By The Pa. AFL-CIO

– Today, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale testified before the PA House Labor and Industry Committee in support of House Bill 1082, the Jake Schwab Worker’s Protection Bill. The bill, introduced by Representative Patrick Harkins, extends the safety standards and workplace protections put in place by the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) to public sector employees.

President Bloomingdale remarked on OSHA’s success in reducing workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths. He also highlighted the double standard for employee safety. Currently, only employees in the private sector are protected by OSHA’s federal safety standards, leaving public sector employees at a disadvantage. Our Commonwealth and its political subdivisions employ over 500,000 workers; these men and women are not afforded the same protections under the law as their private sector counterparts.

With his testimony, President Bloomingdale encouraged the State to apply the same workplace safety standards and protections to its public-sector workers that it does for private-sector employees. “It is a fundamental right of all employees to work in an environment that is safe”.

Source – http://www.paaflcio.org/?p=7026