America's workplaces have come a long way from the days of Upton Sinclair's “The Jungle.”
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Auburn Mayor Michael Quill holds a mayoral proclamation declaring a Workers Memorial Day in Auburn, in memory of workers nationwide who have died on the job. With Quill are, from left, Anthony DeCaro, Harry Steinbacher, Beverly Centers, Kathy Johnson, Quill, George Farenthold, Ginger Sheffey and Thomas McNabb.
Auburn Mayor Michael Quill holds a mayoral proclamation declaring a Workers Memorial Day in Auburn, in memory of workers nationwide who have died on the job. With Quill are, from left, Anthony DeCaro, Harry Steinbacher, Beverly Centers, Kathy Johnson, Quill, George Farenthold, Ginger Sheffey and Thomas McNabb.
The 1906 novel described the grizzly details of life in a meat-packing plant and helped influence labor reform in the early 20th century.
But local labor advocates said Monday that there is still a long way to go.
Union officials joined Auburn Mayor Michael Quill at Memorial City Hall to commemorate International Workers Memorial Day. The event, set on the day of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's formation, commemorates the thousands of Americans who die every year from work-related hazards.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 5,840 people died from work-related injuries in 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
During the same year, 4,085,400 people reported non-fatal injuries related to their jobs, according to the labor department.
George Farenthold, an Aurora village trustee and president of the Cayuga County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said Monday that there is also a substantial number of incidents which do not get counted. Farenthold, who attended the commemoration in Auburn, said it is important to remind Americans every year about much-needed improvements in their workplaces.
“We just want to keep America's attention on that,” Farenthold said. “We owe that to our workers and we owe it to their families.”
One of the reason our workplaces are so dangerous, he continued, is that OSHA is not properly funded. There are 130 million workers in America, and only slightly more than 2,000 OSHA inspectors, according to Farenthold.
“If you do the math, they are only able to inspect a workplace every 133 years, on average,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, there is a lack of sufficient funding.”
In New York, officials are doing a reasonable job, he said. But agriculture is one of the largest industries in Central New York, and incidents among migrant workers are on the rise, according to a recent study by the AFL-CIO.
And as the economy continues to go south, people will look for more hours, which can create hazards as well, he said.
“People are working longer and longer to try to make a living for their families,” Farenthold said. “With the lack of inspectors, it creates a witches' brew in the workplace.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
But local labor advocates said Monday that there is still a long way to go.
Union officials joined Auburn Mayor Michael Quill at Memorial City Hall to commemorate International Workers Memorial Day. The event, set on the day of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's formation, commemorates the thousands of Americans who die every year from work-related hazards.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, 5,840 people died from work-related injuries in 2006, the most recent year for which statistics are available.
During the same year, 4,085,400 people reported non-fatal injuries related to their jobs, according to the labor department.
George Farenthold, an Aurora village trustee and president of the Cayuga County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, said Monday that there is also a substantial number of incidents which do not get counted. Farenthold, who attended the commemoration in Auburn, said it is important to remind Americans every year about much-needed improvements in their workplaces.
“We just want to keep America's attention on that,” Farenthold said. “We owe that to our workers and we owe it to their families.”
One of the reason our workplaces are so dangerous, he continued, is that OSHA is not properly funded. There are 130 million workers in America, and only slightly more than 2,000 OSHA inspectors, according to Farenthold.
“If you do the math, they are only able to inspect a workplace every 133 years, on average,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, there is a lack of sufficient funding.”
In New York, officials are doing a reasonable job, he said. But agriculture is one of the largest industries in Central New York, and incidents among migrant workers are on the rise, according to a recent study by the AFL-CIO.
And as the economy continues to go south, people will look for more hours, which can create hazards as well, he said.
“People are working longer and longer to try to make a living for their families,” Farenthold said. “With the lack of inspectors, it creates a witches' brew in the workplace.”
Staff writer Christopher Caskey can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or christopher.caskey@lee.net.
