FORUM
Republican OSHA "Improvement"
Bill Would Gut Workplace Safety Rules
Desperately seeking to fulfill
their pledges to business, the
Republicans have initiated a stam
pede in the U.S. Congress pushing
for the privatization of OSHA
functions. Billed as the "Safety
Advancement for Employees Act"
(SAFE), introduced by Rep. Jim
Talent., R-Mo., and Sen Mike
Enzi, R-Wyo., H.R. 2579 is more *
aptly titled the "Death and Injury 1
Act." It is a good example of pri
vatization running wild.
This new attack mandates the
establishment of a private sector
bureaucracy to police health and
safety in American workplaces.
We cannot ignore the fact that
many government functions,
including protecting employee
health and safety, were established
because they were not being per
formed by the private sector, or
were being performed poorly.
H.R. 2579 is based on a set of
bizarre assumptions. Its sponsors
portray OSHA as a terrorist orga
nization, harassing employers with
inspections, imposing heavy fines
for minor violations, and inundat
ing management with complicated
regulations. Simultaneously,
Talent acknowledges that OSHA
inspects very few work sites. He
fails to mention that in OSHA's
25-year history only 26 health fed
eral regulations have been promul
gated. Moreover, in fiscal year
1997, the average penalty was
-vcr
K043
If, as Talent suggests, three
quarters of the work sites experi
encing serious injuries have not
had an OSHA inspection in 10
years, then we should expand
OSHA's capabilities rather than
cripple an underfunded agency.
We cannot put the fox in charge of
the chicken coop by allowing
employers to regulate themselves.
The worst element of this
Republican Trojan horse is that it
provides extensive benefits to
employers for using third-party
and self-audits. The legislation
would exempt employers from
OSHA penalties for two years for
using these inspectors to assess
workplace hazards. These "audi
tors," who may not be experienced
health and safety professionals,
could merely offer non-mandatory
recommendations. The audit
results would be shielded from
OSHA and civil courts. I disagree
with this blanket liability protec
tion provided to employers that
knowingly fail to correct recog
nized harms to workers, their fam
ilies, and the public.
Equally objectionable is the
provision that reverses current law
and allows OSHA to refuse to
respo.nd to employee-requested
inspections. The intent is to pre
vent .OSHA from being used by
unions as a tool for harassing
employers during labor-manage
ment disputes. However, as Talent
and Enzi know, the majority of
American workers are unorga
nized and do not have a union to
represent them. So, before using
OSHA reform to punish unions, 1
suggest that the sponsors consider
the interests of the majority of
employees who have nowhere to
go except OSHA.
The Republican bill also
rewards employer ignorance by
barring OSHA citations unless an
employer knows of an OSHA vio
lation. I am surprised to hear my
Republican colleagues support the
notion that ignorance of the law is
a valid excuse for failure to com
ply.
H.R 2579 further rewards
employers for poor management
practices by fining employees for
violating work rules. Health and
safety are management responsi
bilities, and management has the ;
means to discipline unsafe
employees. They don't need
OSHA's help.
H.R. 2579 amends the NLRA
to allow employers to establish
workplace health and safety com
mittees. While this provision is
limited in scope, 1 strongly object
to any legislation allowing
employers to establish workplace
committees and control employee
representation in matters dealing
with work conditions.
H.R. 2579 preempts state drug
laws that were enacted to prevent
employer abuses of drug testing
and to ensure testing accuracy. It
would turn OSHA inspectors into
drug testers and allow employers
to peek into the ofT-the-job lives of
their employees.
We must maintain a serious
gaze upon the deadly statistics that
reveal an unsafe workplace: 6,500
job-related deaths from injury;
862,200 illnesses and 13.2 million
nonfatal injuries require that we
remain vigilant of tjie proposals
being peddled as the "Safe Act,"
which in reality constitutes a
"Death and Injury Act."
