Worker safety

Oregon Building Trades COVID task force lauded as potential model

Since June, the task force has been sharing and promoting best practices, and visiting construction job sites.

Help for workers exposed to COVID? Not in Oregon

Oregon labor has been calling for essential workers who test positive for COVID-19 to be automatically covered by workers’ comp.

Heat kills

A warming planet is increasing the risk of dying from heat, but OSHA has ignored calls to protect workers.

Reopening schools: What do teachers think?

Is it possible for schools to reopen safely? Can online learning replace in-person instruction? We asked Portland teachers union president Elizabeth Thiel.

COVID-19 has killed more workers in a shorter time than any other health emergency in OSHA's 50-year existence, but the agency has refused to require employers to take any specific action to protect workers.

Fund set up for two ironworkers hurt in roof collapse

James Sackett and Justin Rothgeb, members of Iron Workers Local 29, were badly injured June 10, when a roof partially collapsed on the new Portland General Electric headquarters under construction in Tualatin.

AFL-CIO sues OSHA

COVID-19 has caused more deaths among workers in a shorter time than any other health emergency in OSHA's 50-year existence, yet the agency hasn’t required employers to take any action to protect people on the job.

When are elected officials going to get serious? Unions condemn the continued mask shortage

Remember the proverb about the kingdom that was lost for the want of a horseshoe nail? Today, America is in crisis over the want of a 60-cent mask.

Building Trades offers national medical screening program for nuclear weapons construction workers

Thousands of construction workers unwittingly put themselves at risk as they worked on sites involved in nuclear weapons research or production.

Masonry workers working COVID safe

BAC Local 1 held a video contest showing how masonry workers are finding ways to work COVID-safe—like a hydraulic arm lifting concrete blocks in place.

Pandemic effects ripple across the construction industry

Across the building trades, opinions vary about whether to stay working or stay at home in the midst of a pandemic.

On-the-job fatalities in Oregon in 2019

Fifty-nine Oregon workers lost their lives on the job last year. Here are their names and occupations.

Health care workers on the front lines

As hospitals prepare for an expected surge in serious respiratory illnesses from the coronavirus, medical staff are sounding the alarm.

Postal workers try to stay safe as USPS reels from dropoff in mail

USPS could run out of money by June, but Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell left it out of the just-passed stimulus bill.

Transit: Ridership plummets, but no workers are facing layoff, and cleaners are working overtime

In Eugene and Salem, bus service is now free. In Portland, new machines are disinfecting buses and trains with peroxide mist nightly.

Grocery stores respond to epidemic: Sneezeguards, raises, bonuses, and a hiring spree

With grocery workers on the front lines of the coronavirus response, Safeway/Albertsons is raising pay $2 an hour, while Kroger is paying $300 bonuses.

The coronavirus pandemic is turning life upside down for working people

From worried nurses to overwhelmed grocery workers, from layoffs to the stock collapse’s impact on pensions, a look at the epidemic’s impacts on working people and union members.

OSHA signs off on reduced fine against bridge painting contractor

Nearly three years after a near-fatal workplace accident under the Ross Island Bridge, contractor Abhe & Svoboda will pay just $24,500 in a settlement with Oregon OSHA, down from the $189,000 first announced. The non-union firm continues to bid on ODOT work.

Merkley, Bonamici applaud House panel vote to ban asbestos

The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019 now goes to the full House.

Remembering those killed on the job

Workers Memorial Day ceremonies were held throughout the world the week of April 28 to remember workers killed on the job.

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