U.S. LABOR DEPARTMENT COMBATS CHILD LABOR IN BURMA

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

US Department of Labor announces $5 million grant solicitation to combat child labor in Burma

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of International Labor Affairs today announced a $5 million solicitation for cooperative agreement applications to support Burma's efforts to reduce child labor.

The project(s) funded under this solicitation will develop pilot programs to remove or prevent children from exploitative labor and raise awareness in support of Burma's efforts to comply with international standards. Eligible applicants should propose research that yields much-needed credible, comprehensive data on the extent of child labor in Burma. The project will build the capacity of national and local organizations to advocate for a reduction of child labor and improve access to quality education and other relevant services for children and their families.

Applications must be submitted by Oct. 4, 2013, at 5 p.m. EDT electronically or as hard copies to the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Procurement Services, 200 Constitution Ave. NW, Room S-4307, Washington, D.C. 20210, Attention: Brenda White.

All cooperative agreement awards will be made by Dec. 31, 2013. The solicitation for cooperative agreement application (SCA 13-15) is available online at http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/grants/main.htm and http://www.grants.gov.

Congress has appropriated funds for ILAB to support international technical cooperation projects to combat the worst forms of child labor as defined by the International Labor Organization Convention 182. ILAB grants address child labor through the provision of educational services for children and livelihood support for their households. ILAB also supports the collection of reliable data on child labor and helps strengthen the capacity of governments to address child labor in a sustainable way.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORT FOR WEEKENDING APRIL 27, 2013

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA


In the week ending April 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 324,000, a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 342,000. The 4-week moving average was 342,250, a decrease of 16,000 from the previous week's revised average of 358,250.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent for the week ending April 20, unchanged from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending April 20 was 3,019,000, an increase of 12,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,007,000. The 4-week moving average was 3,055,500, a decrease of 18,000 from the preceding week's revised average of 3,073,500.
UNADJUSTED DATA
The advance number of actual initial claims under state programs, unadjusted, totaled 298,692 in the week ending April 27, a decrease of -27,143 from the previous week. There were 333,476 initial claims in the comparable week in 2012.

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.3 percent during the week ending April 20, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,016,148, a decrease of 87,321 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,103,469. A year earlier, the rate was 2.6 percent and the volume was 3,292,783.

The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending April 13 was 4,963,449, a decrease of 108,631 from the previous week. There were 6,597,715 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2012.

Extended Benefits were available only in Alaska during the week ending April 13.

Initial claims for UI benefits filed by former Federal civilian employees totaled 1,447 in the week ending April 20, a decrease of 217 from the prior week. There were 2,033 initial claims filed by newly discharged veterans, a decrease of 164 from the preceding week.

There were 18,076 former Federal civilian employees claiming UI benefits for the week ending April 13, a decrease of 628 from the previous week. Newly discharged veterans claiming benefits totaled 36,903, a decrease of 404 from the prior week.

States reported 1,777,737 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending April 13, a decrease of 12,579 from the prior week. There were 2,724,432 persons claiming EUC in the comparable week in 2012. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending April 13 were in Alaska (5.1), Puerto Rico (4.2), New Jersey (3.6), Wisconsin (3.6), California (3.4), Connecticut (3.3), Pennsylvania (3.3), Illinois (3.2), New Mexico (3.2), and Oregon (3.1).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending April 20 were in Michigan (+6,172), Massachusetts (+4,101), Connecticut (+2,452), Rhode Island (+1,427), and Nevada (+535), while the largest decreases were in California (-16,681), New York (-6,443), Pennsylvania (-3,646), Texas (-3,070), and Indiana (-1,637).

