Labor union wants Congress to force action on ergonomics

AFL-CIO officials said Monday that they are looking to Congress to force the Labor Department to take regulatory action on work-related ergonomics injuries. They reiterated complaints about Labor Department forums on the issue.

AFL-CIO Legislative Director Bill Samuel said one way Congress could address the ergonomics issue is in legislation pending in the Senate and soon to be introduced in the House. The legislation could require Labor Department to address work-related ergonomics injuries and illnesses through a rulemaking within two years, "if the Senate doesn't filibuster it."

The union is working with cosponsors Sens. John Breaux, D-La., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., to modify the bill they introduced March 22, particularly to address how employers keep records of ergonomic injuries.

The bill would prohibit the Labor Department rule from changing the current workers' compensation system, among other things.

This issue was a key factor in swaying Congress earlier this year to overturn the Clinton administration's ergonomics rule. That rule would have allowed workers with ergonomic injuries to receive more in compensation than workers with other types of injuries--something businesses and the insurance industry oppose.

But the bill's prospects are unclear. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which is holding a hearing Wednesday on ergonomics, does not expect to address the Breaux legislation anytime soon.

"We've been working on this for 10 years. We're not taking kindly to a delay of two more years," said a spokesman for Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Edward Kennedy, D-Ma.

Kennedy is expected to raise concerns about the ergonomics forums at the hearing.

Samuel said Rep. Chris John, D-La., is working on similar ergonomics legislation in the House.

The union says it will not accept anything less than a new ergonomics rule from the department. "Voluntary standards only work for those that volunteer," said AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka.

However, while Labor Secretary Elaine Chao has promised to address ergonomics, she has not said whether she would pursue a rule or some other avenue.

The AFL-CIO complained about how the department is handling its nationwide ergonomics forums--which kicked off in the Washington area Monday--saying the department did not allow enough workers to participate.

In her opening remarks to the forum, Chao addressed these concerns.

"In the last few days, we have received equal numbers of complaints from business groups, unions, medical associations, nonprofit groups, educational and research organizations, each saying that they didn't get enough speaking slots," Chao said. "In my view, that's the best evidence that we succeeded in striking the right balance."

The union also complained that the questions being asked at the forums were basic ones, including the definition of an ergonomic injury, to which the administration has known the answers for years.

"This is a blatant attempt by big business to change the definition of carpal tunnel syndrome," Trumka said, referring to a common ergonomic injury. "They want to define MSDs [muscoskeletal disorders] away."

But Chao said: "Any unbiased person would find these to be expansive, thought-provoking, reasonable questions. Moreover, they were three major areas of concern raised by moderate Democrats and Republicans in Congress, when they voted to vitiate the previous ergonomics standard."

On behalf of businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said the forum "opens the door for a more complete examination of the causes of musculoskeletal problems."

"Given the degree of uncertainty surrounding ergonomic injuries, the administration should develop voluntary standards and guidelines that focus on prevention and that are based on sound science," said Willis Goldsmith, a partner with Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue, testifying on the Chamber's behalf.

Signaling that whatever honeymoon labor may have had with Chao is now over, the AFL-CIO's Trumka said the new administration has "acted far more antiworker than any other administration."

The department has also provoked labor's ire by dumping a Clinton administration proposal to require government contractors to take into account a private firm's compliance with federal laws before awarding contracts.