Four supervisors with troubled Massey Energy Co. have been charged with federal crimes related to a coal mine fire that killed two West Virginians in 2006, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

The men are accused of failing to conduct mandatory safety drills at Massey's Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine in 2005 and 2006, said Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.

"Workers shouldn't be forced to earn their living in illegal, unsafe conditions," Goodwin said in a statement.

Indictments have been returned against United Oil Recovery Services Inc. and some of its higher-ranking employees in connection with the death of a worker in 2008 at the company’s Middletown facility.

Editor - It is about time courts recognize these deaths for what they really are. Executives will see things differently when they are looking at jail time

5,214 workers died on the job in 2008

 

-Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor

 

 

"Every day in this country, more than 14 workers lose their lives in preventable workplace tragedies
-- close to 100 deaths every week."

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced in a notice of proposed rulemaking published in today's Federal Register its plans to require improved worker protection from tripping, slipping and falling hazards on walking and working surfaces.

A sobering report released by the Mass Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health says most of those deaths could have been prevented if better safety regulations were in place and enforced.

John Cordeiro misses his son Justin, who died violently at work a year ago June.

"It was the worst day of my life. He was my best friend," said Cordeiro.

"You don't go to work to die. You go to work to make a living."

Justin was crushed by a forklift at Blount Seafoods in Fall River.

"Three thousand pounds of seafood clams fell on him," said Cordeiro.

Each workday, it’s likely that 14  workers won’t come home because they will be killed on the job, according to the most recent statistics. The AFL-CIO’s 19th annual workplace safety report, Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect, also reports that in 2008, along with the 5,214, workers killed, another 50,000 workers died from occupational diseases, while at least 4.6 million,  or as many as 14 million workers suffered workplace injuries.

The United Steelworkers (USW) again called for an overhaul of health and safety within the oil industry following the explosion yesterday on an oil drilling rig about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. It was the fourth oil industry incident in a little more than two weeks that has killed or seriously injured workers.

In a major win for workers’ safety on the job, a federal appeals court upheld the power of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to determine how to craft and enforce workplace safety rules.

While it will take about 4 years for health reform to be fully implemented, there are several benefits you can expect to see this year. Learn about them in just 3 minutes.

 

National Health Care Reform is Good for Massachusetts

 

Massachusetts has led the nation in improving health care coverage for its residents. However, national health care reform is critical for Massachusetts to strengthen the current health care system and ensure the state is able to sustain its progress.

 

With national health care reform:

 

Health insurance will be affordable for more middle class families in Massachusetts

 

75,000 additional people will receive subsidies to help pay health care insurance premiums

 

Massachusetts’ seniors will see discounts in their prescriptions drug costs

 

Nearly 180,000 seniors in Massachusetts will receive a 50% discount on their prescription drugs

 

Small businesses will get new tax credits to help them offer insurance to their workers

 

70,000 small businesses in Massachusetts will receive a credit that covers up to 50 percent of the cost of providing insurance for their employees

 

Community Health Centers and hospitals will receive additional funds

 

Massachusetts will receive millions of additional dollars to support community health centers and hospitals that serve a majority of low income patients

 

State spending on the health care system will be enhanced by more federal funds

 

Up to $750 million over 5 years will be available to supplement state spending for health care

 

More medical research will be supported in Massachusetts

 

The state will be eligible to receive millions of dollars for medical research that will support innovative healthcare research and additional jobs for Massachusetts residents

 

 

 

About 16 hours after Congressman Jason Altmire said he was voting no for health insurance reform, Rapid Response led a sit-in at his office urging him to change his mind

nenrolled gubernatorial candidate Treasurer Timothy Cahill predicted Tuesday the country would go bankrupt within four years if President Obama and Congress follow the Massachusetts health care model, warning against dramatic access expansion and suggesting the state curb publicly subsidized benefits.

Most big employers plan to shift a larger share of health-care costs to their workers next year, according to a survey to be released Thursday.

Editor -

How much will it take for workers to support a national health care plan? What is the difference between exorbitant premiums/deductibles/co-pays, and a health care tax that shifts the burden to a larger pool? Never mind that it would also lower the cost of doing business

THINK MASSACHUSETTS doesn’t need national health reform? Think again. A national health care reform bill would bring millions of dollars to Massachusetts, easing pressure on the state budget, creating jobs, and enabling thousands more to get coverage.

Click Here

 

Cape Cod Times -

He and Jan are hoping they can stay well for a few more years, until Medicare kicks in. As for their daughter, she's resigned to a life without health care.

"None of my friends have insurance," Morgan said. "I try not to ever go to the doctor because I can't afford it. I should probably go to the dentist at some point, but I can't afford that either."

Your typical American family.

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Washington Post - Individual insurance rates soar in 4 states

St. Gelais said he himself had a very similar accident about ten years ago, and it hasn’t slowed him down. He can serve as a morale booster for the employee, he said.

Editor - I guess this worker should be glad to have a boss like this

There’s something wrong when workers have to choose between keeping a job and taking care of themselves or their families when someone gets sick. There’s something wrong when going to a routine medical appointment or other preventative care could result in a pink slip. There’s something wrong when a domestic-violence survivor seeking help or services is punished with the loss of her job.

The California Senate approved creating a government-run health care system for the nation's most populous state on Thursday, ignoring a veto threat from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Supporters said it is time for state legislatures to take up the debate as the Obama Administration's national health care proposal falters in Congress.

Thus, Massachusetts was the worst state in which to test the wider public’s feelings about national health-care reform. Polls showed people in Massachusetts, as elsewhere, unhappy with the legislation in Washington. But those numbers include many who thought the reforms too weak or were simply disgusted by the legislative sausage-making. And whether these proposals were better than nothing is a meaningless question to people who already have something.

AS A cancer patient, I have been watching the debate in Washington around health care reform with great interest. I am dismayed at the threat of 41 senators holding the nation hostage and blocking needed reform. But I am even more dismayed at the willingness of the Democratic leadership to bow to this small group.

In a significant victory for unions, the 40 percent excise tax would not apply to policies covering workers in collective bargaining agreements, state and local workers, and members of voluntary employee benefit associations through Dec. 31, 2017.

Labor leaders are pushing hard on President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats to drop a proposed new tax on high-value health insurance plans, warning of political consequences.

Safety doesn’t come cheap.  It costs money to establish and maintain a safe workplace, which is why union shops have better safety records than non-union shops (e.g., approximately 90% of mining accidents occur in non-union mines).

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined a Pembroke construction company $55,200 for allowing a worker into a trench that was at risk of caving in.

President Barack Obama signaled to House Democratic leaders Wednesday that they'll have to drop their opposition to taxing high-end health insurance plans to pay for health coverage for millions of uninsured Americans.

LINCOLN, R.I. -- Police on Tuesday said that a worker was injured in an industrial accident at a construction site on the property of the Calise & Sons Bakery, Quality Drive.

The victim, 50, suffered an apparently serious leg injury around 8 a.m., police said. He was taken to Rhode Island Hospital. Police did not immediately identify him.

Police said that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration would investigate.

Two construction workers were hurt Wednesday morning in a wall collapse at a new housing development in Rehoboth.

 

OSHA has agreed to interview workers directly when auditing employer-provided injury data, and to minimize any delay between when employers report injuries and audits occur. Improvements in workplace safety would be greater if both companies and their employees would come forward with injury information more reliably - and not wait for OSHA to correct unsafe conditions.