Workers' Compensation

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Is There a Link Between Firefighting and Cancer? – Epidemiology in Action

Today's post is shared from cdc.gov/
Epidemiology is the art and science of using data to answer questions about the health of groups. In occupational epidemiology, we use that data to understand how work affects health. This blog entry is part of a series that shares the stories behind the data.
Firefighters face numerous hazards in the line of duty. The risks of acute and potentially fatal injuries and stresses from the dangerous environment of a fire scene are well known. In addition to these hazards, fires generate toxic contaminants, including some agents known or suspected to cause cancer. Less is known about the potential long-term health effects firefighters may experience as a result of work-related exposures. In particular, do firefighters face a higher risk of cancer than is found in the general population?
In 2010, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) embarked on a multi-year effort to conduct a large-scale study to better understand the potential link between firefighting and cancer. The research was a joint effort led by NIOSH researchers and conducted in collaboration with researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the University of California at Davis Department of Public Health Sciences and supported, in part, by the U.S Fire Administration.
The study found that a combined population of firefighters from three large U.S. cities showed higher-than-expected rates of certain types of cancer...

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One in four of controversial guardrails in state located in South Florida

Today's post is shared from .wptv.com/

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - More than one in four of guardrail systems in Florida linked to serious crashes, even deaths, are located here in South Florida.

That's according to Florida's Department of Transportation that Monday released the results of an inventory done in November to determine how many of the guardrail end terminals, called the ET-Plus, are in our state.

The state conducted the inventory after the Federal Highway Administration requested it. The guardrail maker, Trinity Industries, lost a federal lawsuit over not disclosing a one-inch, cost-saving change made to the design of the guardrail end terminal. FHWA also required Trinity to conduct new crash tests to determine the safety of the guardrail.

FDOT found 450 of the state's 1,678 guardrail systems are in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Broward counties. The controversial guardrail end terminals measure 4 inches, a change from the original design that measured 5 inches. See below for breakdown of the guardrail end terminals in Florida.

"FRACTIONS MATTER"

The safety concern comes down to just fractions of inches.

"Small fractions matter," said Josh Harman, the whistleblower and competitor of Trinity, who discovered the change to the popular ET-Plus guardrail end terminal and sued Trinity over it.

Harman and his measuring tape travel the country warning about the change.

"Let's put it this way, it's the difference between life and death," Harman...
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Lawyer Raises Death Toll to 42 in Faulty G.M. Vehicles

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.nytimes.com

The lawyer overseeing the program to compensate victims of General Motors’ defective ignition switch has declared 42 death claims eligible for payment, bringing the number of deaths linked to the problem to more than triple the automaker’s original estimate of 13. The total was posted on Monday in a weekly update by the lawyer, Kenneth R. Feinberg. The report also said that Mr. Feinberg had accepted seven claims for catastrophic injuries — a category that includes permanent brain damage, quadriplegia and paraplegia — and 51 claims for other injuries that were serious enough to require hospitalization. G.M. has given Mr. Feinberg sole discretion to determine which claims are eligible for payment, so his determinations serve as the public record of the human toll from the defective switch, a flaw that the automaker has admitted was known in some parts of the company for more than a decade before it decided to recall 2.6 million cars for the problem this year. Monday’s update showed that a total of 2,326 claims had been filed so far, including 251 for deaths. Of those, 306 claims — including 46 death claims — were rejected. Most of the others are awaiting additional evidence.
A version of this brief appears in print on December 16, 2014, on page B2 of the New York edition with the headline: Lawyer Raises Death Toll to 42 in Faulty G.M. Vehicles. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

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Death in Bronx Shows Vulnerability of State’s Nursing Home Residents

