Northwest Labor Press is an independent union-supported newspaper founded in 1900. Our print version is mailed twice a month to about 45,000 members of over three dozen local unions in Oregon and Southwest Washington. Our online version has been maintained here since 1997.
Tag:
Oregon OSHA
Worker safety
Lawmakers end Oregon’s lowest-in-nation OSHA penalties
A bill to toughen OSHA penalties is on its way to Governor Kotek’s desk after committee room drama and a failed GOP attempt to gut the bill.
Comment
Less talk and more action this Workers Memorial Day
Oregon is often seen as a model for strong labor standards, but it ranks lowest in the nation when it comes to OSHA penalties.
Oregon
Labor to lawmakers: Workers’ lives matter
Oregon OSHA has the lowest fines in the nation: The average for a fatal accident is $1,077. Oregon labor wants that to change.
Worker safety
Judge tosses lawsuit against heat/smoke rules
A federal judge has dismissed a business group lawsuit that challenged new rules protecting Oregon workers from heat and smoke.
Worker safety
Unions protect workers. OSHA protects … contractors?
What is a life worth? According to Oregon OSHA, it seems, $5,400. That's how much it recently fined a company after a worker was killed on the job.
Comment
Heat/smoke rules must be defended
As we saw with the heat wave in June 2021, human lives are on the line, and it is absolutely critical that we have strong rules in place.
Worker safety
Oregon OSHA heat and smoke rules official as of July 1
It took a few years, but Oregon’s Occupational Safety and Health agency has finalized rules protecting Oregon workers from heat and smoke.
Worker safety
Oregon OSHA issues emergency heat rule
JUSTICE FOR SEBASTIAN FRANCISCO PEREZ: A vigil at the United Farm Workers office in Hermiston was one of three held around Oregon July 3 to call for heat protections after a St. Paul nursery worker died June 26 of heat exposure.
Worker safety
A regulator with a life-and-death mission: Keeping workers safe
For over 15 years, Michael Wood has been at the helm of Oregon OSHA. The Labor Press caught up with him by Zoom April 8.
Worker safety
Oregon OSHA’s COVID rule is now in force
Oregon OSHA now says employers must protect workers from COVID-19 in all workplaces. Letting them know about it will be the next challenge.
Worker safety
On-the-job fatalities in Oregon in 2017
Forty-eight Oregon workers lost their lives on the job last year. Here are their names.
Worker safety
OSHA fines Ross Island Bridge paint contractor $189,000 for safety violations that led to near-fatal accident
After an accident that seriously injured two workers in a 37' fall, OSHA levies its biggest fine in more than five years, saying contractor Abhe & Svoboda knowingly put workers at risk.
Worker safety
UNSAFE AT WORK
At the ODOT bridge contractor where a 40-foot fall sent two workers to the hospital, at least four former employees say they were let go after complaining of dangerous work conditions.
Worker safety
On-the-job Fatalities in Oregon in 2016
The list of workers killed on the job in Oregon in 2016 — from Oregon-OSHA reports, workers’ comp data, and newspaper accounts.
Worker safety
On-the-job fatalities in Oregon increase
One of last year's on-the-job deaths was a union organizer killed in a car crash.
Worker safety
Abhe & Svoboda fires union salt amid safety complaints
Nonunion paint contractor Abhe & Svoboda faces civil rights, labor and safety complaints on a $22 million Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) painting project underneath the Ross Island Bridge.
Worker safety
UNDER THE ROSS ISLAND BRIDGE: Investigating a low-bid nonunion contractor, a union finds problems aplenty
Under the Ross Island Bridge Feb. 8, a painter plummeted 40 feet and landed on his own son, putting both in the hospital.
Worker safety
Portland Public Schools’ OTHER lead exposure problem
Chips and dust from lead paint are all over the place as Franklin High School undergoes renovation.
Worker safety
Oregon labor honors fallen workers
41 workers died in job-related accidents in Oregon last year.
Worker safety
Operating Engineers Local 701 member killed in crane accident
OSHA is investigating why a 35-foot beam detached and pierced the cab of his crane
