A coalition of 76 labor, health and environmental groups signed a petition in Trenton today, demanding the Legislation to kill a bill that would prevent New Jersey state agencies from adopting safety, conservation and health standards that are tougher than federal regulations. See Article Here
Seventy-five labor, environmental, emergency response, and other organizations today announced at a State House news conference a new public campaign to defeat bipartisan attacks on decades of New Jersey's worker, environmental, health, and other protections. Letter to Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Oliver Statement from Senator Buono How S1986 and/or A2486 Would Harm New Jersey See the Press Release here
Governor Christie's Red Tape Review Group is a blueprint for endangering workers and community members who suffer from deadly toxic exposures. See the Press Release here
Yesterday, Senator Lautenberg introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010 moving one step closer to protecting workers and the public from toxic chemicals. See the Press Release here
The Blue Green Alliance and the New Jersey Work Environment Council, along with more than 100 prominent labor and environmental organizations, are asking U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to enforce an existing law encouraging worker and union participation during EPA inspections of facilities using extremely hazardous substances. This letter sent to Jackson said allowing workers and their union representatives to point out dangers during agency inspections would help protect both communities and the public. View the Letter to EPA Administrator Jackson See the Press Release here
The Blue Green Alliance announced today that the New Jersey Work Environment Council (WEC) will join the national labor-environmental partnership as a New Jersey affiliate. Formed in 1986 as a result of efforts to pass the state's "Right to Know" laws about hazardous chemicals in workplaces and communities, WEC is the nation's oldest state-based labor-environmental coalition and works to link workers, communities and environmentalists throughout the state of New Jersey. See the Press Release here
Twenty-seven labor, environmental, and community groups today called on Governor Jon Corzine to strike language from a proposed NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rule that could hide information about potential toxic disasters at industrial facilities from communities across the state. Sign-On Letter of Support from 27 Labor, Environmental and Community Organizations. See the Press Release here
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and the Occupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health Association released today Protecting Workers on the Job: Seven Priorities for Federalaction in 2009, a platform of recommendations aimed at reversing the erosion of the worker safety protections that has put the nation's workers at a heightened risk of injury, illness and death. Protecting Workers on the Job: Seven Priorities for Federal Action in 2009
According to John Pajak, President of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, "While we have differences with some of Governor Corzine's environmental policies, Lisa Jackson has proven an able DEP Commissioner and has helped make New Jersey safer and more secure by adopting new and precedent-setting policies pushing chemical plants to adopt safer processing methods and by engaging workers and their unions during environmental inspections. See the Press Release here
Kuehne Chemical, in South Kearny, New Jersey, has been cited and fined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for 33 worker safety and health violations, including lapses that could lead to a toxic chlorine release into surrounding communities. See the Press Release here