[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 61 (Monday, April 28, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E608]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       REMEMBERING WORKERS WHO WERE KILLED OR INJURED ON THE JOB

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 28, 2014

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today--the 25th observance Workers' 
Memorial Day--in memory of the thousands of men and women, husbands and 
wives, fathers and mothers who got up one morning, got dressed, kissed 
their loved ones goodbye, and never returned home.
  We owe those workers--the pillars of our modern economy--and their 
families more than mere remembrance. We owe them more than just our 
thoughts, prayers, and sympathies. We owe them something that is far 
too rare in this town: we owe them action.
  Anyone who remembers the history of workplace safety would tell you 
that the problem has improved since the labor movement first coalesced 
around safer workplaces. In 1970, their hard work finally paid off. 
Congress came together--Democrat and Republican--to pass the 
Occupational Safety and Health Act. Even then we did not see eye to eye 
on this issue; the process was long, and fraught with setbacks. 
However, we knew that 13,800 workplace fatalities every year--18 for 
every 100,000 workers--was something we could not in good conscience 
allow.
  We knew that we could not sit idly by while so many died--so we put 
aside differences, worked together, and saved the lives of thousands of 
Americans, and protected the health and well-being of millions more. We 
cut workplace fatalities, from 18 out of every 100,000 employees to 4 
out of 100,000. We cut total yearly workplace fatalities, from over 
13,000 to almost 4,000, despite massive growth in the size of total 
national workforce. We did what Congress is supposed to do: pass 
legislation that improves peoples' lives.
  However, with time and neglect the vitality of our workplace safety 
protections has waned. Enforcement actions are rarely undertaken. Our 
criminal penalties are paper tigers. Civil penalties have been flat 
since before the Clinton administration, after being raised only once 
since 1970. It would take hundreds of years to inspect all our 
workplaces at current funding levels. We have failed to act, and our 
failures are measured in lost lives and wrecked bodies.
  We spend too much time debating whether employers can risk their 
workers' lives without consequence. We spend too much time arguing 
about the cost of regulation--when the median penalty for killing a 
worker is only $5,175 dollars.
  Today, I hope my colleagues will remember that a human life is worth 
more than that. I urge my colleagues to consider the multiple pieces of 
legislation that would enhance workplace safety protections introduced 
this Congress. We should start with the Protecting America's Workers 
Act, which would strengthen the penalties for workplace safety 
violations, index them for inflation, and provide for additional 
penalties for the most callous violators.
  The time has come to address the shortcomings in our workplace safety 
system. The time has come to ensure that more fathers and mothers, 
husbands and wives, sons and daughters return home to the people they 
love.

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