Unions sue to get safety gear for workers

The lawsuit would force OSHA to require that employers pay for personal protective equipment that their workers must use. The rule would ensure that workers don\’t have to pay for protective clothing, lifelines, face shields, gloves and other equipment out of their own pockets.

The labor groups say OSHA\’s failure to issue the rule means workers in some of America\’s most dangerous industries – including construction and meatpacking – have no option but to pay for their own safety gear.

The rule would protect an estimated 20 million workers from job hazards. By OSHA\’s own estimates, 400,000 workers have been injured and 50 have died because no rule is in place.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration first announced plans to issue the rule in 1997 and formally proposed it in 1999. At that time, OSHA promised to issue the final rule in July 2000, as a way to codify longstanding policy. But OSHA missed that deadline and, under the Bush presidency, has missed every deadline since.

The lawsuit, filed by the United Food and Commercial Workers and the AFL-CIO on Jan. 3, asks the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington to order Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao to implement the PPE rule within 60 days of the court\’s order.

"Nothing is standing in the way of OSHA issuing a final PPE rule to protect worker safety and health – except the will to do so," said UFCW president Joseph Hansen. "Now, we are asking the courts to force OSHA to act."

Adapted from Lakes and Plains Carpenter magazine, the official publication of the Lakes and Plains Regional Council of Carpenters.