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CREATED:20250421T181600Z
DESCRIPTION:On Workers Memorial Day April 28, 2025, Remember The Dead, Protect The 
 Injured & Defend Workers Health & Safety\nWorkers in the US and around the 
 world are being killed and injured on the job because of a profit system 
 that drives bosses to put profits over lives.\nIn 2024 5,486 workers were 
 killed on the job in the United States and an estimated 120,000 workers 
 died from occupational diseases.\nToday in the  US, the national government 
 is shutting down OSHA and many other agencies that are supposed to protect 
 the health and safety of  workers on the job.\nPresident Trump has also  
 nominated David Keeling who represented  UPS and Amazon. The Federal 
 government is closing down operations in states that they are \nresponsible 
 for running the OSHA program and also are engaged in destroying documents. 
 The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has removed \nand 
 potentially destroyed several key documents related to 
 worker-safety.\nThese documents may have been destroyed simply because of 
 their use of words related to “diversity” and “gender,” regardless 
 of the context in which those words \nwere used.  By eliminating guidance 
 to help employers comply with OSHA standards, including dealing with toxic 
 chemical  exposure, preventing workplace violence \nin health care 
 facilities, and preventing musculoskeletal disorders in nursing homes and 
 grocery stores, the Trump Administration is workers’ lives at risk.\nIn 
 California, the Democratic governor Gavin Newsom has helped destroy 
 Cal-OSHA with a staff shortage of 30 to 40% of staff. This means that 
 bosses can get away \nwith murder and Cal-OSHA is MIA.\nAt the same time, 
 the corruption and capture of many OSHA programs and workers comp programs 
 by the corporations and insurance companies that are supposed \nto be 
 regulated is resulting in workers being denied any protection and also 
 timely medical care for their injuries that results in workers\nbeing 
 permanently disabled.\n\nJoin us On Workers Memorial Day April 28 join our 
 panel to tell us your story.\n\nSpeakers:\nAshley M. Gjøvik, OSHA, NLRB 
 Environmental Whistleblower at Apple For Cover-up of Super Fund Site 
 Contamination\n\nStella Miranda, Wife Of UCSF AFSCME 3299 Member 
 contaminated by radioactive contamination at Hunters Point 
 Shipyard\n\nTramaine Palms, ILWU Local 19 Injured Worker \n\nAdrienne 
 Williams, Former Amazon Worker & Organizer and research fellow with 
 Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)\n\nBecky McClain, OSHA 
 Whistleblower At Pfizer\n\nDaniel Berman, Health and Safety researcher, 
 writer and author of Death On The Job\n\nBranton Philipps, Tesla UAW 
 Supporter At Fremont Who Spoke Up During Covid For Health & 
 Safety\n\nVincent Ward, ILWU Local 10 Injured Member\n\nSponsored by 
 California Workers Memorial Day & 
 WorkWeek\nwww.workersmemorialday.org\n\nFor more info contact\nlabor 
 media1@gmail.com\nWhen: Apr 28, 2025 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) 
 \nRegister in advance for this 
 meeting:\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/eXTT9NVoR2a5K8dZCEBexw 
 \nAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing 
 information about joining the meeting.\n\n‘They’re killing you’: US 
 poultry workers fear faster lines will lead to more injury\nWorkers say 
 fast-paced conditions compound injury risks, while USDA will no longer 
 require reports on safety data 
 \nhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/us-poultry-workers-injury-safety\nMelody 
 Schreiber\nTue 8 Apr 2025 12.00 CEST\n\nThe Trump administration will speed 
 up processing lines for poultry and pork meatpacking plants while halting 
 reports on worker safety, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced 
 recently, in a move that workers and advocates say will lead to more 
 injuries.\n\nSome poultry and pork plants already receive waivers to speed 
 up production lines, and the USDA plans to update its rules to make the 
 changes permanent and applicable to all poultry and pork plants, the 
 department said in a press release.\n\nAt the same time, the USDA will no 
 longer require reports on worker safety data, calling the information 
 “redundant” and pointing to research that the agency says “confirmed 
 no direct link between processing speeds and workplace injuries”.\n\nFour 
 people working at different poultry processing plants described to the 
 Guardian fast-paced working conditions that compound the risks for injury. 
