AFT members urge Congress to fill prescription for local, state and federal government employees' health and safety: There's no process to address health, safety concerns of millions of public employees

AFT members Tracee Binion of Alabama and Franklin Mirer of New York were prominent figures in efforts on Capitol Hill to bring attention to the need to strengthen the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The fact that worker health and safety is on the congressional agenda is another indication of the changed climate in Congress since the Democrats assumed control.

Legislation is pending that would bolster and expand coverage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHAct) of 1970. Specifically, the "Fairness for State and Local Workers Act," H.R. 1517, would extend OSHAct protections to state and local government employees; and the "Protecting America’s Workers Act," S. 1244 and H.R. 2049, would, among other things, apply federal safety standards to all workers who are not currently covered.

"I am a living example of the impact that exposure to toxic fumes can have on a perfectly healthy adult, and how having no OSHA coverage leaves public sector workers unprotected with no place to turn," school teacher Tracee Binion said at a press conference hosted by S. 1244 sponsor Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) on April 26.

Binion, a former marathon runner, contracted chemical pneumonitis or "occupational asthma" after working in a school that was being renovated without proper ventilation.

Public employees in Alabama, like more than 8 million others in many other states, are not covered by OSHAct.

"I missed four weeks of school, underwent out-patient breathing treatments, and to this day, I still take several asthma medications," said Binion. "I still like to run, but the marathons that I so enjoyed are a mere memory."

Efforts by Binion and her AFT local to address the unhealthy building conditions were met with disregard by a number of entities, ranging from the school board to the Alabama Department of Health. It was not until Binion’s local called state legislators and the governor’s office that the renovations were halted and the school was closed for clean-up.

Binion’s press conference appearance followed a hearing of a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) subcommittee. Binion’s story and that of New Jersey AFT member Jean Lucas, a registered nurse who herniated discs in her lower back lifting the leg of a 600-pound patient, were featured in a booklet prepared by the HELP committee staff for the hearing.

New York member Franklin Mirer also was on Capitol Hill, testifying before the House Education and Labor Committee’s subcommittee on workforce protections.

Mirer, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at City University of New York’s Hunter College, is an expert on OSHA standards.

He told lawmakers that the agency has "checked out" of setting standards since 2001. "Slow progress in earlier years has ground to a halt and may even be moving stealthily backward," Mirer said. Under the Bush administration, OSHA has set one new chemical standard—and that was because of a court order.

H.R. 1517 was introduced by Rep. Robert Andrews (D-N.J.), H.R. 2049 was introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), and S. 1244 was introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Congressional activities spotlighting the need for greater attention to worker health and safety were organized around Workers Memorial Day, which was observed April 28. The day is designed to honor those killed and injured on the job and to focus attention on the need to do much more to ensure worker safety.

"The Bush administration has weakened OSHA to the point that it is almost obsolete—scrapping ergonomics standards and planned rules on cancer-causing substances, reactive chemicals and infectious diseases," said Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), co-sponsor of H.R. 2049. "OSHA regulations are more than just words—they are often the only protection employees have from workplace hazards that can injure, sicken or kill them."