The Co-Executive Director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, appeared on the America’s Work Force Union podcast and spoke about the annual release of the “Dirty Dozen” list of companies and the power of unions to make employees and workplaces safer.
In honor of Workers' Memorial Week, Goldstein-Gelb spoke about National COSH’s list of “Dirty Dozen” companies that put the lives of workers at risk due to unsafe practices, which lead to preventable illnesses, injuries and deaths. Sadly, she said the percentage of workers who died on the job from sudden workplace trauma increased in 2022, the most recent year for statistics. While workplace deaths can affect workers of any race or ethnicity, but the data reveals a larger percentage of workplace deaths occur to black or Latino workers, she added.
Child labor, Goldstein-Gelb explained, has increased by 88 percent in the U.S. and is a reason for a company to land on the list. She said child exploitation has led to more minors dying from workplace hazards than at any time in the past 10 years.
While she discussed a couple of the companies on the list, she noted that unions help protect workers from these incidents. The power of unions is becoming more well-known among workers who are organizing in areas of the country where there are few unions. Goldstein-Gelb said these workers are fighting for their rights by creating committees and speaking up against wrongful termination and employers who ignore jobsite safety.
Listen to the whole podcast to hear more about the fight for workplace safety: