United We Stand

Congress and the Bush Administration continue to fiddle (around) while Amtrak burns. Because of inadequate funding, Amtrak is perilously close to being forced to shut down passenger rail service to millions of Americans. An Amtrak shut down would also impact several commuter railroads, which have agreements with Amtrak to provide service. Thousands of IBEW members will be laid off unnecessarily.

Amtrak is in desperate need of an infusion of cash to continue operations. Congress must act to include a $270 federal loan guarantee in pending supplemental appropriations legislation.

The Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 established Amtrak to provide passenger rail services in the United States as a public service. It is time for Congress to step in and prevent a catastrophic collapse of the people’s passenger rail service.

The need for a balanced transportation system that provides a viable alternative to travel by automobile or commercial airliner is particularly evident after the events of September 11, 2001. At a time when we need to reduce our reliance on foreign oil imports, we should not be destroying one of our most energy efficient transportation systems.

Contact Congress now and ask them to include $270 million in loan guarantees in pending supplemental appropriations legislation now!

President Bush and Ergonomics

Every year hundreds of thousands of workers miss work because of injury on the job. The biggest workplace safety and health problems are "ergonomic" hazards caused by heavy lifting, repetitive work and poorly designed work practices.

Many people think ergonomic injuries are a problem only related to computer use. On the contrary, repetitive stress injuries are a major problem with a broad spectrum of workers, including: meat packing and poultry workers, nurses, cashiers, assembly line workers, truck drivers, stock handlers, sewing machine operators and construction workers.

These injuries can be serious, disabling and costly. One type of injury—Carpal Tunnel Syndrome—results in workers losing more time from their jobs than any other type of injury, even amputations.

In November 2000, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued an ergonomics standard to protect workers from these injuries, but in March 2001, a Republican-controlled Congress and White House took them away.

Now workers have no protection from these serious injuries, and as a result, each day, nearly 5,000 workers are injured and many will endure an incredible amount of pain, suffering and disability.

For years big business groups and Republican members of Congress waged a relentless campaign to block the ergonomics standard. Once it was issued, they moved quickly to overturn the rule using an extremist measure. They were successful in taking away protections that would have prevented hundreds of thousands of these serious injuries.

When he repealed this important worker protection measure, President Bush committed his administration to taking a comprehensive approach to ergonomics. A new “plan” was finally unveiled in April 5. Unfortunately, the “plan” does not include any ergonomics requirements, only an intention on the part of the Bush Administration to develop voluntary guidelines for selected industries.

On June 19, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved legislation that would require the Secretary of Labor to issue mandatory rules to prevent workplace injuries. This bi-partisan legislation continues the fight for workplace health & safety.

Please act now by asking your senators to protect American workers and pass legislation to require the Department of Labor to issue a new, enforceable ergonomics standard immediately. American workers need, and deserve, to be protected from ergonomic hazards in the workplace.