SECRETARY OF LABOR SPEAKS ON EQUAL PAY FOR WOMEN

FROM: DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Statement by Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis on Equal Pay Day

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today issued the following statement regarding Equal Pay Day:

"It has been nearly half a century since the Equal Pay Act was signed to abolish wage discrimination on the basis of sex. In that time, women from all walks of life have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, patriotism, scientific and artistic vision, and great personal sacrifice — both at home and in the workplace. Still, women continue to earn less than men. As a nation, we continue to work toward the fundamental promise of equal pay for equal work.

"Today, on Equal Pay Day, we reflect on the challenges that millions of women — particularly those of color, single mothers and women with disabilities — continue to face in securing the pay they deserve.

"Women now make up nearly half of the nation's workforce, and 60 percent of all women work full time. In almost two-thirds of families led by single mothers or two parents, mothers are either the primary or co-breadwinner. Pay equity is not simply a question of fairness; it is an economic imperative with serious implications not just for women, but for their families, their communities and our nation. Moreover, when women start at a disadvantage, they stay there.

"Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Department of Labor. We will recognize the achievements of our past and look to a future committed to increasing incomes and education, eliminating wage and income inequality, and putting more women on a path into the middle class.

"Closing the pay gap requires closing the information gap. For more than 90 years, our Women's Bureau has been instrumental in this important effort for women, most recently by hosting a series of dialogues across the country to make sure women are educated about their worth and empowered to advocate for it. We're also working with researchers, experts and the brightest minds in the field of Web technology to create new tools that will make useful information about wages readily accessible to workers.

"Additionally, for more than 45 years now, our Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs has been building a strong record of identifying and eliminating gender-based discrimination for federal contractors. Last year, this office successfully resolved 134 cases of employment discrimination affecting women and minorities, resulting in more than $12 million in remedies for victims of discrimination.

"I am proud of the steps we've taken to close the pay gap. But I recognize that we still have so much work to do. This Equal Pay Day, while progress has been made, let us all renew our commitment to advancing the progress of working women and their families. Let us continue to pursue pay equity with both passion and determination."

DELTA AGREES TO COMPLY WITH OSHA ON WORKER SEAT BELT COMPLIANCE MEASURES

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Delta Air Lines signs agreement with US Department of Labor’s OSHA on seat belt compliance measures to protect airline industry workers

OSHA also issues hazard alert to other airlines urging compliance
WASHINGTON — Delta Air Lines Inc. has signed a corporatewide settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration in order to protect workers who operate baggage handling vehicles.

The agreement covers approximately 90 of the Atlanta-based company's airport sites that fall under federal OSHA's jurisdiction, as well as 16,000 Delta employees and 6,000 baggage handling vehicles. Under the agreement, Delta will come into compliance with applicable requirements for the use of seat belts by ensuring that all types of the company's baggage handling vehicles are equipped with them and that employees use the seat belts while operating the vehicles on specified airport routes.

"OSHA's corporatewide settlement agreements are highly effective tools for ensuring that companies address hazards that can injure or kill their workers," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "This kind of widespread change within corporations can go a long way toward keeping workers across the country safe and healthy at the end of every workday."

The agreement is the result of a citation issued to Delta following a workplace fatality in which an employee operating a baggage tug vehicle without wearing a seat belt was ejected from the vehicle and died. OSHA cited Delta for violating 29 Code of Federal Regulations 1910.132, which requires employers to provide employees with personal protective equipment, including — in this case — seat belts.

According to the agreement, Delta has committed to an abatement schedule that will result in full compliance within two years. During the first year, Delta will train its employees on the proper use of seat belts and install seat belts on those pieces of equipment that currently lack them. During the second year of the agreement, the company will fully enforce seat belt use among its employees, as well as hire safety consultants to monitor the company's implementation of its seat belt use program and report the results to OSHA.

In addition to entering into the agreement with Delta, OSHA will address this hazard throughout the airline industry. The agency recently sent a hazard alert letter to airlines across the nation reminding them that they are obligated to comply with applicable seat belt use requirements.