Guest Column
Hop. Major Owont, D-Nmw York
Where Was the Amistad Story Before Spielberg?
By EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON
Steven Spielberg recently told an interview
er that he wouldn't have made the film
Amistad, if he couldn't tell it as the story of
Joseph Cinque, the reputed leader of the ship
board slave revolt. He felt that the story would
only make sense if moviegoers had someone
they could identify with.
This approach points to a sad, but painful
truth about African-American history. While
there are scores of heroes and heroic acts in
Black history, many African Americans don't
know about them.
This is inexcusable. The story is straightfor
ward enough. In 1839, 53 Black slaves were
transported illegally from West Africa on a
Spanish schooner from one Cuban port to
another. Led by Cinque, the slaves revolted at
mid-sea, commandeered the ship, and attempt
ed to sail it back to Africa. They never made it.
The ship floundered for two months at sea, was
captured by a U.S. Navy cruiser and towed to
Connecticqt.
In a bitter two-year court battle, the case
became a cause for abolitionists, drew much
national and international attention and stirred
political intrigue and controversy. Eventually
the Amistad captives were freed in a landmark
Supreme Court decision, and repatriated back
to their African homeland.
But why did it take top gun Hollywood
filmmaker Spielberg to make millions of
Americans aware of this magnificent tale of tri
umph and heroism? Ignoring African
American history is bad enough, but
commercializing or romanticizing it is even
worse. Let's hope the Amistad story won't suf
fer that fate.
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of
The Assassination of the Black Male Image
and the forthcoming The Crisis in Black and
Black.
Striving for the Truth in South Africa
By GEORGE WILSON. NNPA
Since 1995, citizens of South
Africa have been watching the
work of the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission. The
commission was set up to ostensi
bly provide a vehicle for the coun
try to confess its sins during the
era of apartheid.
Under the leadership of
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, it is
divided into three parts ? inves
tigation, amnesty and pardon.
How this works is that an individ
ual or group can come forward
and confess to politically motivat
ed crimes or indicate that they
have some knowledge of offenses.
The commission hears from these
persons, who are eventually par
doned.
Just a few months ago some
White police officers admitted to
killing several Black men and liter
ally burning them on a rotisserie
while they drank beer. Others have
admitted to torturing Black politi
cal activists, like Steven Biko,
when they were in police custody.
Those who have chosen to come
forward can now get on with their
lives while the families and loved
ones of victims derive a macabre
sense of closure. The commission's
work is scheduled to end this year.
I 11?
However, the amnesty portion has
been extended for five months.
, In all of the time that the com
mission has been in place and in
spite of the grisly confessions that
some have made, the coverage of
the commission's work has been
low key. However, since the former
wife of Nelson Mandela, Winnie
Mandela's name was brought up
in relation to the killing and disap
pearances of two young men, the
"mainstream media" has been
engaging in what could best be
described as "trial by commis
sion."
In order for there to be no con
fusion, let me state clearly that I
do not condone murder or may
hem. However, the allegations
raised by some who have testified
before the commission deserve
more investigation than has been
done to date. As an outsider who
has berff to South African recent
ly, it seems strange that allegations
mmammmmmmmmmmt?swum
of murder come just before
Nelson Mandela's term is about to
expire and when Winnie Mandela
is a prime candidate to become
South Africa's next vice president.
Given the amount of popular sup
port that she enjoys among the
rank and file, the prospect of
Winnie Mandela as vice president
is not a comfortable thought for
some who want to smile away the
horrors of apartheid.
It occurs to me that when
apartheid was in its heyday, the
system worked quite effectively to
incarcerate as many Blacks as pos
sible. Therefore, if there is suffi
cient evidence to back up
allegations that are being made
against Winnie Mandela, why has
n't she been formerly charged with
murder? I don't think that the jus
tice system has to wait for the
commission to complete its work
before it does what it is legally
mandated to do.