 They asked that their names and locations be withheld for fear the Trump 
 administration would revoke their visas.\n\nOne young man had only worked 
 at the chicken processing plant for two weeks, and he was still scrambling 
 to learn the job and keep up with his expected workload.\n\nAfter 
 sustaining one workplace injury, he said, he kept working – until he fell 
 from a 13ft ladder and broke his back.\n\nHe hasn’t been able to return 
 to work as the fracture slowly heals.\n\n“I could’ve been paralyzed for 
 the rest of my life,” the man said. Now, he’s “living with remorse 
 and regret”, he said, unable to work or pay bills on his own.\n\nA 
 January study from the USDA found that faster line speeds were not the 
 leading reason for injuries – but a higher “piece rate”, or a 
 different way of measuring speed, did correlate with injuries.\n\nThe 
 report cautioned that the injury rate among poultry workers was already 
 high at speeds of both 140 and 175 birds per minute, with 81% of workers at 
 high risk for musculoskeletal disorders – “indicating that current risk 
 mitigation efforts are insufficient”.\n\nThe majority (70%) of workers 
 first experienced “moderate to severe work-related pain” within their 
 first three months on the job, the report said.\n\n“There’s injuries 
 occurring on a regular basis, and it’s most definitely associated with 
 the speeds that people are moving,” said Michael Payan, director of 
 operations at the Sussex Health and Environmental Network (Shen), an 
 organization based in Delaware and Maryland.\n\nMaria Payan, executive 
 director of Shen, noted they were “putting more through input – 
 that’s more injury”.\n\n“Why, at the same time you’re increasing 
 line speeds, would you eliminate collecting worker safety data?” she 
 asked. “If they don’t think it’s going to affect the workers, then 
 why would they stop collecting the data?”\n\nOne woman worked in poultry 
 processing for 11 years before being fired after getting sick with Covid, 
 she said. She would chop chicken carcasses hanging from a hook – the same 
 motion, over and over again.\n\nHer hands and shoulders still swell 
 regularly, and her hands cramp every night, despite not working the line 
 for five years.\n\n“They’re killing you,” she said of the fast-paced 
 work demands.\n\nUnder the new rules, workers may process up to 175 birds a 
 minute, a rise from the maximum speed of 140 before 2020. But unlike in 
 2020, when meatpacking workers were devastated by high rates of illness and 
 death from Covid, there are no shortages of meat.\n\nThe move will 
 “reduce burdens on the US pork and poultry industries … ensuring they 
 can meet demand without excessive government interference”, the USDA said 
 in a statement.\n\nThere are about 250,000 poultry workers in the US, and 
 in some states, agricultural workers are exempt from federal labor 
 laws.\n\nAbout 78% of poultry processors surveyed in Alabama said faster 
 line speeds made their work more dangerous, according to a 2013 report from 
 the Southern Poverty Law Center.\n\nPoultry workers suffer five times as 
 many occupational illness cases compared with the average worker in the US. 
