OPINION: Standing up for Alaska workers’ rights

Whether it’s laboring in frigid temperatures in the middle of winter, working long hours at sea during fishing season, or simply being away from home for weeks at a time, Alaskans work hard to support their families. Making a livelihood in our state is not always easy or safe. Many of the jobs we do to support our families and put food on the table are inherently dangerous.

More than 50 years ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, ensuring every worker the right to a safe job. Working people fought hard to make that promise a reality. In the years that followed, grassroots activism by workers and their unions won protections that have made jobs safer and saved thousands of lives. But we still have work left to do.

Too often, politicians beholden to corporate interests have left working men and women without the armor of protections the law requires. Each day, 340 American workers die from preventable on-the-job injuries and illnesses, while millions more suffer injury or illness. This number does not include the thousands of lives lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which exacerbated disparities among workers of color that have been present for decades. These workers hold some of the most dangerous jobs without protections and routinely experience exploitation and retaliation by their employers. The reality is that many of these deaths and illnesses are avoidable.

Employers’ increased use of temporary workers and independent contractors, combined with the misclassification of employees as contractors, deprives workers of protections and has made it more difficult to hold bad-faith employers accountable. Workplace safety agencies must hold employers responsible and increase enforcement efforts to protect the safety and health of all workers, especially those targeted for speaking up against unsafe conditions.

Alaska is one of the most dangerous states for workers. It is the nature of our economy and the harsh conditions of our state. Yet, we must do more to protect working people. The interests and safety of working families must be written into state and federal law and championed by the Biden administration.

Alaska’s working families and the entire labor movement are speaking up for safe workplaces. On this Workers Memorial Day, April 28, the Alaska AFL-CIO and its affiliates will gather at the Fallen Firefighters Memorial in downtown Anchorage (corner of 5th Ave. and A St.) at 12 p.m. to commemorate our brothers and sisters who have lost their lives and livelihoods due to workplace injury or illness and to call for stronger safety protections on the job. We invite you to join us as we continue to fight for the fundamental right to a safe job until that promise is fulfilled for all.

Joelle Hall is president of the Alaska AFL-CIO.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.