OPINION: Remembering the untold cost of American labor

This Labor Day, please join me and my colleagues in our Occupational Safety and Health Administration regional office as we pause to honor the achievements of workers in Alaska, Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

Labor Day dates to the late 19th century, when trade unionists proposed a day be set aside to celebrate labor. We are proud that, in 1887, the state of Oregon was the first in the U.S. to recognize the day as an official holiday.

In our frequently busy lives, we can easily forget the human costs of our “things” and “stuff” we have and the “services” we use. Not the money exchanged in cash from one hand to another, but rather, the real cost of labor behind our goods, services and infrastructure.

When you drive over a bridge, have you ever considered how many people worked to create this? How many were injured? Died? Were underpaid? Forced into labor?

What about longshoreman who do the hard work of moving cargo at our ports to ensure that your online orders arrive on time?

As your sockeye salmon grills, ever consider the frigid and hazardous conditions encountered by the people whose work put the fish on your table?

During dinner preparations, have you ever wondered about the farmworkers laboring in blazing heat to pick your produce?

Even that wooden table on which your meal now sits has a labor cost. Remember that Idaho loggers may have been the people who avoided serious hazards to fell the trees and provided its lumber.

Thanks to workers like these and many others before them, many of us are able to live bountiful lives, enriched by comforts and conveniences thanks to workers and labor movements in this wonderful and unique area of the country.

At OSHA, we are proud to work alongside our state partners in protecting the lives of workers as they labor and making sure their voices are heard.

In 1970, Congress created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers. We have continued working every day since to ensure safety and health is a core value in every workplace, and that workers are protected on the job and bad actors are held responsible.

For example, our OSHA regional office recently took the following actions:

• Issued citations to a Kodiak seafood processing vessel operator for exposing the crew to unsanitary conditions on the vessel, one of the 22 serious and two repeat violations OSHA identified for which the company faces more than $200,000 in penalties.

• Investigated a whistleblower complaint in Tacoma and found an employer fired a probationary employee who reported an injury to supervisors. A federal court ruled the employee suffered retaliation and ordered the employer to remove any negative reference to the employee’s protected activity and termination from their personnel record. The employer agreed to pay the employee $50,000 in damages and $3,419 in back wages.

• Met with the American Postal Workers Union to share information about outdoor and indoor heat-related hazards and the new National Emphasis Program on Warehousing and Distribution Center Operations.

• Signed a partnership between our Idaho area office and Power Construction for the 12th and Idaho Project to build a multi-story complex, estimated to affect 1,300 employees.

As we enjoy our holiday, rest assured the history of the American worker continues to be written. In the years ahead, the U.S. workforce and the marketplace will also change. As the workplace evolves, OSHA stands ready to develop new approaches and ensure employers are applying OSHA protections equally to make sure the safety and health of American workers remains a priority on this and every “labor day” in between.

Dorinda Hughes serves as OSHA Region 10 Administrator for the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

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