Menzies Aviation has notified the WA Employment Security Department that they will be laying off 63 workers in the state effective July 8th. Menzies Aviation provides ground support at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The notification of this planned layoff does not specifiy what type of workers are being laid off. Menzies provides ground handling services at Sea-Tac, including baggage and ramp handling, passenger handling cabin appearance and de-icing services.
Menzies made the news in 2005 when, one week after the union rejected an offered contract, Alaska Airlines outsourced 472 baggage handling jobs to Menzies.
The decision came a week after union workers in Seattle and Alaska overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer that included pay and benefit cuts but also a guarantee of four years without outsourcing. The airline had warned since January that it might outsource the jobs if no agreement could be reached with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 143. – The Seattle Times, May 14, 2005
The reason for the current round of layoffs was not clear at the time of this writing.
Seattle City Council member Teresa Mosqueda sponsored the bill to end subminimum wages. Courtesy of Jamie Rand Imaging/Jamie Colman
Paying low wages to people with disabilities is no longer allowed in Seattle. Seattle officials have eliminated what’s known as the subminimum wage, becoming one of the first cities in the nation to do so.
Since 1938 the U.S. Department of Labor has allowed certain employers to pay people with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage ($7.25 in 2018).
The Seattle City Council voted April 2 to prohibit subminimum wages by any employer in the city, and today Mayor Jenny Durkan signed it into law. The ban will go into effect May 13.
Marcie Carpenter at the National Federation of the Blind, Washington, testified to the City Council earlier this month that it was time to pay all workers the minimum wage.
“These kinds of laws were based on a 1930s mentality of disability: low expectations, few people were educated and even fewer people worked,” Carpenter said.
“Times have changed, there’s now supported employment programs like the one that the City of Seattle operates.”
She said the Federation of the Blind is starting to work toward banning subminimum wages at the state level.
The practice was intended to be an initial wage for people receiving job training, but the Federation said many workers end up with lower wages for years.
Seattle City Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Teresa Mosqueda worked to pass the legislation.
Mosqueda said in a statement: “It’s already challenging to make ends meet for low-wage workers living and working in Seattle, and even more so if one is not afforded the right to earn at least the City’s minimum wage.”
It’s the first labor policy backed by Mosqueda to receive a unanimous vote from the City Council. Mosqueda has named labor and worker’s rights as some of her top priorities.
In 2017, falls were the leading cause of traumatic work-related fatalities in Washington State. The highest number of workplace deaths occurred in construction. The WA Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation program (WA FACE) within SHARP tracks traumatic workplace fatalities in Washington, and has published its annual report for 2017.
Pam MacEwan, CEO of the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, issued the following statement on the signing of House Bill 2516 on March 13, 2018:
“The Washington Health Benefit Exchange applauds today’s signing of House Bill 2516 by Gov. Jay Inslee.
“This state-level legislation protects important progress made in Washington state under the Affordable Care Act. Our position as the state’s health insurance gateway is now stronger than ever, and despite continued uncertainty we may see at the federal level, this bill enables us to continue improving the customer experience for the people in our state.
“The bill’s removal of outdated requirements that no longer align with our current operations clears the way for the Exchange to better serve all residents of Washington state. This includes language that will allow us to innovate and operate in ways that allow our customers to connect with and maintain their health coverage. These changes also create opportunities for maximizing the state’s investment in the Exchange’s technology to further improve how people seek and receive health and health-related benefits.
“We would like to thank both the Governor and the Washington state Legislature for their support on the passage of this legislation. Their combined efforts have resulted in a significant achievement for the future of the Exchange and how we deliver health coverage to more than 1.8 million residents of our state.”
Crews install the tunnel’s last northbound roadway panel
Earlier this month, Seattle Tunnel Partners installed the last of the 1,152 road panels that together form the tunnel’s lower (northbound) roadway. A double-deck highway now runs nearly two miles end to end inside the tunnel. Our new video shows a special crane lifting the final panel into place.
