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"Our Godfathers" They Ain't.....
Just about every piece of anti-union propaganda put out by the
casinos lately promotes the argument that we, the dealers should
reject the union and trust our fate to the wisdom and good
judgment of our employers. They say the union does not know the
gaming industry and they do. Well, if what they have shown us so
far is any indication, maybe they know it too well.
I say no to their argument! They have had
their shot and they blew it. Now it is our turn to choose!
Do they think we forgot that our wages have
been frozen at minimum wage levels for a dozen years or more?
Do they think we forgot our fear of being fired
unjustly at the whim of some uncaring manager?
Do they think we forgot that they raid our toke
box to subsidize non-dealers?
Do they think we do not remember the dealers
kept on the extra board for a year or more, without medical
insurance and other fringes?
Do they think we did not hear of terminated
dealers who were denied unemployment insurance because, "they
fired themselves?"
Do they think that when they fought against a
workman's comp claim for a work-related injury like carpal tunnel
or RMS, we would just shrug our shoulders and forget about this
injustice?
I think not. Dealers have a long memory.
Read the following story, it may help you
decide:
by
Jack Lipsman
Friday, November 17, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Casinos
to fight new OSHA rules
Polls
expected to quash measure
By
TONY BATT
lasvegas.com GAMING WIRE
WASHINGTON -- The casino industry is challenging a proposed new
federal regulation intended to require employers to provide
medical attention and health benefits to dealers and other workers
who say they suffer from repetitive stress injuries incurred on
the job.
The regulation issued Monday by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration is set to become law Jan. 16. But the casino
industry is banking on the political clout of congressional
leaders to quash the regulation.
"I'd be amazed if Congress does not step in to block this
regulation before Jan. 16," said Wayne Mehl, a Washington
lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association. "There is strong
opposition by many in Congress, including (House Majority Whip)
Tom DeLay (R-Texas). What kind of practical effects it would have
on the (gaming) industry, I don't know."
The federal regulation would require 1.6 million employers to
limit the repetitive motion injuries of an estimated 18 million
workers, who perform repetitive functions such as typing, working
on an assembly line, sliding groceries past scanners or lifting
heavy loads.
Another 300,000 businesses annually would have to act the first
time a worker suffered a job-related repetitive stress disorder
that required medical treatment, reassignment to light duty or
time off.
"If workers get numbness from card dealing or carrying
materials, they often don't associate it with what goes on at
work," said OSHA ergonomist Gary Orr. No figures were
available Thursday detailing the scope and estimated cost of the
regulation for Nevada companies.
In announcing the regulatory effort, Assistant Secretary of Labor
Charles Jeffress said repetitive stress injuries constitute the
No. 1 workplace injury in America. Culinary Local 226 Staff
Director D. Taylor said Thursday he has not seen the OSHA
proposal, but his union, the dominant union along the Strip, has
supported regulations to prevent repetitive motion injuries.
"This obviously would be helping workers, but it also would
be helping the companies, too," Taylor said. The Nevada
Resort Association's Mehl compared the ergonomics standard to an
unsuccessful effort in 1994 by OSHA to prohibit smoking in the
workplace.
At the time, the casino industry complained that the anti-smoking
proposal would have required casinos to construct or designate
separate areas for smoking while imposing devastating costs.
The Clinton administration abandoned the anti-smoking proposal
after receiving a flood of 100,000 letters, including a dozen
death threats to the Department of Labor. "It's more than a
coincidence that this (ergonomics) standard came out as the
(Clinton) administration is on its way out," Mehl said.
The same day the regulation was introduced, the US Chamber of
Commerce filed a lawsuit in federal court to block its
enforcement. OSHA has characterized the regulation as a
final ergonomics standard for carpal tunnel syndrome and other
muscoskeletal disorders.
The projected cost to businesses for complying with the new
regulation will be $4.5 billion during the next 10 years,
according to OSHA. Business groups place the price tag
considerably higher -- $14 billion to $80 billion a year.
Business will be required by Oct. 14 to provide information to
workers about repetitive stress injuries. Opposition by
Republican leaders against the protective standard is so strong
that it led to the collapse of a bipartisan agreement on one of
this year's last remaining spending bills on Oct. 30.
According to that deal, OSHA would have been allowed to issue its
final regulation on schedule, but the new president would have had
the option until June 1 of stopping the rule from taking effect.
*
* *
This
story was located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2000/Nov-17-Fri-2000/business/14845507.html
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