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.nytimes.com

Unable to see clearly and afflicted with dementia, Frank Mercado, 77, depended completely on the care provided by the small nursing home in the Bronx where he had lived for four years. But last Monday, as Mr. Mercado cried for help, a veteran employee beat him to the ground, where he was impaled on a sharp metal protrusion from an overturned table, according to prosecutors.
Mr. Mercado died hours after the beating, and on Monday, the Bronx district attorney’s office said the employee, Cherrylee Young, 41, had been charged with negligent homicide, fatal assault and endangering the welfare of an adult.
The death, which was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner, underscores the vulnerability of frail nursing home residents in New York State, where rates of substandard care, neglect and abuse are high, according to national studies. Advocates for elderly and disabled residents complain that state enforcement has dwindled in recent years, even as private companies have been on a buying spree, acquiring nonprofit facilities and often cutting staff to enhance profit margins.
The nursing home, University Nursing Home on Grand Avenue, is small, with only 46 beds, but it is part of a large consortium of rehabilitation and home health companies called Centers Health Care.
Kenneth Rozenberg, the consortium’s chief executive, is an owner or director of 17 nursing homes, including University. It has scored high in federal rankings, though the integrity of those rankings was...

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Senate Narrowly Approves Obama’s Choice For Surgeon General Despite NRA Opposition

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from kaiserhealthnews.org

The nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy had languished for months because of his support for gun control measures and his advocacy of the health law.
The Associated Press: Senate Approves Obama Pick For Surgeon General
The U.S. Senate on Monday approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to serve as U.S. surgeon general, despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats over his support for gun control and past statements that gun violence is a public health issue. The U.S. has been without a Senate-confirmed surgeon general since July 2013. The surgeon general does not set policy but is an advocate for the people's health. (Daly and Neergaard, 12/15)
Reuters: Senate Approves New Surgeon General
The Senate confirmed the long-delayed nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy for surgeon general on Monday, as Democrats pushed to approve some of President Barack Obama's stalled choices for government posts before Republicans take power in Congress next year. ... Obama nominated Murthy a year ago, but some Republicans and the National Rifle Association criticized his gun-control views. Senator Ted Cruz, a conservative Republican, called Murthy an "anti-gun activist." ... Supporters of Murthy noted more than 100 public health organizations endorsed him, calling him a "well qualified, forward-thinking, innovative leader with a strong commitment to public health." (Cornwell, 12/15)
The Wall Street Journal: Senate Confirms Vivek Murthy As U.S....

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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Renee C. Ricciardelli, NJ Judge of Compensation

The Honorable Renee Ricciardelli, Administrative Supervising Judge, Division of Workers’ Compensation, leads a seminar for workers’ compensation attorneys held as part of this year’s celebration of the 100th Anniversary for the New Jersey Division of Workers’ Compensation.
Photo: NJ DOL

Renee C. Ricciardelli, 65, of Columbus, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014, at her home.

Born in Trenton, Renee was a lifelong Hamilton Township resident before moving to Columbus 10 years ago. Upon graduation from Temple University and the University of Richmond Law School, she became a tax counselor for the Department of Treasury. On Jan. 1, 1976, Renee was appointed by former mayor, John K. Rafferty, as the Hamilton Township municipal attorney and was the first woman in New Jersey to be appointed to this position.

On Feb. 1, 1985, Renee was appointed by Governor Thomas Kean as a workers' compensation judge for the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development. She advanced to administrative supervisory judge several years prior to her retirement in June 2014. She authored the Task Force on the Uninsured Employers Fund in 2003.

She was an original trustee of the Sayen House and Gardens in Hamilton Township and served for several years on the New Jersey Advisory Commission on the Status of Women. Renee was an avid sports fan, especially of the New York Yankees and the New York Giants. She attended several Olympics and could converse on any topic related to sports history.

She enjoyed traveling and took beautiful photos of the sites she visited. She was a lover of nature and animals and supported many charitable organizations dedicated to these causes.

Daughter of the late Valentina (DiGiuseppe) and Angelo M. Ricciardelli, she is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Charles A. and Jean Ricciardelli of Washington's Crossing, PA; her sister and partner, Janice M. Ricciardelli and Ladd Graham of Pasadena, CA; her niece, Elizabeth Al Binali of Dubai, UAE; her nephews, Charles M. Ricciardelli of Washington, DC and David Ricciardelli of Yorba Linda, CA; her great-nephew, Iain Ricciardelli; her great-niece, Bria Ricciardelli, and several cousins.

