Protect America's workers, Workers Memorial Day 2007 By Donna Puleio Spadaro

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07115/780640-109.stm

Protect America's workers
The 100th anniversary of a seminal report on worker safety calls for a renewed commitment

Wednesday, April 25, 2007
By Donna Puleio Spadaro


Workers Memorial Day 2007, a day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe workplaces, will be observed by the Allegheny County Labor Council at noon on Monday in Market Square.

Ms. Eastman, founder of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, came to Pittsburgh 100 years ago to explore labor conditions. Her report, Work Accidents and the Law, cataloged 526 workplace deaths in a single year in Allegheny County and highlighted the inadequacy of worker protection and compensation. The report was one of a six-volume series that is known collectively as The Pittsburgh Survey, which examined life and labor in what was then America's fifth largest city, home to a massive exploited immigrant labor force.

This ceremony also will commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Pittsburgh Survey (1907-1908), the pioneering work of Crystal Eastman and others which investigated the horrendous living conditions of Pittsburgh's working class as the 19th century began.

The progressive reforms this series called for were hindered by the oppressive power of Pittsburgh's industrialists and its political machine. Unfortunately, while workers may not be dying in such dramatic numbers 100 years later, they still face many dangers at work and obstacles to achieving a safe workplace.

The Bush administration, acting on behalf of corporate interests, has moved to roll back and weaken worker protections. It has the worst record on safety rules in the history of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, issuing no new significant rules during its first term.

FULL story at link.

"Donna Puleio Spadaro is an oncologist who lives in Franklin ([e-mail]). Her brother, Gary Puleio, was killed after falling 25 feet from a concrete tower at Meadville Redi-Mix in 2001. The company paid a $6,000 fine."