WEC Staff

As many Americans are painfully aware, income inequality in the United States today is extreme and growing exponentially. In fact, as of 2014, the top CEOs takes home 844 times what the average worker makes. And New Jersey is no stranger to the effects of runaway inequality, according to a recent story on WNYC, being home to some of the wealthiest and some of the poorest individuals in the country. This extreme distribution of wealth is no accident, with extreme income disparity being more common in urban centers, and with income inequality (according to the Gini index, a frequently used measure for inequality) being lower between 2006-2010, a period immediately preceding the great recession. “The statewide rise in New Jersey income inequality is also reflected in the data for individual counties, which all except Cape May saw upticks in their Gini index scores.”   Meanwhile, Governor Christie has worked to cut taxes and fees for corporations, plunder the state budget, and attempted to cut himself a juicy book deal. Extreme income inequality is no accident; it occurs when economic and corporate elites work together to rig an economy against ordinary, working people. While Wall Street [...]

The New Jersey Education Association, New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC) and Healthy Schools Now coalition recently released a report Health and Safety Guide: Mercury Hazard in Schools from Rubber-Like Polyurethane Floors. Written by WEC’s industrial hygiene consultants, the report alerts school officials and maintenance staff of the potential health risk of rubber-like polyurethane floors and recommends actions to reduce or eliminate resulting mercury exposure. Rubber-like polyurethane floors using 1,000 to 2,000 parts per million of phenyl mercuric acetate (PMA) catalyst have been installed in school multipurpose rooms, gyms, cafeterias, auditoriums, stages and indoor and outdoor tracks since the 1960s.  PMA breaks down and releases odorless, colorless mercury vapor at room temperatures. The floors and items that have been in contact with them emit mercury vapor indefinitely. Exposure is worse if floors are damaged or deteriorated, in hot rooms with poor ventilation or without air conditioning, or if outdoor air is not being pulled in. If floor removal is not going to take place in the near future, measures to limit mercury exposure should be implemented immediately.  At a minimum, these measures should include ensuring that rooms with rubber-like polyurethane floors have cool temperatures, good ventilation and ongoing air sampling.  [...]

WEC recently helped launch Jersey Renews, a coalition of labor, community, environmental and faith based organizations pushing for stronger climate policies here in NJ. It's heartening to see Labor Education & Research Now at Rutgers University offering a course examining unions' responses to climate change. Participants in this online course will learn best practices for communicating about climate change with members and employers, and participate in discussions with other union leaders about the challenges and opportunities climate change presents. The class starts next week, so register today! There is also an upcoming conference planned for April 21 at Raritan Valley Community College in Branchburg, Beyond Reconciliation: The Potential for Common Ground on the Environment and Labor. Considering the magnitude of our climate crisis, the risks to New Jersey, and the likelihood of federal inaction, connecting with our labor allies to push for strong climate policy (on a state and local level) is critically important.  

Congratulations to the first round of trainers to complete the Public Need over Corporate Greed trainer apprenticeship program! Over the course of two days, more than 30 participants discussed movement building, the economics of both social and income inequality, and the concrete steps we can take to build a more equitable economy which works for everyone, not just big banks and Wall Street firms. During the intensive program, led by Les Leopold, author of Runaway Inequality and director of The Labor Institute, activists engaged in a robust conversation on the powerful interests that keep us organizing on the defensive. One of the key takeaways: until we address the structural issues in our system, which allow so few to have so much power and influence, we will continue to nibble at the edges, to be told there “just isn’t enough money” to provide a clean, safe environment, and good jobs. We are already planning our second trainer apprenticeship sessions, which will be held March 3rd and 4th in Trenton. We need your passion, your voice, and your action, but space is limited to 20 participants. Join us; understand what is happening to our economy and learn how you can facilitate a discussion about [...]

WEC is excited to have Vivian Chang join us as an intern for this semester, beginning today!       Vivian is a second-year Master in Public Affairs (MPA) candidate at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, concentrating in environmental policy. Vivian previously served as an AmeriCorps VISTA addressing public education and volunteerism. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic Studies from Carnegie Mellon University, with a minor in environmental science. She is excited to work with WEC on pressing environmental and labor issues, and key policy topics for New Jersey. In the coming weeks, Vivian will be assisting us with our campaign to Address Climate Change.

On Jan. 4, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for one repeat and two failure-to-abate violations. Kris Hoffman, director of OSHA’s Parsippany Area Office stated: “Our follow-up inspection found that two County Concrete employees were exposed to silica above the permissible limit as they cleaned concrete mixers." In 2013, OSHA cited this company for these same hazards, “Employers must bear the responsibility of fully complying with respiratory protection requirements to protect the safety and health of their workers.” OSHA’s Final Silica Rule took effect on June 23, 2016 OSHA estimates that the rule will save over 600 lives and prevent more than 900 new cases of silicosis each year, once its effects are fully realized. The Final Rule is projected to provide net benefits of about $7.7 billion, annually. This rule will help protect approximately 2.3 million workers who are exposed to respirable crystalline silica in their workplaces, including 2 million construction workers who drill, cut, crush, or grind silica-containing materials such as concrete and stone, and 300,000 workers in general industry operations, such as brick manufacturing, foundries, and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Industries have from one to five years to comply with most [...]

Join the Healthy Schools Now coalition for our quarterly meeting on March 7, 2016 at 10 AM in Trenton, NJ. We look forward to continued discussion about how we can work together to ensure a healthy and safe school environment for all of New Jersey's public schools students. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. Agenda to be posted soon. Register Healthy Schools Now