AFGE congratulates Douglas Parker on being confirmed by the Senate to lead an important workplace safety agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The position, which was left vacant the entire Trump administration, is especially important during a public health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic.
In our meeting with OSHA’s Office of Federal Agency Programs this week, AFGE will be sharing with agency leadership our priorities for safer workplaces.
Here are 3 things we’re asking OSHA to focus on:
The COVID-19 emergency temporary standard is only in effect for six months and will expire in December. We need these protections to remain in effect, but the permanent standard should be a more general standard to protect against both COVID and other infectious diseases.
We have pushed for this for years, first joining with other health care unions to petition OSHA to develop a standard to protect workers from violence at the workplace. OSHA has started working on such a standard, but work was halted during the previous administration.
We generally don’t see OSHA inspections unless workers and locals file complaints, and even then it may not be a workplace inspection but a review of documents.
Other areas that can be improved:
AFGE applauds the Senate for passing an AFGE-backed bill that would allow law enforcement personnel and first responders to keep their full retirement benefits if they’re injured on the job and return to the federal workforce in another capacity. The bill, which passed the House in July, now heads to President Biden for his signature.
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AFGE and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nov. 17 signed a new four-year collective bargaining agreement with several new benefits, including expanded telework and remote work as the two parties work together to find a new way to achieve efficiency and work-life balance.
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Since 2010, the number of Social Security beneficiaries has gone up more than 20%, but the budget for processing social security claims hasn’t kept up. In fact, it has gone down 14%, causing backlogs and delays in the Social Security Administration (SSA)’s ability to respond to families and individuals seeking Social Security benefits.
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