MAKING PROGRESS IN HARD TIMES:
United Action Paid Off for WEC and Our Partners in 2010-2011
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Wall Street and corporate CEOs are attacking basic health and safety safeguards in our workplaces and our communities. But more than 70 labor, environmental, and community organizations united in the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC) continue to show
that by working together we can make new progress and defend past gains. Here are some recent accomplishments by WEC and our partners.
Saving Our Workplace and Environmental Safeguards
WEC and our allies so far have stopped a coordinated corporate attack on landmark state safeguards. Legislation introduced by John Burzichelli
(D-3rd District), Chair of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee, and backed by the state's chemical and oil industry and corporate trade
associations, would block state agencies from issuing safeguards that are stronger than federal standards, unless legislators, who lack the qualifications to make the scientific determinations underlying these regulations, first approved
every detail.
Working with our partners,
WEC has stopped this attack to-date by...
* Organizing opposition from more than 77 labor, community, health, environmental, and education organizations.
* Distributing more than 10,000 flyers against the legislation at a May 2010 Trenton rally.
* Coordinating hundreds of phone calls to legislative leaders.
* Prompting media coverage, such as Star Ledger and
Asbury Park Press editorials.
* Winning support from legislative leaders, such as
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono and Assembly
Environment Committee Chairman John McKeon, to oppose this legislation.
Preventing Toxic Catastrophes through Worker/Union Participation
WEC led a multi-year effort with the BlueGreen Alliance and 106 labor, environmental, and community organizations that won a landmark new national policy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ensuring worker participation. Employees and their union representatives now have new rights across the nation to participate during EPA inspections and point out risks to prevent catastrophic chemical releases at approximately 13,000
of the nation's potentially most dangerous industrial facilities. And, prompted by WEC, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board pledged
to adopt a policy to engage workers and family members during its "root cause" investigations of chemical disasters.
Stopping Workers from Being Used as Guinea Pigs
Supporting the Professional Emergency Medical Services Association of NJ (PEMSA), WEC helped stop toxic misting of ambulances by the Monmouth Ocean Hospital Services Corporation (MONOC). This case has national implications for whether workers can be used as guinea pigs to try out toxic chemicals and is an important demonstration of how protecting workers
can also protect the community - in this case, patients being transported by ambulances. PEMSA, which is affiliated with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), maintains that union members are sick because of MONOC's use of a new misting process for decontamination marketed by Zimek Technologies. Because of union complaints, EPA ordered
MONOC to stop applying pesticides acquired from Zimek in a manner inconsistent with their labeling. OSHA asked MONOC to stop using the Zimek machine, to use safer decontamination methods, and to cooperate with a NIOSH Health Hazard Evaluation. IAFF alerted its members nationwide concerning EPA's action against MONOC. The media, including the online edition of The New York Times, have covered this ongoing battle.
Winning Healthier Schools for Students and Staff
Working closely with the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) and its local affiliates, WEC provided ongoing technical and organizational assistance to protect teachers, support staff and custodians as well as students across our state. For example, in Dover, WEC helped stop the District from forcing school employees to remediate asbestos; in Pleasantville, we helped
to assess mold problems in seven schools; and in Clinton, we helped investigate a possible cancer cluster. WEC's columns for the NJEA Reporter on health and safety issues such as cleaning chemicals, lead paint, cancer clusters, safe pest control, radon, PCBs in caulk, ergonomics, and building coalitions with
parents, reach 200,000 teachers and school staff monthly.
Protecting Health Care Workers and Patients from Injuries and Violence
Because of a campaign by the Health Professionals and Allied Employees, with support from other health care unions and WEC, our state Health Department has proposed regulations to implement the Safe Patient Handling and Violence Prevention in Healthcare Facilities Acts, laws enacted under the previous governor that protect both health care workers and their patients. The worker-management committees at the heart of both laws give frontline caregivers a voice to help identify hazards and design programs to prevent injuries from workplace violence and from unassisted patient lifts
and transfers. New Jersey was the fourth state to adopt strong safe patient handling laws and the first state to adopt a violence prevention law that covers healthcare employees.
Developing Leadership for Safe and Healthy Workplaces
WEC continued programs to provide leadership training that resulted in practical health and safety improvements. Preventing Chemical Accidents reached 400 workers (and managers) at facilities using high hazard chemicals. This training led to safer chemical storage, better electrical "lockout-tagout" procedures, enhanced emergency communication systems, and new work procedures. Safe Work, Safe Care provided training on occupational and environmental health hazards onsite in hospitals and long-term care facilities to 282 workers (and managers). SWSC workshops led to six long-term care facilities establishing joint health and safety committees.