1 min read

Season 4, Episode 199

Repetitive motions leading to ongoing health issues for autoworkers

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Guest Name:

Sarah Lazare

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workdaymagazine.org/ 

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Editor from Workday Magazine and contributor to The Nation, Sarah Lazare, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss her recent article about the daily pain and suffering of auto assembly line workers. Lazare also discussed the issues with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s reporting methods concerning workplace injuries.

Lazare has been a full-time journalist and Editor for Workday Magazine for the last 10 years. The Magazine focuses on labor in the Midwest, focusing on Minnesota. The magazine also partners with other publications, such as The Nation. This partnership has allowed for a greater interest in labor in the Midwest and more opportunities to share labor stories with the country.

Her recent article outlines the health and safety issues that United Autoworker workers in assembly plants face daily. During her research, nearly every worker on the assembly line was dealing with various injuries suffered through daily repetitive tasks. These injuries are not as shocking as some injuries during an incident on the floor, but in some cases could be just as impactful to the worker's life. 

The number of workers suffering from these injuries is greater than the number OSHA reports yearly. There are several reasons that the numbers differ, Lazare said, ranging from fear of employer retaliation to a nearly impossible ability to prove certain injuries are work-related, workers interviewed by Lazare shared why they didn’t report them. With more awareness of the problems facing workers' health, she hopes there will be more oversight and, hopefully, improvements to the standard operating procedure.

To hear more from Lazare’s article on autoworkers' health, press play above.

America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, American Alliance for Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North America, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Survey and Ballot Systems, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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