| Below
is a copy of an email that Kathy Black, the
District Council 47 Health & Safety Coordinator,
thought we should all see.
It is from Jordan Barab. Jordan was hired
as the first Labor Liaison at OSHA and
is leaving (with the beginning of the new
administration), prior to working in OSHA
Jordan was the Health and Safety Director
for AFSCME International for many years.
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2001
2:05 PM
Subject: (no subject)
Just want to take a moment to say good bye
(from OSHA) and thank you for all
the assistance and support you've provided to me and to the
agency's efforts
over the past few years. I don't think there's any doubt
that we have
improved the lives of workers.
Despite the obvious obstacles: a hostile and majority Republican
Congress and
unprecedented attacks from the businesses associations -- we
have issued an
ergonomics standard, an achievement that few would have bet
on even one year
ago. We have also made progress in a number of other
areas: development of a
Worker Web Page, an expanded training grant program, and a
labor liaison in
each Region. We have started to make some progress in
addressing hazards in
the service sector, especially health care. We have made some
small steps to
addressing the concerns of non-English speaking workers. While
we were not
able to issue many of the standards that we had hoped to finish,
we did
manage to issue a new recordkeeping standard, a steel erection
standard and,
with help from Democrats and Republicans in Congress, a needlestick
protection amendment to the Bloodborne pathogens standard.
And there have
been major increases in OSHA's budget.
There is no doubt that these accomplishments would never have
had a chance of
succeeding without the assistance of a supportive White House
and, most
important, an active and well-organized labor movement. Whether
a Democratic
and Republican administration, Congress controlled by all one
party, all the
other, or mixed, we know one thing: nothing good happens in
this country –
especially in the area of safety and health – without the
strength of the
labor movement behind it. After two years inside the
beast, I understand
that even better than I did before.
And while no significant and lasting change can occur without
organizing,
progress also requires strong, courageous and tireless leaders.
We've been
lucky enough to have those leaders. In Peg Seminario
at the AFL-CIO and
Charles Jeffress at OSHA, we have had leaders who helped focus
the energies
of the labor movement and our friends in Congress and the administration
to
complete the tasks before us.
Now we will need to defend those accomplishments. Without a
President to
support us, without either House of Congress, we have a new
challenge ahead
of us. I have no doubt that with more education and more organizing,
we can
meet that challenge and preserve what we have gained.
But let's not just rest on defense. There are a number of issues
that need to
be addressed and new ground to be broken. These include
stress, shift work,
service sector issues, unequal protection for minorities, non-English
speaking workers, and young workers.
We need to figure out how to address the "new" workplace --
problems faced
by part time workers, contractual workers, and contingent employees. We
need
to develop policies that will address such issues as behavioral
health and
safety policies, incentive programs and other disincentives
to reporting and
participation.
Finally, on a more personal note, it was not always fun and
games here.
Sometimes between the lawyers, the consummate bureaucrats,
those who don't
appreciate or understand the contribution of a strong labor
movement, those
who don't understand what workers go through, and those who
are openly
hostile -- it could get a little lonely. I want to thank
you all for the
supportive words, e-mails and phone calls throughout those
times when I felt
like screaming.
It's been a fun and relatively productive couple of years.
It's too bad
it had to come to such a tragic and unfair end. I'm not
sure yet what I'll
be doing when I leave here, but I hope to find something equally
as enjoyable
and meaningful.
For the present, I can be found at xxxxxxxxxx*. Keep
in touch.
Organizing, not mourning,
Jordan |
