Labor Relations (Unions), Wage and Hour Laws, OSHA

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1 Labor Relations (Unions), Wage and Hour Laws, OSHA McWane, Inc. was founded in the year 1921 by McWane J. R. It is located in Birmingham, Alabama and specializes in manufacturing pipes made from cast iron. It is among the largest private companies in America with about eight thousand employees. The unsafe practices of the company have been criticized on numerous occasions by various media articles. According to investigations done by the PBS in the year 2003, it was found out that McWane had contributed a lot to many deaths due to unsafe working environment. Critics claimed that McWane Company s objective was to maximize profitability and production at the expense of its workers safety. According to the New York Times, McWane Company has witnessed a series of deaths and numerous employee injuries. According to the records, by 2003, a total of four thousand, six hundred employees have incurred serious injuries at McWane Company as a result of unsafe practices. A total of nine workers lost their lives, with three of those deaths resulting due to non-adherence to the health and safety rules. The company violated the health and safety rules laid down in the Occupational, Safety and health Administration. It is unfortunate that on several occasions, appropriate action was not taken against the company in order to promote the workers safety (Barstow and Bergman, March 11, 2003).Being among the largest foundry industry companies in the United Sates, McWane has several small foundry-related branches or plants worldwide. These plants are extremely widespread and this is the main reason why it took OSHA a long time period of time to find out about the unsafe practices of the company. The attention of OSHA was finally captured when a series of deaths occurred at one of the largest plants of McWane Company. The plant was known as Tyler Pipe and was located in Tyler.Corruption is the act that made it hard for OSHA to bring labor change in McWane Company prior to investigations. There was intense corruption as well as support from the governmental authority. Initially OSHA turned over its findings about McWane to the office of the Attorney General for appropriate action to be taken. Prosecutors in the office believed that McWane would face serious indictments especially on the grounds of manslaughter. This however was not the case because McWane took part in secret talks with the then Attorney general, Vacco, who prevented his aides from presenting the case before the jury. Hence, due to corruption, justice was not upheld and OSHA could not do anything to curb the unsafe practices carried out by McWane (Barstow, March 11, 2003). In the previous years, federal administrations lacked commitment towards enforcing the health and safety regulations stipulated in OSHA. The government leaders were instead in favor of cooperating with industries or businesses. Due to this fact, many companies could go to the extent of compromising the safety and health of the employees in order to make huge amounts 1 / 5

2 of profits and increase productivity. The same case applied to McWane Company that was favored by the federal administration, and thus went on violating the health and safety regulations of OSHA at the expense of its more than seven thousand employees. A labor union plays a role of protecting employees rights and ensuring that they are subjected to safe environments and working conditions. For McWane Company, the employees did not belong to any given labor union. They feared that by being part of the union, they would lose their jobs. Well, this could have been the case since the form of leadership in the company was more of a dictatorial leadership where employees had no say. The company has an extremely high turnover and employed desperate individuals who where in dire need of money. These people were ready to risk their lives in the name of earning a living. McWane has total authority and power over its worker and this power could only be prevented by a voice of a labor union. If at all McWane s employees would have been part of a union, the working and safety conditions would have been greatly improved (Kaplan, February 7, 2011).The workers that were hired by McWane had no power to form a Union. Majority of them were not residents of the United States. They were immigrants who had minimal knowledge concerning the customs and rules of the United States. They had no idea that they could form Labor unions whose role is to fight for their rights and promote their safety. Immigrants lack of experience and knowledge makes it extremely hard for them to organize unions. McWane Inc. was able to get away with the act of treating employees poorly through hiring workers who were not likely to form unions.the form of leadership in McWane could be termed as the Neo-classical form since the self-interest is dominant. McWane was only interested in maximizing profits and increasing productivity at any costs. Numerous workers lost their lives due to exposure to dangerous working conditions for long time period. Despite the series of deaths, McWane went on mistreating his workers and letting them work under unsafe conditions of the foundry industry. Eventually, McWane changed and became more committed to worker safety. In April, 2003, the company s senior management team in collaboration with leadership team of the United Steelworkers of America held discussions regarding partnership towards a common objective of promoting environmental safety in the workplace. According to the discussions, McWane showed commitment towards improving safety at its various plants. Mc Wane acknowledged the role of union and employee participation in the health and safety program (Kaplan, February 7, 2011). The Bush Administration implemented some policy changes in regard to Occupational Safety and Health Administration, abbreviated as OSHA. Under the administration, OSHA was given more authority to take action on companies that constantly violated the health and safety regulations. The novel policy required OSHA officials to increase the number of follow-up inspections on companies that violated the health and safety rules. According to the new policy, legal action would be taken against companies that failed to correct the violations on the grounds of contempt of court orders.the Wrongful Death Accountability Act was proposed during Bush s Administration and the act saw the increment of crime penalty from six months to six years. 2 / 5

