Safety in workplace should be discussed

This being an election year, our federal officeholders and wannabees are busy campaigning across the great state of Arkansas. Sadly, it is very unlikely that they will be discussing worker safety, especially in the era of covid-19. Instead of doing something about the threats from within, trumpets will be a-blaring about threats to our nation from without.

April 28 is the day we, the unions of the AFLCIO, observe as Workers Memorial Day. We do so to draw attention to the continued need for safety in the workplace and to hold our political leaders and employers accountable to promote safe conditions for all workers.

As we mourn the loss of workers who have died on the job in the last year, we urge employers to ensure all workers have the necessary protections from covid-19 at work.

We also urge increased efforts to protect minority and immigrant workers, in particular, who are disproportionately affected by and especially targeted for speaking up against unsafe working conditions.

We call upon our “electees” and all candidates for public offices to endorse Passage of the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA). This proposal is designed to provide OSHA protections to millions of workers nationwide. The bill also contains strong criminal and civil penalties for companies that violate job safety laws, improves anti-retaliation protections for workers and establishes a guarantee that all workers will have a safety voice on the job.

Decades of struggle by working people and our unions have improved working conditions and have made jobs safer, but workers are still being injured and needlessly dying at the worksite. Holding our collective breath, the working families of Arkansas await for workplace safety to be one of the hot topics this election season … Remembering Mother Jones when she said, “Pray for the dead, fight like hell for the living.”

WALTER HINOJOSA

Bella Vista president, Northwest Arkansas Central Labor Council