TAMUNING, GUAM ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement with Pepsi Guam Bottling after an inspection by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found the company exposed employees to amputation and other serious injuries.

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an investigation recovered more than $1 million in back wages and damages — its largest settlement to date for California garment workers — for 165 workers after finding a Los Angeles garment contractor denied them overtime wages illegally and then tried to conceal the wage theft. 

Employer:      2 Poto Inc., operating as Entre Nous French Bistro

                        119 West Green St.

Pasadena, CA 91105

Date of action:                       Sept. 28, 2023            

SAVOY, IL – Twice within a month, an Illinois roofing contractor — cited previously more than 20 times for violating federal workplace safety regulations — was again found exposing employees to falls as they did residential framing work on houses under construction in Savoy. Falls remain the construction industry’s leading cause of death.  

WHEELING, WV – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached a settlement agreement to resolve litigation following a March 2022 investigation at a work site in Wheeling that resulted in a dozen citations issued against an Ohio-based contractor with an extensive history of exposing workers to deadly falls.

In the week ending December 23, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 218,000, an increase of 12,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 205,000 to 206,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,000, a decrease of 250 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 212,000 to 212,250.

OAKLAND, NJ – A U.S. Department of Labor inspection in June 2023 at an Oakland manufacturing company — that followed reports of two workers being injured — found employees exposed to dozens of serious safety and health hazards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.

Date of action:           Dec. 8, 2023

Type of action:          Order granting Department of Labor’s motion to intervene

Court:                         U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in White Plains, New York

Defendants:               Berkshire Nursery & Supply Corp.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish a proposal in January 2024 to update an existing standard and expand safety and health protections for emergency responders, including firefighters, emergency medical service providers and technical search and rescue workers. President Biden is committed to protecting our emergency responders, the same way they protect us every day—and this proposed rule is a critical step to ensure their safety.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections at 14 mines in 10 states in November 2023, issuing 184 violations and one safeguard.

The agency began impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners.

In the week ending December 16, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 205,000, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 202,000 to 203,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,000, a decrease of 1,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 213,250 to 213,500.

BELLEFONTAINE, OH ‒ An Ohio industrial rubber hose manufacturer with a long history of federal workplace safety issues could have prevented a 25-year-old worker from suffering severe crushing injuries by following required safety measures, the U.S. Department of Labor has determined.

CHICAGO – A joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Illinois Office of the Attorney General has recovered $3 million in back wages, damages and interest for 283 workers denied overtime owed under federal and state regulations by an Elk Grove meat processing and packaging plant.

RICHFIELD, MN – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit to recover more than $508,000 in back wages and liquidated damages owed to employees of two Richfield grocery stores whose operators paid them an “artificially” low hourly rate to make it appear the employers paid the proper overtime rate.

WASHINGTON – Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su joined General Services Administrator Robin Carnahan, Office of Management and Budget Deputy Director for Management Jason Miller, Rep. Shontel Brown, and Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb in Cleveland on Dec.

WASHINGTON – Today, the Biden-Harris administration is taking critical steps to advance the American Climate Corps, a landmark initiative announced by President Biden in September 2023 to train the next generation of clean energy, conservation and climate resilience workers, while putting them on a path to good-paying union jobs. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker issued a statement regarding today’s release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of its 2022 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries:

FLORENCE, WI – Despite federal regulations barring young workers from operating dangerous machinery, the management of a Wisconsin sawmill allowed several minors workers to perform maintenance on equipment without training or following required safety procedures.

On June 29, 2023, a 16-year-old worker became trapped in a stick stacker machine as he tried to unjam it. The young worker remained trapped until he was found and freed, and then transported to the hospital where he passed away two days later.