 Their rates of carpal tunnel syndrome are seven times higher and repetitive 
 strain injuries are 10 times higher than average workers.\n\nWorkers also 
 experience allergic rhinitis, or chronic cold-like symptoms, from the cold 
 temperatures and exposure to chemicals. Peracetic acid, a substance used to 
 battle pathogens like salmonella and E coli, was found in the air at rates 
 that exceeded regulatory limits at one in five jobs in all locations, 
 according to the January USDA report.\n\nA 2015 report from Oxfam pointed 
 to increasing line speeds as one of the reasons for injuries.\n\nReported 
 injuries are probably lower than the actual rate, because many poultry 
 processors offer care through on-site medical clinics, which means they may 
 not need to refer workers to outside medical practitioners, the Oxfam 
 report noted: “If companies can avoid doing more than this, they don’t 
 have to record the incident, or report to the US government’s 
 Occupational Health and Safety Administration (Osha).”\n\nOne man worked 
 on the processing line for 15 years. He spent “15 years doing the same 
 thing five days a week, eight to 10 hours a day”, he said. He developed 
 pain after eight years, but he kept working.\n\nIn 2020, he had to undergo 
 surgery for his repetitive stress injuries. He was fired while recovering, 
 he said, with no benefits or severance. He still suffers from back pain, 
 and his family now supports him financially.\n\nRecent arrivals are 
 frequently in the lowest of the “pecking order”, as Payan calls it, 
 “which means, basically, they’re put in the lines where you would do 
 the repeated cuts consistently”.\n\nA lack of training and persistent 
 language barriers also contribute to the high rate of injuries, as workers 
 are pushed to move fast as soon as they begin work.\n\n“We have a lot of 
 workers who are not being trained properly in their language,” Maria 
 Payan said. New workers are frequently instructed to imitate the person 
 next to them. “If you understand this industry – these are very, very, 
 very dangerous jobs,” Payan said.\n\nA third man, on his first day 
 working in the sanitation department of a processing plant, was dipping 
 machine parts into caustic chemicals, and he started feeling an itch on his 
 arms. Soon, the burning intensified. He pulled back his sleeves, and the 
 skin of his forearms, from wrist to elbow, was blistered and 
 peeling.\n\nHis co-worker said he must have raised his hands above his 
 elbows – which he hadn’t realized was forbidden – and the chemicals 
 dripped from his gloves down his sleeves.\n\n“There was no proper 
 training at all,” the man said.\n\nThe on-site nurse told him to wash the 
 chemicals off with soap, and she later referred him to occupational therapy 
 – not the emergency room, the man said. He wasn’t able to work for 
 three months.\n\nBack home in Haiti, the man was an accountant, but in the 
 US, he will work any job he can. “It’s about survival,” he 
 said.\n\nNewsom follows Trump’s lead in cutting worker safety funding in 
 California\n\nDear Colleagues:\n\nCalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom is 
 following Donald Trump’s lead in cutting funding for worker health and 
 safety while the latest available staffing data for Cal/OSHA indicates 
 field inspector vacancies remain above 40%.  Ten enforcement offices have 
 inspector vacancies above 50%, which means worker protections in the state 
 are crippled.\n \nPresident Trump has shut down the National Institute of 
 Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a key research and safety 
 certification agency, and has proposed closing at least eleven Federal OSHA 
 enforcement offices, which would leave large swaths of the country with no 
 local worker protection agency offices. \n \nIn January 2025, Governor 
 Newsom proposed cutting Cal/OSHA’s enforcement budget by $21 million 
 dollars ($21,028,000) for the fiscal year starting on July 1, 2025.  
 Cal/OSHA is not funded by the state’s General Fund but rather from an 
 annual grant from Fed OSHA, an assessment on employers’ workers 
 compensation insurance premiums for the Occupational Safety and Health 
 (OSH) Fund, and a fee-for-service for equipment inspections on elevators, 
 amusement rides, etc.  All these funds are independent of the state General 
 Fund.  \n \nThis proposed funding cut comes at a time when the OSH Fund – 
 the main source of Cal/OSHA’s independent funding – has run a $200 
 million surplus in the last two fiscal years.  Resources are immediately 
 available to replace any cut in Federal OSHA funding to Cal/OSHA, as well 
 as to maintain the agency’s state funding. \n \nThe Governor’s proposed 
 $21 million cut to Cal/OSHA enforcement is not prompted by any concerns 
 about the state budget, but is a deliberate decision to reduce worker 
 protections in California that are fully funded by an independent sources 
 of revenue. \n \nMeanwhile, Cal/OSHA had 116 vacancies in positions for 
 compliance safety and health officers (CSHO) in December 2024, for a 
 vacancy rate of 43%.  The data, released by the Department of Industrial 
 Relations (DIR) in March 2025, is from the November 30, 2024, 
 “Organization Chart” for Cal/OSHA.  DIR withholds release of Cal/OSHA 
 staffing data for months after it has been generated.\n \nFifteen 
 enforcement District Offices have CSHO vacancy rates at or above 40% -- 
 with ten offices having vacancy rates of 50% or more.  These offices are: 
 PSM/Refinery Unit (70%); San Francisco (67%); Santa Barbara (67%); Fremont 
 (60%); San Bernardino (57%); Riverside (57%); Bakersfield (57%); Fresno 
 (55%); American Canyon (55%); Oakland (50%); PSM/Non-Refinery Unit (47%); 
 Monrovia (47%); Van Nuys (45%); Santa Ana (45%); and Long Beach (40%).  \n 
 \nAn additional three offices have vacancy rates between 33% and 40% -- San 
 Diego, Sacramento and Foster City. \n \nThe California Employment 
 Development Department (EDD) reported the California civilian labor force 
 in December 2024 as 19,399,400 workers. The 160.5 FTE CSHO positions 
 represents an inspector to worker ratio of 1 inspector to 120,869 workers. 
