to view/print. - Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain ...

White House Puts WorkersLast in Budget PlanTThe most significant and revealingpolicy document anyPresident prepares is the federalbudget. It tells the true story ofan Administration’s priorities forthe nation.The stark reality of the BushAdministration’s budget for thenext fiscal year: workers are avery low priority. In a wide rangeof programs significantly affectingworkers on the job, theBush budget calls for majorcuts in funding and staffing.Beyond these dangerousprogram cuts, theAdministration’s budget wouldsap the long-term financialstrength of Social Security andMedicare by raiding these systemsto pay for huge tax breaksfor the largest multi-nationalcorporations and wealthiestAmericans over the next tenyears. Social Security andMedicare remain the cornerstonesof health and economicsecurity for retired workers andtheir families. They should bestrengthened, not weakened.The Department of Labor faresworse than almost any otherDepartment in the Bush budget.Listed here are the most significantlyaffected worker programs.Puts Workers at RiskThe Bush budget calls formore than $9 million dollars incuts from the OccupationalSafety and Health Administration(OSHA) budget, one of thelargest cuts the agency has ever“For the BCTGM,improving workplacesafety and health willalways be a toppriority because ourmembers work indangerous and veryphysically demandingindustries.”Frank Hurt,BCTGM International Presidentseen. The cuts are targeted atsafety and health standard development,federal enforcement andworker safety and health traininggrants. In an already understaffedagency, the budget proposal callsfor eliminating more than 80 fulltimeOSHA positions, most fromareas of enforcement and complianceassistance.The budget provides no fundingto address the growing crisisof ergonomic injuries in theworkplace, which affects BCTGMmembers in all of our industries.For more than a year, the BushAdministration has been promisinga comprehensive plan toreduce these injuries. Withoutadequate funding, this is unlikelyto take place.The budget also calls for alarge reduction in funding for theNational Institute forOccupational Safetyand Health (NIOSH),the only federal healthresearch agency thatfocuses on workerhealth and safety.In discussing theproposed OSHA cuts,BCTGM InternationalPresident Hurt explains,“For the BCTGM,improving workplacesafety and health willalways be a top prioritybecause our memberswork in dangerousand veryphysicallydemandingindustries. Incontract negotiationswith ouremployers, theInternational andour local unionsare constantly seekingways to createsafer, healthier workplacesfor our members.“But we know that achievingthis goal requires an effectivefederal program. The Bush budgetwould result in a weakerOSHA that is far less effective inprotecting the health and safetyof workers. The proposal is aprescription for more workplaceinjuries, illness and deaths. TheBCTGM will vigorously opposethese cuts,” Hurt concludes.Worker Training UnderminedOne of the hardest hit areasin the Bush budget is workertraining. The Administration proposescutting funding andstaffing in virtually every federal6BCTGM News