A gathering of friends and family will be held on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Saul Colonial Home, 3795 Nottingham Way, Hamilton Square, NJ with Words of Remembrance being offered at 12 noon.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Renee's memory to Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or to the Humane Society of the United States, 2100 L Street NW, Washington DC 20037 (www.humanesociety.org) www.saulfuneralhomes.com Saul Colonial Home 3795 Nottingham Way Hamilton Square, NJ 08690 (609) 587-0170 -

See more at: http://obits.nj.com/obituaries/trenton/obituary.aspxpid=173457505#sthash.4SO4ES65.dpuf

Election 2016: Leveling the Playing Field For The American Worker

Senator Elizabeth Warren

As the political battlefield heats up for the 2016 Presidential Election, the issues dividing the American worker and corporate America grow. The recent passage of the Federal Governmental funding bill of in excess of $1.1 Trillion Dollars gives us insight into the major political/economic issue of growing inequality.

Funding the $2 Billion Dollar, 2016 Presidential Campaign, will require major contributions. A huge portion of that money will come from Corporate America. Even so, people actually vote and not corporations.

"Wall Street is one of the Democratic party’s biggest contributors."

Robert Reich

"[Hillary] Clinton is obviously tough, but she just can’t speak with a clear voice against Wall Street and Washington insiders. Warren’s wing shows increasing passion and strength, both in opposing certain Obama nominees and in last week’s budget fight."

Click here to read "Warren Can Win" authored by David Brooks in the NY Times 12/15/2014

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Moratorium on Infectious Disease Research - What's the US Doing?

"The Obama administration announced the moratorium on Oct 17 to assess the risks and benefits of federally funded GOF research involving influenza, MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) viruses and to develop federal policies. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) is playing a lead role in the review, which is expected to last almost a year. On Nov 25 the NSABB expressed concerns over the pause."

Click here to read the entire article that is shared from cidrap.umn.edu/

See also:

Dec 12 mBio editorial by Lipsitch and Inglesby

Dec 12 mBio editorial by Imperiale and Casadevall

Dec 12 mBio CDC commentary

Dec 12 mBio editorial by leading researchers

Dec 12 mBio editorial on GOF terminology

NAS notice of Dec 15-16 GOF symposium

Oct 17 CIDRAP News scan on GOF pause

Nov 25 CIDRAP News scan on NSABB meeting

As Robots Grow Smarter, American Workers Struggle to Keep Up

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

A machine that administers sedatives recently began treating patients at a Seattle hospital. At a Silicon Valley hotel, a bellhop robot delivers items to people’s rooms. Last spring, a software algorithm wrote a breaking news article about an earthquake that The Los Angeles Times published.
Although fears that technology will displace jobs are at least as old as the Luddites, there are signs that this time may really be different. The technological breakthroughs of recent years — allowing machines to mimic the human mind — are enabling machines to do knowledge jobs and service jobs, in addition to factory and clerical work.
And over the same 15-year period that digital technology has inserted itself into nearly every aspect of life, the job market has fallen into a long malaise. Even with the economy’s recent improvement, the share of working-age adults who are working is substantially lower than a decade ago — and lower than any point in the 1990s.
Economists long argued that, just as buggy-makers gave way to car factories, technology would create as many jobs as it destroyed. Now many are not so sure.

Lawrence H. Summers, the former Treasury secretary, recently said that he no longer believed that automation would always create new jobs. “This isn’t some hypothetical future possibility,” he said. “This is something that’s emerging before us right now.”
Erik Brynjolfsson, an economist at M.I.T., said,...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Tembow

The devalued American worker

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.washingtonpost.com

The past three recessions sparked a chain reaction of layoffs and lower pay

Midway through the last game of the 2013 Carolina League season, after he’d swept peanut shells and mopped soda off the concourse, Ed Green lumbered upstairs to the box seats to dump the garbage.

Green was already 12 hours into his workday. He rose at dawn to lay tar on the highway. As the sun sank, he switched uniforms and drove to BB&T Ballpark, where he runs the custodial crew for a minor-league baseball team. Now it was dark and his radio was crackling. It was his boss, asking him to head back downstairs. Green walked onto the first-base line and into a surprise. In front of 6,000 fans, the Winston-Salem Dash honored him as the team’s employee of the year.

The crowd applauded. The game resumed. Green walked back upstairs. The trash wasn’t going to empty itself.

