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:
Our country has seen many so-called fiscal commissions, and each one of them has failed to produce meaningful change. So why are some voices in both parties floating the idea again?
Read More
AFGE Local 17 President Douglas Massey last week testified before a congressional committee, detailing issues that impede the work of attorneys who adjudicate veterans’ claims and making recommendations on how to improve the process and better serve veterans.
Read More
An investigation into a whistleblower retaliation case championed by AFGE Local 1534 concludes in our union’s favor that an employee has indeed been wrongfully retaliated against.
Read More
