Whether or not it’s laboring in frigid temperatures in the course of winter, working lengthy hours at sea throughout fishing season, or just being away from house for weeks at a time, Alaskans work exhausting to help their households. Making a livelihood in our state will not be at all times straightforward or protected. Lots of the jobs we do to help our households and put meals on the desk are inherently harmful.
Greater than 50 years in the past, Congress handed the Occupational Security and Well being Act, guaranteeing each employee the suitable to a protected job. Working individuals fought exhausting to make that promise a actuality. Within the years that adopted, grassroots activism by staff and their unions gained protections which have made jobs safer and saved 1000’s of lives. However we nonetheless have work left to do.
Too typically, politicians beholden to company pursuits have left working women and men with out the armor of protections the legislation requires. Every day, 340 American staff die from preventable on-the-job accidents and sicknesses, whereas tens of millions extra undergo harm or sickness. This quantity doesn’t embrace the 1000’s of lives misplaced as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated disparities amongst staff of colour which have been current for many years. These staff maintain among the most harmful jobs with out protections and routinely expertise exploitation and retaliation by their employers. The truth is that many of those deaths and sicknesses are avoidable.
Employers’ elevated use of momentary staff and unbiased contractors, mixed with the misclassification of workers as contractors, deprives staff of protections and has made it harder to carry bad-faith employers accountable. Office security companies should maintain employers accountable and enhance enforcement efforts to guard the security and well being of all staff, particularly these focused for talking up towards unsafe circumstances.
Alaska is among the most harmful states for staff. It’s the nature of our economic system and the cruel circumstances of our state. But, we should do extra to guard working individuals. The pursuits and security of working households have to be written into state and federal legislation and championed by the Biden administration.
Alaska’s working households and all the labor motion are talking up for protected workplaces. On this Staff Memorial Day, April 28, the Alaska AFL-CIO and its associates will collect on the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in downtown Anchorage (nook of fifth Ave. and A St.) at 12 p.m. to commemorate our brothers and sisters who’ve misplaced their lives and livelihoods as a consequence of office harm or sickness and to name for stronger security protections on the job. We invite you to affix us as we proceed to struggle for the elemental proper to a protected job till that promise is fulfilled for all.
Joelle Corridor is president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.
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