ABOUT THIS SERIES:

Liftoff & Letdown: The American middle class is floundering, and it has been for decades. The Post examines the mystery of what’s gone wrong and shows what the country must focus on to get the economy working for everyone again.

Green once held a middle-class job. Now, to make enough money to send his children to college, he works the equivalent of two full-time jobs: one maintaining highways for the state of North Carolina and one ushering fans and collecting trash for a variety of sports teams around Winston-Salem.

The American economy...
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Asbestos: The Silent Epidemic Continues

The asbestos epidemic continues and there remains no safe use for the asbestos, as exposure remains the cause of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Yet the US has yet to ban asbestos. Today's post is shared from theglobeandmail.com/

For John Nolan, the first warning signs came mid-November of last year while he was leading a tour in the Peruvian Andes.

Mr. Nolan, 67, who lives in Fort Erie in southwestern Ontario, was guiding a group through the mountains near the storied Incan city of Cuzco.

He had criss-crossed the planet for years as a tour guide, and knew what higher altitudes typically felt like. But something terrifying happened while he was hauling his luggage up some steep stone steps to his cabin.

“I’ve never been out of breath in such a panicky, horrible way,” Mr. Nolan says in a raspy voice between laboured breaths. “Normally, when you run out of breath, you know you’re going to get it back. This was different. It was as if you were hitting a stone wall, with no hope of getting air. It was like suffocating.”

The diagnosis, back at home, was swift and cruel. It was mesothelioma — an incurable cancer caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. Mr. Nolan was initially given a few months to live.

Asbestos is the top on-the-job killer in Canada. But a Globe and Mail investigation has found that this stark fact has been obscured by the country’s longstanding economic interest in the onetime “miracle mineral.” Even though Canada’s own asbestos industry has dwindled from pre-eminence to insignificance — the country’s last two mines closed in 2011 — the federal government has dragged its feet as other nations have acknowledged asbestos’s deadly impact and moved to protect their populations from it.

Click here to read the entire article.

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Related articles

Monday, December 15, 2014

Avoid the Pitfalls of Auto-Pay Agreements

Today's post comes from guest author Kit Case, from Causey Law Firm.

Many of my clients tell me, with fear in their voice, that they have one or more bills set to automatically pull from their bank accounts, but they have no money in the bank to cover the payment and will face overdraft charges if the payment pulls from their account. Typically, these are car payments, as many auto loan lenders offer lower rates if the purchaser agrees to set up automatic payments. Some businesses, like your local gym, may require auto-pay agreements. It seems like a good idea, when one is working.

Add an injury or disability into the mix, though, and it can become your worst nightmare. Even under the best circumstances, an injured worker that is receiving their time loss compensation benefits - often 60 - 65% of pre-injury wages, or a much smaller percentage if they were a high wage earner and have hit the ceiling of compensation rates - will most certainly not be getting paid on the same schedule as their payroll department was using. Juggling bills is hard enough with decreased income levels, but the forfeiture of control over the ebb and flow of funds in your bank account can put you in financial peril after an injury.

If you find yourself in the scenario I have described, try contacting your lender or service provider to inquire about making changes to the agreement you signed - or terminating the agreement, if needed - to at least make the drafts from your account occur on a better schedule but, preferably, to take back control of the payments. You should maintain the ability to make payments to creditors on your own schedule when funds are available. The auto-draft agreements are a contractual agreement, though, and you may need legal assistance to alter them. In my experience, though, lenders are usually able to work with their clients to maintain the integrity of their loans. In the long run, repayment is their goal and facilitating your ability to manage your payments is in their best interest, too.

Photo credit: 401(K) 2013 / Foter / CC BY-SA

Tembow

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Government Funding Bill Rolls Back Trucker Rest Requirements

In June, the driver of this tractor-trailer reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, causing a wreck that dumped a cargo of beer cans into the median of Interstate 29 near Summit, S.D., according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, which supplied this photo.