 Cal/OSHA’s inspector to worker ratio of 1 inspector to120,000 workers is 
 much less health protective than Washington State’s ratio of 1 to 26,000, 
 and Oregon’s ratio of 1 to 24,000. [These non-California ratios were 
 cited in the April 2024 “Death on the Job” report.]\n \nThe DOSH Org 
 Chart indicates that 10 field CSHOs are “bilingual.”  Region II 
 (Northern California and Central Valley) and Region VIII (Central Valley 
 and Central Coast) – regions with numerous farmworkers – both have one 
 bilingual CSHOs in the field.  It is estimated that at least 5 million of 
 the state’s 19 million worker labor force speak languages other than 
 English, with many monolingual in their native tongue.\n \nIn addition, 
 there are only three industrial hygiene inspectors among the 160 field 
 compliance officers.  Which means that industrial hygiene inspections for 
 “health” issues such as exposures to heat, silica, lead, chemicals, and 
 repetitive motions/ergonomics are severely limited.\n\nBest, Garrett Brown 
 \n\nField Enforcement Inspectors (CSHOs)\nDivision of Occupational Safety 
 and Health – Cal/OSHA\nDecember 1, 2024\n[November 30, 2024, DOSH Org 
 Chart, data released by DIR in April 2025]\nEnforcement\nRegion\nFilled 
 CSHO\nPositions\nVacant CSHO\nPositions\nCSHOs\ncertified 
 as\nbilingual\nIndustrial\nHygiene\nCSHOs\nRegion I\nSF Bay Area\n16 CSHOs 
 18 positions 1 CSHO None\nRegion II\nNorthern California\nand Central 
 Valley\n18 CSHOs 12 positions 1 CSHO 1 CSHO\nRegion III\nSan Diego, 
 Santa\nAna, Riverside, San\nBernardino\n23 CSHOs 22 positions 1 CSHO 
 None\nRegion IV\nLos Angeles\narea\n31 CSHOs 17 positions 4 CSHOs 
 None\nRegion V\nMining &\nTunneling\n6 CSHOs 8 positions None None\nRegion 
 VI\nHigh Hazard Unit\nLETF Unit\n17 CSHOs\n10 CSHOs\n5 positions\n4 
 positions\n2 CSHOs\n1 CSHO\nRegion VII\nPSM units 
 –\nRefinery:\nNon-refinery:\n3 CSHOs\n8 CSHOs\n7 positions\n7 
 positions\nNone None\nRegion VIII\nCentral Valley and\nCentral Coast\n19 
 CSHOs 16 positions 1 CSHO 1 CSHO\nCSHO positions\n[267 total]\n151 filled 
 116 vacant 10 bilingual 3 IHs\n1Minus 50% time of\n4 Retired\nAnnuitants 
 working\nas CSHOs\n- 2 FTEs\nPlus 50% time of 23\nDistrict SSEs\n+ 11.5 
 FTEs\nField-Available\ninspector FTEs\n160.5 CSHOs\nNotes:\n- Of the 151 
 filled CSHO positions, there are four “Retired Annuitant” (RA)\nrehired 
 staff working as CSHOs in District Offices. RA positions are 
 temporary,\npart-time positions and RAs are limited to 960 hours per fiscal 
 year (half time).\nAt the same time, there are 19 Senior Safety Engineer 
 (SSE) positions in District\nOffices. These SSEs are to spend 50% of their 
 time on District Office\nadministrative matters and 50% of their time 
 conducting compliance inspections.\nTherefore, the number of CSHO FTEs 
 available for field inspections on\nDecember 1, 2024, is 160.5 CSHOs.\n- 
 There are 116 vacant CSHO positions. DOSH has a vacancy rate for 
 CSHO\npositions of 43% (116 vacancies in 267 positions).\n- The California 
 Employment Development Department (EDD) reported the\nCalifornia civilian 
 labor force in December 2024 as 19,399,400 workers. The\n160.5 FTE CSHO 
 positions represents an inspector to worker ratio of 1 inspector\nto 
 120,869 workers. Cal/OSHA’s inspector to worker ratio of 1 inspector 
 to\n120,000 workers is much less health protective than Washington 
 State’s\nratio of 1 to 26,000, and Oregon’s ratio of 1 to 24,000. 
