Workers rally against bill to abolish OSHA
Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, July 19, workers answered the call by the North Florida Future Labor Leaders to protest HR 86, the NOSHA Act, which would abolish the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Union teachers, plumbers, electricians, warehouse workers and city employees gathered at the steps of Jacksonville city to demand, “No to NOSHA.”
Shayne Tremblay, president of the North Florida Future Labor Leaders (NFFLL) and a rank-and-file electrician with IBEW Local 177 stated, “Prior to the Occupational Safety and Health Act being signed into law, this country was facing an epidemic of workers getting injured and dying on the job. OSHA was passed to stop this by holding companies accountable for the safety and health of their workers. Abolishing OSHA would set us back in time to a period where companies can treat workers as disposable again.”
Though OSHA protections are often thought about in the context of heavy industry and construction, OSHA covers all workers in the U.S.
Ashleigh Rondon, a rank-and-file plumber and member of UA Local 234, stated, “Workers won’t be safe unless we have regulations requiring their safety. The companies we work for are only looking out for themselves. And that goes for any industry – healthcare, construction, factory workers, anybody. Everybody needs OSHA. We need OSHA to ensure people make it home in one piece.”
Alysin Allmon, a rank-and-file Teamster, described how unorganized workers are especially at risk, “Many of us here are covered by unions that guarantee us safe working conditions and even healthcare. But many people who would be affected, if they got hurt, may not get help because they can't afford to, may not ever receive compensation because the companies possibly wouldn't have to. Agencies like OSHA prevent these accidents that could easily put people out of work, or result in deaths.”
Mike Sterling of IBEW 2358 and a member of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists told the crowd, “OSHA is a government that we pay for; its purpose is to ensure that companies don’t put profit over people. Let’s send a message to Washington that worker safety is nothing to mess with.”
Between speeches, anyone within earshot of City Hall could hear union workers chanting “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Worker power!” The rally concluded with a booming chant of “No to NOSHA! Kill the bill!”