In June, the driver of this tractor-trailer reportedly fell asleep at the wheel, causing a wreck that dumped a cargo of beer cans into the median of Interstate 29 near Summit, S.D., according to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, which supplied this photo.
This post is shared from npr.org/

The spending bill in Congress is not just about money. Tucked inside the bill are provisions to change regulations affecting everything from banking to the environment. One regulatory rollback has those concerned about truck safety especially upset.
The regulation is part of a series of rules that spell out the number of hours that long-haul truck drivers, the ones behind the wheel of the big rigs on the interstates, can be on the road.
Last year, a rule took effect that required those drivers to take two consecutive nights off after every 70 hours they spend behind the wheel.
The trucking industry, which didn't like the requirement in the first place, said it had an unintended consequence: It forced more truckers to take to the road early in the morning, when commuters and school buses are out.
"Those hours are less safe statistically," says Dave Osiecki, vice president of the American Trucking Association. "They're trying to reduce nighttime crashes? They may be causing daytime crashes."
No one knows yet if that rule caused the number of crashes to increase; the Department of Transportation hasn't compiled accident data for the past year. But Osiecki says truck crashes had been declining before the rule...

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California Medical Review: STEVENS WRIT GRANTED

Containment of medical costs remain a major issue in all workers' compensation programs. The California process of "independent medical review" has turned into a nightmare for injured workers, their families and their advocates. The long awaited constitutional challenge to the process is slowly making its way through the California judicial system. Time will tell whether the judicial resolution will emerge as a solution to what was just terrible legislation.

Today's post is authored by Julius Young and is shared from workerscompzone.com/

Could the California courts finally be ready to rule on the constitutionality of Independent Medical Review?
We may be on the verge of seeing that issue decided.
On December 3, 2014, the California Court of Appeal First Appellate District Division One granted the petition for writ of review filed San Francisco attorney Joseph Waxman on behalf of Frances Stevens (the case is Frances Stevens, Petitioner, v. WCAB and Outspoken Enterprises/State Compensation Insurance Fund ADJ1526353).
In June 2014 the Court of Appeal had summarily denied a petition for a writ filed by Waxman in April 2014. At that time Waxman had not exhausted his administrative remedies. Waxman did so and then refiled for the writ, which was then granted.
The basis facts in the case are important.
Stevens had been found permanently and totally disabled (100%) by the workers’ comp judge. Her condition required use of a wheelchair and defendant had provided assistance by a home health aide....

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Tembow

Saturday, December 13, 2014

UPDATED: House passes extension of terrorism insurance

Update 12-18-2014: Note: US Senate failed to pass companion legislation before adjournment. See subsequent post for more information. The TRICA has received more media attention in light of the hacking attack and threatened reprisals on Sony pictures and the alleged connection to North Korea.

Today's post is shared from thehill.com/

The House on Wednesday passed legislation to extend the terrorism risk insurance program through 2020 despite objections from Democrats over the inclusion of unrelated provisions to change the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul.
The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 417-7. All of the seven votes in opposition were from Republicans.
Congress created the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) in 2002 as a temporary program following the Sept. 11 attacks. It allows for the federal government to recoup costs for businesses after a terror attack in which the damage exceeds $100 million.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) negotiated a six-year reauthorization and doubled the damage threshold to $200 million.
It's unclear if the bill will die in the Senate as Schumer has suggested, though the near-unanimous vote in the House could make it harder for the upper chamber to ignore.
Senate Democrats and the White House oppose an amendment that they say would weaken the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. The provision would no longer require non-financial institutions — dubbed "end users" — from following the same regulations as big banks.
The White House said it "strongly opposes" the Dodd-Frank reforms included in the measure, but stopped short of a veto threat.
Republicans — along with 181 House Democrats who supported a House version of the "end users"...

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The Rise of Men Who Don’t Work, and What They Do Instead

Today's post is shared from nytimes.com
At every age, the chances of not working have changed in the last 15 years. Teenagers are far more likely not to work. Older people are retiring later and working more. In the ages in between — the periods of life when most people work — the changes have been smaller, but they are still substantial.