DOL CITES BUSINESSES AFTER 6 DIE AND 2 INJURED IN GRAIN ELEVATOR EXPLOSION

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Bartlett Grain in Atchison, Kan., cited for willful and serious violations by US Labor Department after 6 die, 2 injured in grain elevator explosion
Contractor Kansas Grain Inspection Services also cited
ATCHISON, Kan. — Bartlett Grain Co. L.P. faces five willful and eight serious safety violations cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration following an October 2011 grain elevator explosion in Atchison that killed six workers and left two others hospitalized.

The willful violations include allowing grain dust — which is nine times as explosive as coal dust — to accumulate, using compressed air to remove dust without first shutting down ignition sources, jogging (repeatedly starting and stopping) inside bucket elevators to free legs choked by grain, using electrical equipment inappropriate for the working environment and failing to require employees to use fall protection when working from heights.

"The deaths of these six workers could have been prevented had the grain elevator's operators addressed hazards that are well known in this industry," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "Bartlett Grain's disregard for the law led to a catastrophic accident and heartbreaking tragedy for the workers who were injured or killed, their families and the agricultural community."

The serious violations involve a lack of proper preventive maintenance, certification and lubrication of grain handling equipment; inadequate emergency action plan training for employees and contractors; a lack of employee and contractor training on job hazards; and a housekeeping program that was deficient because it did not prevent grain dust accumulations.
The citations to Bartlett Grain, which is based in Kansas City, Mo., carry $406,000 in proposed fines.

Topeka-based Kansas Grain Inspection Services Inc., a contractor employed by Bartlett Grain, also is being cited for one willful violation involving a lack of fall protection for employees working on the top of rail cars; one serious violation, the lack of a hazard communication program; and one other-than-serious violation, not providing basic advisory information about respirators to employees. These violations carry total proposed penalties of $67,500.

"OSHA standards save lives, but only if companies comply with them," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for occupational safety and health. "Bartlett Grain has shown what happens when basic safety standards are ignored, and this agency simply will not tolerate needless loss of life."

A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

Over the past 35 years, there have been more than 500 explosions in grain handling facilities across the United States that have killed more than 180 people and injured more than 675. Grain dust is the main source of fuel for explosions in grain handling. This dust is highly combustible and can burn or explode if enough becomes airborne or accumulates on a surface and finds an ignition source (such as a hot bearing, overheated motor or misaligned conveyor belt, as well as heat or sparks from welding, cutting and brazing operations). OSHA standards require that both grain dust and ignition sources be controlled in grain elevators to prevent potentially deadly explosions.

Both companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director in Wichita, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR GIVES FURTHER ASSISTANCE TO NORTH CAROLINA VICTIMS OF HURRICANE IRENE

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
US Department of Labor provides additional funding to assist recovery efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene damage from August 2011
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today awarded a National Emergency Grant increment of $375,200 that will fund 200 temporary jobs for eligible workers to continue cleanup and recovery efforts in North Carolina following Hurricane Irene, which struck in August 2011.
“North Carolina’s rural areas have limited public transportation and were severely damaged.  Residents in those areas require assistance with continued removal of debris and restoration to public properties,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Jane Oates. “Today’s grant sends a clear message that displaced families along the North Carolina coast can depend on the federal government to help them restore their communities.”

On Aug. 31, 2011, the Federal Emergency Management Agency declared 37 counties eligible for its Public Assistance Program: Beaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Sampson, Tyrrell, Vance, Warren, Washington, Wayne and Wilson. More information on designated disaster areas in North Carolina is available from FEMA at http://www.fema.gov/news/eventcounties.fema?id=15532.
I
n September 2011, the Labor Department awarded a $2 million grant to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Employment and Training, with $750,000 released initially. Today’s increment brings the total funds awarded to date to $1,125,200.

National Emergency Grants are part of the secretary of labor’s discretionary fund and are awarded based on a state’s ability to meet specific guidelines. For more information, visit http://www.doleta.gov/NEG.