Four Democrats are vying for the right to challenge incumbent Cherie Berry, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination. She says her department can improve workplace safety more by cooperating with employers than by imposing stiff fines.
There is nothing wrong with Berry working with employers in a positive fashion providing that workplace safety is not compromised. Based on this article, it would seem that all the Democrats vying for the nod to oppose Berry in November would want to engage in a aggressive relationship with North Carolina businesses and I’m not so certain that’s the best route to take.
As of late February, Anderson had raised about $16,500 from contributors — far more than the other Democrats combined.
She says she would refuse to negotiate with companies cited for the most serious categories of OSHA violations.
If she had her way, she said, she would resurrect an ergonomics standard, requiring employers to address hazards likely to cause sprains, strains and repetitive motion injuries. Berry rescinded North Carolina’s newly enacted ergonomics standard in 2001, soon after taking office.
An ergonomic standard is just another useless mandate that would be imposed on the state’s companies that will do nothing more than can increase the cost of doing business in the state through compliance spending. It will accomplish nothing except lean the state towards a non-business friendly environment. It’s a waste of time. Next…
Donnan, who previously served as director of research and policy for the N.C. Department of Labor, is second in fundraising among the Democrats. As of early March, she had collected about $3,500.
She has been endorsed by the state AFL-CIO and by former state labor commissioner Harry Payne, for whom she worked from 1994 to 2001.
Always beware of a woman with a hyphenated last name and scratch off anyone on the list who is endorsed by the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO runs industry out of state and country; they don’t build it.
Brooks says the state needs to expand its workplace safety investigations. Many residents have told him that OSHA failed to respond to their complaints about safety hazards, he said. He’d also like to increase high-skill training for workers, he says.
There is nothing wrong with Brooks’ positions, although I would like to know how he intends to pay for the high-skill training he calls for. Brooks has a history in North Carolina, though. He has formerly been the Labor Commissioner and lost reelection over a major industrial accident that killed several plant workers in 1991. His opponent that year managed to pin the responsibility on him.
Richardson, who works in Wake County running a machine that turns polyurethane into plastic, said his job equips him to understand the challenges of the state’s workers. “I deal with these issues every day,” he said.
He said his priority is to launch a “literacy campaign” to make North Carolinians aware of their labor rights. The labor department, he said, should find ways to slow production lines if the pace is hurting workers.
No, it shouldn’t. The free market resolve quotas on workers. If the work is too demanding then the workers will find another job that is more to their likely. If a company gets hit with a lot of turnover it will respond in kind by either adjusting the work load or paying a more suitable salary. The state should not be in the business of making this determination.
None of these four impress me.
