration came into office. It has lain dormant since and is now classified "Next Action Undetermined."

The petition points out that Latinos are particularly affected:

The situation at a non-union meatpacking plant in Omaha, Nebraska, is a case in point. This plant has primarily a Hispanic workforce. The workers are required to wear rubber boots to reduce the risk of falling on slippery floors, but the employer deducts the cost of the boots from their paychecks. If the safety equipment workers wear to prevent knife cuts is lost or stolen, workers must pay for replacements. For some types of PPE, this company, like many others, furnishes only the first set of PPE, and after that, when the item is worn out, the worker must pay for its replacement. Workers faced with such policies frequently do not replace safety equipment when it wears out, because they cannot afford it or elect not to buy it. As a result, workers end up working with holes in their gloves, such that their hands are not protected from knife cuts, or wearing hearing protection that has lost its protective value due to wear.

Pointing to the Department's rhetoric about committing resources to Hispanic worker outreach and training, the letter states: "Rather than just promising more funding for outreach and education, the Department of Labor and OSHA Immigrant workers need more than outreach and education. They need protection."

Just as the OSH Act requires employers to pay for engineering controls, such as ventilation and mufflers to control noisy equipment, the Act requires that the employer pay for personal safety equipment such as safety goggles and protective gloves. There has never been any ambiguity about who pays for engineering and administrative controls, and nor should there be any question about payment for PPE. It would be totally contrary to the language and spirit of the OSH Act to permit employers to pass along the economic burden of safety controls to workers.

Other labor organizations signing the petition were: the AFL-CIO, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, UNA/American Nurses Association, Building Trades Department, AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, and the United Steel Workers of America.

Worker Error Department

(I sometimes search Google News for the term “Worker Error.” It almost always turns up some good stuff. For example…)

Here we have a story from the New Jersey Herald about a truck driver, John Baer, who had worked for Able Energy for twenty years. One day he transferred propane from a 10,000-gallon truck to a 3,000-gallon truck. Then he got in his truck and drove off. Except that he forgot to disconnect the hose, which ruptured. The emergency shut-off valve on the large truck failed. The gas spewed out, ignited, exploded causing the evacuation of 1000 residents for five days, closing of schools and $7 million in damage. The explosion damaged 67 homes in the immediate area, with 11 suffering "major damage,

The headlines read: Human, mechanical error blamed in Newton explosion

There were rumors that Baer was smoking while loading the propane. Also it turns out it's not legal to transfer propane from a large truck to a smaller truck. The Herald reported that “Able Energy Chief Operating Officer John Vrabel said the employee has more than 20 years' experience working with propane but failed to follow company operating procedures. Vrabel said the Able employee faces disciplinary action for his mistake. He said fuel isn't often transferred from a larger truck to a smaller one. "I would not characterize it as a common practice, no," Vrabel said.

A later article revealed that Baer no longer worked for the company.

Justice done? Maybe. But wait, a few issues….

1. Maybe Baer was a total screw-up. Maybe he was a conscientious worker, having a thoughtless moment. I don’t know him. But he had been working there for 20 years. Couldn’t have been too much of a screw-up.

2. Although Vrabel was SHOCKED that Baer had been illegally transferring propane for a larger truck to a small truck, it turns out that the state fined Able $408,000 “for performing some 816 illegal fuel transfers between August 1, 2000 to March 14, 2003 at the Diller Avenue facility,” in addition to other violations. (I guess 816 times isn’t “often.”)

3. One “witness” said only that he had seen Baer with a pack of cigarettes, not necessarily smoking.

4. This is the most interesting part to think about: Suppose Mr. Baer had driven away, leaving the hose connected and the emergency shutoff valve had functioned properly, shutting off the propane when the hose ruptured. Same action, but no explosion, no damage, no injuries, no evacuation, no media, no fines. Total damage if the valve had worked: A new hose and maybe a slap on the wrist for Baer.

So, what's the root cause? Who is taking the fall?