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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
“The BCTGM willbe working with theAFL-CIO, otherlabor organizationsand our allies inCongress for a federalbudget that protectsand invests inworkers and makesworking families ournation’s top priority.”Frank Hurt,BCTGM International Presidentjob-training program, includingthose designed to help laid-offand younger workers.The budget proposal wouldundermine the longstanding federalcommitment to improvingand expanding the skills ofAmerican workers. For manyworkers who have lost their jobsor want a better job, these programsoffer them and their familieshope and opportunity for abetter standard of living.More Employer AbuseThe Bush budget calls for areduction in funding and staffinglevels for the Department ofLabor’s Wage and HourAdministration, the divisionresponsible for enforcingnumerous federal laws guaranteeingbasic workplacestandards such as minimumwage, overtime, child laborand the Family and MedicalLeave Act.With less enforcement staff,employers will likely expandtheir efforts to get around theseimportant laws, which are theresult of decades of struggle byorganized labor. This abusethreatens employment standardsin every workplace.Congressional Action?As the expression goes, “ThePresident proposes and theCongress disposes.” The battleover national priorities is nowbeing fought in Congress. Overthe next six months, Congresswill use the appropriationsprocess to set funding levels forall federal programs for the nextfiscal year, which begins October1, 2002.“The BCTGM will be workingwith the AFL-CIO, other labororganizations and our allies inCongress for a federal budgetthat protects and invests inworkers and makes working familiesour nation’s top priority.“I urge our members to getThe BCTGM website is an excellenttool to enable yourvoice to be heard . . .It’s time tostand up andbe counted bycontacting yourRepresentativein Congress.involved by contacting their U.S.Representatives and Senators.The BCTGM web site is an excellenttool to enable your voice tobe heard by those who have theultimate say over whether yourtax dollars are spent to improvethe lives of working families orpromote corporate interests.“Every BCTGM member has astake in the outcome of thisdebate,” concludes Hurt.March/April 2002 www.bctgm.org 7
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