March 2001

Congress Votes To Repeal Workplace Safety Rules

Legislation to repeal brand new workplace safety regulations was awaiting President Bush's signature, following an intense lobbying campaign that included assurances to lawmakers uneasy about voting against organized labor.

The measure, which would revoke the ergonomics regulations issued late in the Clinton administration, secured remarkably swift passage. The repeal was propelled by business interests who criticized the cost and scope of the regulations and a desire by the congressional GOP leadership to give Bush his first legislative victory. The president had signaled at press time that he would sign the bill.

The House passed the legislation in early March, on a largely party line vote of 223-206, less than 24 hours after Senate passage, despite a vigorous fight from Democrats and labor.

The ergonomics regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration had been lauded by many doctors of chiropractic who treat workplace injuries, and especially by those chiropractors who specialize in preventing injuries as industrial consultants.

Even before the House finished voting on the repeal, the White House sought to reassure critics that it would revisit the issue of workplace injuries caused by repetitive motion and other on-the-job ergonomic conditions.

"This administration is committed to protecting the health and safety of workers," the White House said in a statement that sought to buck up moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats. "That's why the Department of Labor will pursue a comprehensive approach to addressing this issue. There is a real concern about the overly burdensome current rules because of the negative impact they would have on jobs and economic growth."

The OSHA regulations were aimed at preventing carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis and other health problems associated with repetitive motion, awkward postures, contact stress and the like. If such injuries were reported, adjustments to work stations would have been required. Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., who voted to repeal the regulations, said she was assured by Labor Secretary Elaine Chao before the vote that ergonomics injuries would be addressed in well-thought-out regulations that did not penalize businesses and still helped workers.

"I don't feel like I'm voting against labor. I don't feel like I'm voting against a commitment to address ergonomics in the work force," Johnson said. "I believe I'm just going to do it in a way that will protect jobs and also help workers the most rapidly and most effectively."

Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., also said Chao's promises helped make his decision to break with labor and vote to repeal the regulations, which he thought went too far.

"I think the best way to get it corrected is to pass this and start from the beginning again," he said. "But it's not going to happen as soon as I'd like." Chao would not discuss a timetable, he said. But Democrats said that if ergonomics regulations were so important to Republicans, they would have worked to find a compromise or asked the Labor Department to alter the rules. Instead, Republicans brought the repeal to a vote with a little-used legislative maneuver that blocked any opportunity for lengthy debate, delay or compromise.

"If Republicans have their way, it will take years, millions of injuries and millions of dollars in lost revenue before new rules ever see the light of day," House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt said. The OSHA regulations covered 102 million workers at 6.1 million work sites. The agency said the rules would prevent 4.6 million musculoskeletal disorders, and would mean average annual savings to business of $9.1 billion in the first 10 years they were in effect. Businesses had been given until October to comply.

Opponents of the regulations put the real cost much higher - as much as $100 billion a year in compliance expenses, and said state worker compensation laws would be pre-empted in some cases. "OSHA made a major miscalculation in presenting a regulation that was so bad and so overreaching that it generated an extraordinary grassroots outcry from small and large employers who simply would not sit back and accept it," said Jerry Jasinowski, president of the National Association of Manufacturers.

Organized labor and Democrats worked furiously to hold onto support by moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats who had voted with them on previous ergonomics legislation and other union-favored issues, but could not maintain the coalition. "A Republican leadership juggernaut in the House resorted to arm-twisting and steamroller tactics to assure a majority to crush the ergonomics standard and deliver for their big business backers," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said.

The repeal was backed by 206 Republicans, 16 Democrats and one independent. Voting against were 192 Democrats, 13 Republicans and one independent. The 56-44 vote in the Senate was similarly along party lines.

Source: Associated Press

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