New video shows “smart” systems in SR 99 tunnel
Seattle Tunnel Partners is now installing and testing the tunnel’s operational and safety systems. Inside the tunnel there will be more than 300 cameras to monitor traffic and security at all times, automatic ventilation systems designed to keep air quality and visibility high, and automated sprinkler systems designed to put out a fire quickly. Together, these new systems will make the SR 99 tunnel one of the “smartest” tunnels ever built. This new video explains how the critical air quality and fire safety systems work together.
Thousands of components that make up the tunnel’s safety and operational systems will be tested at least three times. After the systems are verified, STP will hand the tunnel over to the Washington State Department of Transportation so a different contractor can realign SR 99 and build the final ramp connections to and from the tunnel. Stay tuned to our website for more updates as work progresses.
Sign up for our viaduct demolition email list
If you would like to receive updates on viaduct demolition, please send an email to viaduct@wsdot.wa.gov and ask to receive updates on demolition work. We will use this email list in the months ahead to share information about the work.
Full disclosure: Most of us at Causey Wright have convertible sit/stand workstations, and love them! – kc
Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com
Before employers buy standing workstations and/or even treadmills to prevent repetitive motion claims, they ought to take heed of a recent study that considers them a useless fad. The newest marketing craze is work at standing desks, some even equipped with treadmills and marked as ergonomically safer for an employee’s health.
A recently published study has reported the proposed benefits as merely “marketing hyperbole.” “The promotion of active workstations, such as standing desks and even treadmills in the office has been promoted by manufacturers recently with claims of better physical health, improved posture, even reduced mental stress, and a general boost to wellbeing. A new study suggests that many of the proposed benefits and claims are little more than marketing hyperbole.”
Disorders due to repeated motion trauma, an occupational illness, have increased substantially over the decades. “The New Jersey Supreme Court has recognized that the modern workplace is technologically sophisticated and that ergonomics present new situations which have generated an epidemic of repetitive stress injuries. Office workers who regularly use computers often suffer from many debilitating hand and wrist disorders resulting in tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Matter of Musick, 143 N.J. 206, 670 A.2d 11 (1996).” Gelman, Jon L, Workers Compensation Law, 38 NJPRAC 9.2 (Thomson-Reuters 2018).
For the second time in less than two years, Dollar Tree Stores Inc., faces stiff fines for workplace safety violations at two of its stores. The company faces $306,000 in state penalties.
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) cited and fined the Virginia-based employer after inspections at the company’s Bonney Lake and Kelso stores found “willful” violations, the most severe. The L&I inspector found the stores were knowingly exposing employees to workplace safety hazards. Dollar Tree stores in Aberdeen and Chehalis were cited for the same violations in 2016.
“We are seeing the same safety violations at Dollar Tree stores over and over again in Washington,” said L&I Division of Occupational Safety and Health Assistant Director Anne Soiza. “It’s concerning because this is a national problem as well. Employees, and sometimes customers, are being put at risk even though the fixes to these safety problems are simple.”
L&I initiated the recent inspections after getting complaints about safety hazards at the two stores. A customer at the Bonney Lake store contacted L&I to express concerns for the store employees’ safety because boxes crowded and blocked pathways and emergency exit routes. Many boxes were also stacked precariously and so high that they could easily have fallen on employees or even customers in some instances. All of the willful violations are serious, but the blocked pathways and emergency exits are the most concerning.
Bonney Lake store cited for dangerous stacks of boxes and obstructed exits
At the Bonney Lake store, the company was cited for three willful safety violations. The first was for not ensuring that exit routes were free of obstructions. At the time of the inspection, merchandise blocked several aisles and passageways. Employees did not have clear paths from the breakroom and other areas to emergency exits and could be trapped in a fire or other emergency. Because of the employer’s history, this violation carries the maximum fine of $70,000.
