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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202-219-8211.
Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich today said his agency is
prepared for the effects of a pending government shutdown. But he voiced his
concern at the considerable impact on public safety and health that would
result from the department's temporary closing.
"Millions of American workers and seniors will be
vulnerable if our agency is hampered in carrying out law enforcement and
workplace safety duties," Reich said. "I have a great deal of concern that the
public is really not aware of the real life implications of shutting down an
agency."
Of the 17,000 workers at the department, only about 4,250
or roughly 25 percent will be able to carry out their duties under the
shutdown. More than 3,000 of the shutdown workforce will be working in field
located in communities across the country.
Reich said when department employees are dismissed on
Tuesday morning, workplace safety inspections, wage and hour investigations and
pension fund monitoring will come to a halt.
- The daily effect of the shutdown for American workers:
- 95 percent of workplace safety complaints would go unanswered. A
single day of OSHA inspections can save workers' lives. On average, 6,000
people are injured each day in work-related accidents.
- 170 workplace safety and health inspections -- of which nearly 60
percent are for serious violations -- will not be performed.
- 190 worker complaints of minimum wage and overtime violations would
remain unresolved.
- $630,000 in wages returned each day to workers who have been denied
minimum wage or overtime pay would sit on a shelf.
- 500 requests for information and assistance from pensioners
participating in plans with $3 trillion in assets would go unanswered.
Reich said only about 25 percent of the labor department's
workforce will be allowed to continue working in the event of a shutdown.
Remaining workers would conist primarily of those working on emergencies
involving the imminent safety of human life or the protection of property.
"In a peculiar twist befitting the interests of this
Congress, we will be prohibited from carrying on our normal duties to prevent
tragedies in the workplace," Reich said. "We will only be able to respond after
those tragedies have occurred."
Employees thrown out of work by the failure of Congress to
pass an acceptable resolution will be furloughed. There will be no guarantee
that the workers will receive pay for days forced out of work.
"The services and worker protection we provide to millions
of taxpayers, many of them the most vulnerable in our society, will essentially
come to a screeching halt," Reich said. "We will soldier on with the meager
staffing we have left. I want to ensure the American public that the remaining,
hardworking, dedicated labor department employees across the country will
continue to do their job to the best of their abilities."
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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