Fe y Justicia
cmonforton | August 31, 2017Massive “clean-up” projects are underway in Houston and the surrounding region. As the waters brought by Hurricane Harvey recede, individuals seeking work---day laborers---will be assembling in damaged neighborhoods and offering their skills. It was a commonplace scene following Superstorm Sandy's destruction in 2012, and in Harvey’s disaster zone, day laborers are already on street corners and in parking lots offering to work.
I hope the workers’ experiences from Superstorm Sandy are lessons being reviewed by officials, leaders, and funders in Houston. It would be time well spent if they…
cmonforton | March 28, 2016Last Thursday, OSHA announced a new standard to protect workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica. Here are some of my favorite quotes and remarks in response to OSHA's news:
“Safety advocates worked for years to get this rule in place. Controlling silica dust is especially important to immigrant workers and other vulnerable groups, who are often assigned the dirtiest, most dangerous jobs on any worksite.” Javier Garcia Hernandez, a construction worker and former consultant for the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health. (here)
“[Obama] administration…
cmonforton | December 26, 2014While we take a breather during this holiday season, we’re re-posting content from earlier in the year. This post was originally published on May 6, 2014.
by Kim Krisberg
Two years ago, domestic workers in Houston, Texas, took part in the first national survey documenting the conditions they face on the job. The experience — a process of shedding light on the often isolating and invisible world of domestic work — was so moving that Houston workers decided they didn’t want to stop there. Instead, they decided it was time to put their personal stories to paper.
The result is “We Women, One…
cmonforton | April 17, 2014Going to a job and getting paid appropriately for your time is how it is supposed to work. Doing your job and getting ripped off by not getting paid is wrong and illegal. The economic consequences of wage theft for the victims and their families are profound: the threat and reality of losing utilities, food and housing. One of the single biggest risk factors for ill health is poverty. That makes wage theft a public health problem.
But catching and punishing employer-thieves is difficult. The federal and state enforcement agencies are under resourced and the laws weak. It’s also one thing to…
cmonforton | April 2, 2014That simple phrase “No dust, no silica,” was the way that Donald Hulk characterized his firm’s attitude about controlling respirable crystalline silica.
Hulk is the corporate safety director for Manafort Brothers based in Plainville, CT. His presentation was one of the highlights during last week’s nearly 40 hours of testimony. The other memorable moment came from six workers who traveled from Houston, Milwaukee, Newark, and Philadelphia to speak personally about working in silica dust. Their participation interjected a dose of reality. More below about their testimony.
Manafort’s Don Hulk…