The second willful violation cited was for storing merchandise in a way that created a safety hazard. The stockroom was packed with boxes of merchandise in stacks and piles. Heavy boxes were on top of light ones, some had fallen from the stacks, and there were uneven and leaning stacks more than nine feet high. This violation also carries the maximum penalty of $70,000.
Improperly stored merchandise can fall on employees causing serious injuries or even death if the boxes cause an employee to fall and strike their head on the floor. Lifting heavy boxes onto nine-foot stacks is also likely to cause strains and sprains or serious back injuries.
A third willful violation with a penalty of $26,000 was cited for not installing protective guarding or covers over light fixtures that could be struck and broken by the stacked merchandise, which could cause eye injuries or cuts from falling glass.
Kelso Dollar Tree cited for similar safety violations
At the Kelso store, the company was cited for two willful violations with maximum penalties of $70,000 each. The violations were similar to those cited at the Bonney Lake store and previously at the Aberdeen and Chehalis stores. Merchandise was crowded into a storeroom with uneven stacks as high as eight feet, and exit routes were blocked or obstructed with boxes of merchandise.
Dollar Tree has appealed the citation.
Penalty money paid as a result of a citation is placed in the workers’ compensation supplemental pension fund, helping injured workers and families of those who have died on the job.
For a copy of the citations, please contact Public Affairs at 360-902-5413.
Photo credit: Robert S., Yelp.com – “Typical aisle, with hazardous boxes blocking shelved merchandise.”
OWCP has published a final rule that implements the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act’s maximum and minimum compensation provisions as outlined in Sections 6 and 9 of the Act. The rule also addresses the Act’s section 10(f) annual adjustment provision.
To provide clarity for all stakeholders, the rule:
prescribes which maximum compensation rates apply to any particular injury by implementing the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the “newly awarded” phrase (i.e., compensation is “newly awarded” when the employee first becomes disabled) and the interpretation of the “currently receiving” phrase adopted by two courts of appeals (i.e., “currently receiving” means the date the employee is entitled to compensation;
addresses how the Act’s minimum compensation provisions apply; and
outlines the relationship between Section 6’s maximum and minimum compensation rates and Section 10(f)’s annual adjustment provision.
Please access our website (http://www.dol.gov/owcp/dlhwc/) for more information on this rule, including a letter from the Longshore Director summarizing the provisions of the rule and a link to the Federal Register site where you can review the final rule in its entirety.
OSHA cited a Florida communication tower contractor after three employees suffered fatal injuries at a Miami worksite.
MIAMI, FL – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Tower King II Inc. after three employees suffered fatal injuries while attempting to install a new antenna on a communications tower in Miami.
During the investigation, OSHA determined that a gin pole system – a device that attaches to a communications tower to hoist loads – failed, causing the employees to fall. Investigators determined that the employer failed to ensure the capacity of the rigging attachments were adequate to support the forces imposed from hoisting loads. The Texas-based tower contractor was issued one serious citation for exposing employees to fall and struck-by hazards. The company faces $12,934 in proposed penalties, the maximum allowed under law.
“This tragedy underscores the importance of having a qualified individual conduct an analysis before performing construction work on communication towers,” said Condell Eastmond, Fort Lauderdale OSHA Office Director.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education, and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
A spokesman for Jorgensen Forge said the owners see “much more opportunity in redeveloping this land.” Some of the 110 union employees at Jorgensen Forge have worked there for decades and aren’t sure what comes next.
After 78 years in business, a local manufacturer that forges metals for Boeing, the U.S. Navy and other big customers is shutting down so its property can be sold and redeveloped.
Jorgensen Forge, which operates a 22-acre facility next to Boeing Field in Tukwila, just over Seattle’s southern border, said Wednesday it has stopped taking new orders and will wind down operations over the next six months or so.
All 110 union employees at the plant are being laid off and were informed of the closure on Wednesday.
“Some people are very worked up, very upset,” said Matthew Steffen, a Jorgensen manager. “There are people that have worked here their entire adult lives, 30-40 years, and don’t really know any other place.”
