SCHWEIKER-WILLIAMS ANTI-OSHA BILL, S. 2153

WHEREAS, as President Benjamin Harrison said in 1892, "American workmen are subjected to peril of  life and limb as great as a soldier in time of war;" and

WHEREAS, the present Occupational Safety and Health Act is only a meager step in the direction of adequate coverage, inspection and enforcement, for the protection of all workers against work-related dangers to their safety and health; and

WHEREAS, S. 2153, misleadingly named "the OSHA Improvement Bill, "would eliminate OSHA inspections at 90 percent of American work-places, allow most employers to escape effective on-site inspections aimed at correcting conditions that threaten the lives and health of workers, and exempt work-places and job-sites from OSHA coverage on the basis of inadequate and uneven state-compiled data on work-related accidents and illnesses, instead of on the basis of actual hazards that pose serious risks to workers; and

WHEREAS, this bill represents an attempt at retrenchment from the basic commitment to the workers of this country that the production process should not be carried on at the expense of their lives and health; and

WHEREAS, organized labor opposes any amendments that would weaken OSHA, and will continue to fight proposed budget cuts in OSHA operations and staff. OSHA must carry out its mandate of providing a safe and healthful workplace for all American workers:

RESOLVED, that this convention declare its firm opposition to S. 2153 and any other attempts to weaken and dilute the Occupational Safety and Health Act; and

RESOLVED, that this convention urge all AFT affiliates to make known to their respective U.S. Senators and Representatives (directly and through memorialization of Congress by state and local legislative bodies), and to the President of the United States, their uncompromising opposition to this bill, with the reasons for this opposition; and

RESOLVED, that this convention urge all AFT affiliates to participate fully in the campaigns in their respective states for the defeat of S. 2153; and

RESOLVED, that the Legislation Department of the AFT be instructed to pursue this matter with the utmost vigor at every step of the way; and

RESOLVED, that all public employees should be included under OSHA and enjoy the same protections as do private industry employees.