-Andy English
-----Original Message----- From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Date: Tuesday, March 28, 2000 1:55 PM Subject: Re: what to do
>Carrol Cox wrote:
>
>> Doug, when did you join the Progressive Labor Party? They're
>>the only ones I know whose slogan is Communism Now!
>
>My god, what are you talking about? What is so utopian about
>worker-run inspection teams? I first got the idea from Joel Rogers,
>of all people, and I think it's a good one. For all your claims to
>activism, it seems you're always looking for every excuse why things
>can't be done.
>
>Doug
>From the Labor Party program (adopted at the 1996 founding convention)
****************************************************************************
**********
15. Enforce Safety & Health Regulation with Worker Inspectors
The regulation of occupational safety and health hazards is shamefully inadequate, and the enforcement of the standards we have is woefully neglected.
There are too few safety inspectors to visit all the workplaces that need to be visited.
Thousands of untested new chemicals are introduced into use each year, exposing millions of workers and the public to unknown hazards.
Incidents take place without adequate investigations being conducted; and, when incidents are investigated by impartial investigators, their findings are rarely implemented.
The Labor Party must address this important area. In addition to increasing the number of OSHA inspectors, we need the right to act and to enforce any and all safety and health regulations.
We call for national legislation to train and deputize workers to be on the job inspectors in each and every workplace.
Such inspectors should be protected against corporate harassment and discrimination and should be able to do their job without fear of reprisal.
Such inspectors should have the power to shut down hazardous operations and to enforce the right of every worker to refuse unsafe work.
Such inspectors should have the power to investigate incidents to uncover their root causes and to force the implementation of their findings.
Because we know our work sites, worker-inspectors would be better able to protect the workforce from exposure and the community from disaster. Worker-inspectors will save lives.
In addition, we need the following national laws:
All chemicals must be tested for their impacts on human health and the environment before they are introduced into our workplaces.
Working people through their unions should receive advance notice before new chemicals are introduced into the workplace and should have the power to block their introduction for safety reasons.