A well-known politician once
told me that "commissions are
formed when politicians really
don't want to do anything, so what
they do is study the problem." The
Truth and Reconciliation
Commission in South Africa is
traveling the same road as
President Clinton's Commission
on Race. Both provide an emo
tional release for some, but do
very little to change the conditions
under which too many function.
Senseless killings, economic
depravation, sub-standard hous
ing and state-sanctioned injustice
can't be talked away.
The truth that is lurking in
South Africa as well as in the
United States, is that the quality of
life continues to deteriorate for a
vast number of people. The only
balm for the hurt that is being
administered is nice sounding
words. Perhaps, Frederick
Douglass put it best when he said
in a speech given in 1857 that
"those who favor freedom, and yet
depreciate agitation are men who
want crops without plowing up
the ground."
George Wilson is a 16-year
Capitol Hill correspondent for the?
American Urban Radio Network.
Guest Column
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NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
REZONING OF PROPERTY
CITY OF WINSTON-SALEM
The Board of Aldermen will consider requests to amend the City of
Winston-Salem Zoning Ordinance by rezoning property as shown below.
DATE: January 5. 1998 TIME: 7:30 p.m.
PLACE: Board of Aldermen Chamber. City Hall
1) Petition of Salem Plaza, Inc.; The Trusthouse, Inc.; Railroad Building
Partners; and One Salem Tower Partnership; from GO to CB; property
located at the northwest comer of Liberty Street and Brookstown
Avenue. W-2198
2) Petition of Wachovia Bank N. A. for properly owned by Linwood L.
Davis; from RS-9 and GO-S (Child Day Care Center; Medical or Dental
Laboratory; Funeral Home; Hospital or Health Center; Medical and
Surgical Offices; Offices, Miscellaneous; Professional Offices; Banking
and Financial Services- TWO PHASE) to GO-S (Services, Business A);
property located on e west side of Silas Creek Parkway approximately
325 feet south of Fairlawn Drive and at the northeast terminus of
Ferncliffe Drive. W-2199
3) Petition of Graziano Camastra for property owned by B.C. Real Estate
Investments, Inc. and Holly K Bodford; from LBRestaurant (without
drive through service)] and RS-9 to LB-S (Car Wash); property located
on the southeast comer of Jonestown Road and Frandell Road. W-2200.
4l Petition of JKT Enterprises for three separate tracts of land: Tract 1 -
from RS-9 to IP; property located at the northwest comer of Lansing
Drive and Buckeve Lane (unopened) and tat the southwest comer of
Buckeve Lane (unopened) and Berl Street (unopened); Tract 2 - from
RS-9 to IP; property located at the northeast comer of Lansing Drive and
Buckeve Lane (unopened) and at the southeast corner of Buckeve Lane
(unopened) and Berl Street (unopened). Tract'3 - from RM-I2-S
(Residential Building, Multifamily) to IP; property located on the north
side of Berl Street (unopened) across from Buckeve Lane (Unopened).
W-2201.
? ? e nrr\ .. nm i"> c
5) Petition ot the 1 ity ol winston-saiem: irom isov mvi-i^-o
(Residential Building. Multi-Family - Two Phase); property located on
the east side of Dunleilh Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets. W
2195.
6) Proposal to amend Article II "Definitions" and Section 3-3.2 "Off
Street Parking Requirements" of the UDO to reduce the parking regula
tions for a new use of Computer Data Centers - UDO-34.
Prior to the hearing, interested persons may obtain any additional
information w hich is in the possession of the City / County Planning
Board in that office at City Hall on weekdays. -8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Interested citizens will be given an opportunity to be heard.
All requests for appropriate and necessary auxiliary aids and services
must be made within a reasonable time prior to the hearing to Angela
Cannon at 727-20^56 or TDD No. 727-8319.
THIS MEETING WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE ON CITY TV-13.
Renee P Rice. Secretary to the Board of Aldermqr
The Chronicle
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