Child Labor Rules Opposed By Ag-Friendly Dems 28MAR12

ONLY 12% of Americans approve of Congress, and here is a perfect example of why. Instead of standing up and promoting safety for children through the proposed child labor laws in agriculture we have a group of senators who are knowingly, deliberately lying about these new rules as being a threat to the operation of family farms. THAT IS A LIE AND THESE SENATORS KNOW THAT. But, since they are owned by big agribusinesses, political prostitutes if you will, they are mounting a vicious propaganda campaign to keep children of migrants in the fields, at risk of being maimed or killed by heavy machinery they should not be operating or even around, because hey, migrants generally don't vote and can't afford to buy senators to represent them. The right wing media and political groups are distorting and manipulating these proposed rule changes as another example of government control of our lives. And sadly too many, because of voluntary ignorance and self-centeredness will believe them, defending the abuse and mistreatment of children in our fields and orchards. To all you Christians out there, maybe you should pray for these children when you say Grace before your next meal and listen to what God, not politicians and agribusiness lobbyist, has to say about child farm laborers. From HuffPost.....

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) has joined Senate Republicans in opposing new regulations for children working on farms.

WASHINGTON -- Republicans have stepped up their efforts to block new rules from the Obama administration that would limit the work kids can do on farms, getting a boost from a small handful of Democrats who say they're opposing the regulations in the name of family farmers.
GOP members of both the House and Senate introduced bills this month that would preempt regulations proposed by the Labor Department forbidding kids under 16 from doing certain agricultural duties deemed too dangerous. The Senate version quickly found a backer in Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), the first Democrat to sign on as co-sponsor. Tester and fellow Democratic Sens. Max Baucus (Mont.), Claire McCaskill (Mo.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) have joined 39 Senate Republicans in opposing the new rules.
Tester, a farmer, is in the midst of a tough re-election fight this year, facing an opponent, Montana rancher Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), who happens to be among the most outspoken critics of the new child labor rules. Like agriculture trade groups, Rehberg has cast the proposals as an intrusion on family farms and the rural American way of life, though the Labor Department has said children working on their parents' farms would continue to be exempted from safety rules.
Tester asked the Labor Department in December to reevaluate the rules, saying he was worried they could hurt family operations or impact 4-H programs. Tester has since asked the department to abandon the rules altogether. His office did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.
According to the Labor Department, the rules would prohibit kids from working in certain capacities for employers that aren't family. For instance, those under 16 could no longer handle tobacco crops, due to health concerns; drive tractors that don't come with rollover protections; or work inside grain silos and bins.
The proposed rules would not change a long-standing family-farm exemption that's been in place since 1966 and allows a child to do any kind of work on a farm owned by his or her parent, according to the Labor Department. Nor would it eliminate the 4-H programs that teach kids agricultural skills. Children 16 or older would still be allowed to work for any farmer in any capacity.
Nonetheless, many Republicans and some Democrats have said the provisions would hurt small family farms. Speaking in a hearing last month, Rehberg said the "urban" Labor Department is meddling in a rural industry it doesn't understand, and is "overstepping its boundaries" and "its knowledge base." Rehberg, who oversees funding for the Labor Department through his House subcommittee, has vowed to withhold funding in order to block the rules.

Child and worker safety advocates, including Human Rights Watch, note that the regulations for children working in agriculture haven’t been updated in 40 years. Many of the proposed changes considered by the Labor Department have been recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the federal agency that researches work-related safety.
Before undergoing a public-comment period, the proposed rules had been caught up in red tape at the White House for nine months, upsetting worker safety advocates who said the rules could have prevented fatalities. Last summer a group of occupational health experts sent the White House a letter urging the administration to finish its evaluation.
The Labor Department is still crafting the farm rules. If they aren't blocked by Congress, they still likely would not be enacted for months.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/28/child-labor-rules-opposed_n_1386007.html?utm_source=Alert-blogger&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Email%2BNotifications 

House Republicans' Labor Budget Cuts Rules That Protect Rooftop Workers From Falling, Coal Miners From Coal Dust 30SEP11

FOR those stupid enough to believe the repiglicans and tea-baggers care about working people consider this from HuffPost.....
WASHINGTON -- In addition to blocking President Obama's health care law and slashing funding for job training, the budget plan presented by House Republicans for health and labor programs this week would scuttle several worker safety protections put forth by the Department of Labor.
Among other anti-regulatory measures, the budget would block the department from moving forward with its Injury and Illness Prevention Program, which would require employers to develop written plans to address workplace hazards and reduce worker injuries. Under the Republican plan, no Labor Department funding could be devoted toward the program.
The budget also takes aim at an obscure but notable Labor Department rule intended to reduce the death and maiming of construction workers who labor on rooftops. The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration had planned to ramp up the enforcement of harness rules for roofers working on residential construction sites, but the Republican plan forbids the agency from doing so, as noted by the public-health blog The Pump Handle.
Another OSHA rule gutted by the bill relates to repetitive-motion injuries. The agency has been developing a rule that will require employers to check a box on agency forms in cases where workers have developed musculoskeletal disorders. Although the rule costs practically nothing and goes primarily toward data collection, the Republican budget forbids it from moving forward.
Although the bill would slightly boost funding for OSHA, it would prevent the agency from carrying out several of its missions, says Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate at the watchdog group Public Citizen. Feldman believes the budget is in keeping with Republicans' anti-regulatory zeal, even when the regulations protect workers at little or no cost.
"The Republican platform is 'No regulations are good regulations -- regulations kill jobs,' " Feldman said. "So they're just attacking everything indiscriminately, it seems."
The budget plan would also eliminate the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program, which provides money to train hard-to-reach laborers, such as migrant workers, who toil in high-hazard industries. At the same time, the plan would spike a Labor Department rule that would boost wages for low-paid temporary guest workers who are here on visas. The rule has been strongly opposed by the seafood, forestry, and hospitality industries, which have launched a well-funded lawsuit to fight it.
The money provided for the education and training of migrant and seasonal farmworkers would be slashed in half. David Strauss, Executive Director of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs, said the cuts would be devastating to his non-profit, which receives all of its funding through the Labor Department. The program helps low-wage agricultural workers in remote areas learn English, earn GEDs, and move on to better-paying jobs.
"To be honest, we're kind of outraged that the House would take this step," Strauss said. "The people who would miss out would be the neediest."
In the realm of mine safety, the budget would prevent the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) from tightening coal dust regulations to curb the number of miners suffering from black lung disease. For over a decade the labor department has been working to lower the amount of respirable coal dust legally allowed in a mine's atmosphere, a move the coal lobby has opposed. The Republican budget would stop any such rule changes in their tracks.
"It's something that's certainly needed," Tony Oppegard, an attorney and mine safety advocate, previously told HuffPost when discussing the MSHA rule. "And the coal industry is crying about it."
In a statement, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, made no apologies for blocking the rules, saying that the budget plan would help to "invest in people by freeing them from stifling government regulatory burdens that replace productivity with paperwork."
"By spending tax dollars strategically," Rehlberg said, "we can balance critical funding for programs that actually help people and families with the real need to rein in government over-spending."