In the late 1960s, almost all men between the ages of 25 and 54 went to work. Only about 5 out of every 100 did not have a job in any given week. By 2000, this figure had more than doubled, to 11 out of every 100 men. This year, it’s 16. (People in the military, prison and institutions are excluded from these figures.)
Of course, the economy was stronger in 2000 than it is today, with a lower official unemployment rate — the share of people not working and actively looking for work — than today. But for prime-age men, the rise in official unemployment explains only about one-third of the increase in not working.
The remaining two-thirds is made up of those who are not working and not looking for work. Every month, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics ask these men who are not in the labor force to describe their situation. Are they disabled, ill, in school, taking care of house or family, in retirement, or something else? Here are the trends within some of the larger of those categories:
School
About 13 percent of the increase in prime-age nonworkers, including a substantial fraction of...

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Elizabeth Warren is fighting Wall Street for the soul of the Democratic Party

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.washingtonpost.com

Bill Clinton changed the Democratic Party, and Elizabeth Warren is trying to change it back — at least when it comes to Wall Street.
The latest intra-party skirmish has come over the so-called "CRomnibus" (don't ask) spending bill that would have funded the government for the next year, as well as, among other pet projects, killed Dodd-Frank's prohibition on big banks using federally-insured money to make exotic bets. Now, that wouldn't gut financial reform by any means, but it would be the latest step in Wall Street's death-by-a-thousand-tweaks campaign against it. And that was too much for Warren, who led a liberal revolt against the bill that ultimately failed.
But what would this derivatives change even do? Well, swaps are just bets on everything from interest rates to currencies to whether a company is going to go under or not. The way they work is one side promises to pay a fixed amount of money every, say, six months, and the other agrees to pay an amount tied to whatever they're betting on. So, for example, if you wanted to hedge your risk against interest rates rising, you might decide to pay a bank $3 million every half-year, and in return they would pay you $100 million multiplied by an agreed-upon interest rate (usually Libor). This might sound complicated, but the idea is simple: you're locking in borrowing costs of 3 percent—that's your $3 million divided by the same $100 million—and the other side is betting that rates won't be that...

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Are Cities the Next Front in the Right’s War on Labor?

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.thenation.com

UFCW

A United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW) Local 770 Union Shop sticker. (Reuters/ Jonathan Alcorn)
On August 28, a klatch of high-level representatives of some of the most anti-union groups in the country gathered on a stage at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC. They had come together, on the eve of Labor Day, to discuss a new scheme for dismantling workers’ rights: turning one of the most potent weapons in the anti-labor arsenal—so-called right-to-work laws (RTW)—on cities and counties.
“The possibilities of rolling out a local RTW [campaign] in a non-RTW state deserves a full-court press by those of us who care about free market economics and allowing communities to make the best decisions for their people,” declared Jon Russell, a baby-faced partisan of the right who was sandwiched between Andrew Kloster of the Heritage Foundation and Patrick Gleason of Americans for Tax Reform. Flanking them were James Sherk, also of the Heritage Foundation, and William Messenger, the attorney from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation who argued Harris v. Quinn last year before the Supreme Court.
Russell is director of the American City County Exchange (ACCE), a new offshoot of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which seeks to replicate ALEC’s state-level successes at the local level. As such, he is well poised to help mobilize, and coordinate, any efforts to bring right-to-work laws to the local level....

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Have Democrats Failed the White Working Class?

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

Thomas B. Edsall

Why don’t white working-class voters recognize where their economic interests lie? Somewhat self-righteously, Democrats keep asking themselves that question.
A better question would be: What has the Democratic Party done for these voters lately?
At work and at home, their lives are worse than they were a generation ago. Their real incomes have fallen, their employment opportunities have diminished, their families have crumbled and their ties to society are fraying.
This is how daily life feels, to many in the white working class. Unlike blacks and Hispanics, whites are not the beneficiaries of affirmative action programs designed to open doors to higher education and better jobs for underrepresented minorities; if anything, these programs serve only to limit their horizons.
Liberal victories in the sexual and women’s rights revolutions – victories that have made the lives of many upscale Democrats more productive and satisfying — appear, from the vantage point of the white working class, to have left many women to struggle as single parents, forced to cope with both male defection from paternal responsibility and the fragmentation of a family structure that was crucial to upward mobility in the postwar period.
This bleak view emerges from two recently published works, “Labor’s Love Lost,” by Andrew Cherlin, a professor of public policy at Johns Hopkins, and “Was Moynihan Right? What Happens to the Children of...

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