3 This penalty was meant for employers who were responsible for their employees death as a result of violating the safety laws knowingly.the Obama administration also bestowed more power and authority to OSHA. The administration increased the OSHA Budget by a total amount of $14 million. A new director of OSHA was confirmed by the senate in late OSHA was more empowered in ensuring that the health and safety of workers was protected. The administration has shown commitment to making sure that it addresses the main health and safety problems affecting workers (Kaplan, February 7, 2011).McWane Inc. Company has undergone a transformation and adopted a novel culture of safety. One of the approaches that have been utilized is the systems approach. Previously, the company had a wide number of procedures that lacked cohesion. Anew management system that promoted cohesion was formed. The other problem that needed to be addressed was that of hiring surge. The company was in the need of employees who were thinkers and strategic planners. Moreover, these people had to have the ability to multi-task and be organized. For this reason a new hiring policy was implemented whereby managers had to have knowledge of the potential employees on individual basis. It was inappropriate to hire just any person who apples for the jobs including former prisoners and those who lacked basic skills needed (Josh, February 17, 2006).A new Form of leadership was initiated at McWane Company in July Wisniewski took over and decided to transform the company into an environment that promoted the health and safety of workers. In October, 2003, Wisniewski held a meeting with a total of three hundred top managers of McWane Company and informed that of his optimism in implementing change. He was determined to help those who were willing to take part in the change process.trust was eventually built between employees and the management team. This paved way for an open form of communication between employees and their seniors. One of the inventions that promoted communication was a safety alert system in Tyler. Through the system, employees who faced safety issues could directly report to the supervisors, who would handle the problem. This was a perfect forum through which employees could work directly with the administration in order to promote health and safety at the workplace (Trevino and Nelson, 2010).Another company that came to the attention of OSHA for violating the health and safety rules is the Stone & arson Work Inc. Since 2003, the company has been violating OSHA s rules relating to scaffolding erection deficiencies, fall hazards and several other hazards that posed as threat to worker s health and safety. Despite OSHA issuing the company numerous citations, the company failed to comply with the orders from the court. This resulted to filing of petitions on the grounds of contempt. Currently, the company is required to provide notifications to OSHA on weekly basis regarding its current as well as future known jobs within a period of 72hours before staring work for a time period of three days. The other requirement was for the company to provide training sessions to all employees prior to beginning work (Hosier, January 4, 2011).Similarly to McWane Inc, the Stone & arson Work Inc failed to prioritize the health and safety of its employees. The company violated the rules and regulations postulated by OSHA on several occasion. A 3 / 5

4 similar case was observed for the McWane Company. Both companies were only interested in increasing profitability and profitability at any cost including compromising the health and safety of workers (Hosier, January 4, 2011).My SLP organization, Google Company has regulations that promote the health and safety of its workers. Employees are protected from the risk of death, accidental injury or disease arising as a result of their work or employment. The company works under the Occupation Safety Health Act of the year 1970 in order to make sure that the safety and health of employees are enhanced. Income security is also assured to all employees of the Google Company. There are insurance programs whose role is to protect employees as well as their families through covering for the financial impact if disability, retirement, unemployment and even hospitalization. A good example is social security which insures the disabled and old-age survivors. Heath insurance program is the other initiative that ensures that the employees of Google Company are catered for in terms of paying for medical and health bills.it is recommendable for McWane as well as Stone & arson Work Inc companies to ensure that they promote the health and safety of its workers. This should be the key priority since it would lead to maximal productivity. The rationale behind this is that workers whose health and safety is guaranteed are always motivated and ready to work towards the achievement of the set goals and objectives. It is therefore essential for any given organization not to neglect its workers. Workers are important human capital that acts as microcosm of any organization or business (Trevino, 2010).In conclusion, it is essential to adhere to the health and safety rules postulated by OSHA. This is not only for employees benefit but also for the organization s benefit. Research has shown that motivation is the key to increasing profitability and productivity. Employees are usually motivated when they know that their heaths and safety is not at risk. 4 / 5

5 References Barstow, D., Bergman, L. (March 11, 2003). OSHA to address persistent violators of job safety rules. New York Times (Late Edition (East Coat). Pg A1 Hosier, F. (January 4, 2011). 2 business owners arrested for failure to pay OSHA Fines. Safety NewsAlert, Retrieved from e-9241 on March 11, 2011 Josh, C. (February 17, 2006). McWane in Hot Water for Alleged Safety Violations. EHS Today Kaplan, D. A. (February 7, 2011) OSHA under the Obama Administration Lessons Learned and Your Role in Supporting a Common Defense. Labor and Employment Law Perspectives Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2010). Managing Business Ethics (5 th Ed). John Wiley and Sons 5 / 5

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION. LEGALEase. Labor and Employment Law. New York State Bar Association 1

NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION LEGALEase Labor and Employment Law New York State Bar Association 1 What is Labor and Employment Law? This pamphlet is intended to provide Employers and Employees with general