 [These non-California\nratios were cited in the April 2024 “Death on the 
 Job” report.]\n- Fifteen enforcement District Offices have CSHO vacancy 
 rates at or above\n40% -- with ten offices having vacancy rates of 50% or 
 more. These offices\nare: PSM/Refinery Unit (70%); San Francisco (67%); 
 Santa Barbara (67%);\nFremont (60%); San Bernardino (57%); Riverside (57%); 
 Bakersfield (57%);\nFresno (55%); American Canyon (55%); Oakland (50%); 
 PSM/Non-Refinery\nUnit (47%); Monrovia (47%); Van Nuys (45%); Santa Ana 
 (45%); and Long\nBeach (40%).\n- An additional three offices have vacancy 
 rates between 33% and 40% -- San\nDiego, Sacramento and Foster City.\n- The 
 new Agricultural Safety unit has two CSHOs for the four slated\nenforcement 
 offices in Bakersfield, El Centro, Lodi, and Salinas.\n2- There are six 
 District Offices without a District Manager in Los Angeles, Long\nBeach, 
 Modesto, Santa Barbara, Van Nuys, and the Fresno High Hazard Unit\noffices. 
 In these District Offices, a CSHO must serve as Acting District 
 Manager,\nso those offices effectively have one additional CSHO vacancy as 
 the ADMs do\nnot conduct field inspections.\n- Three District Offices have 
 zero clerical staff –Fresno High Hazard Unit,\nAmerican Canyon, Santa 
 Ana, and Santa Barbara – which means CSHOs must\nspend time doing 
 administrative work.\n- The DOSH Org Chart indicates that 10 field CSHOs 
 are “bilingual.” Region II\n(Northern California and Central Valley) 
 and Region VIII (Central Valley and\nCentral Coast) – regions with 
 numerous farmworkers – both have one bilingual\nCSHOs in the field. It is 
 estimated that at least 5 million of the state’s 19 million\nworker labor 
 force speak languages other than English, with many monolingual in\ntheir 
 native tongue.\n- In 1980, Federal OSHA had a ratio of 14.8 CSHOs per 
 million workers.\nForty-five years later, Cal/OSHA has a ratio of 8.3 CSHOs 
 per million\nworkers.\n- The 160.5 field-available CSHO positions are also 
 below the number of\nCalifornia Fish & Game Wardens (approximately 250) 
 currently working in the\nfield.\n- The 160.5 field-available CSHO 
 positions also include two CSHOs who are\nclassified as in training (SET, 
 TAU, T&D, Junior SE) and who technically do not\nconduct independent 
 inspections alone.\nSources: DIR List of Authorized DOSH Positions, 
 November 30, 2024\nEDD: http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov\nChart 
 compiled by Garrett Brown, April 8, 2025\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2025/04/21/18875748.php
SUMMARY:On WMD, Remember The Dead, Protect The Injured & Defend Workers On The Job
LOCATION:Register in advance for this 
 meeting:\nhttps://us02web.zoom.us/.../register/eXTT9NVoR2a5K8dZCEBexw 
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2025/04/21/18875748.php
DTSTART:20250429T000000Z
DTEND:20250429T020000Z
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