Illegal activities of Southern Bosses during the weeks between Friday, November 28, and Friday, December 5
Alabama Killers
ALdotcom has an excellent piece analyzing the last decade of data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They counted “more than 3,600 severe injuries and deaths at nearly 2,000 Alabama employers over the last decade” and found that “poultry companies and manufacturing plants are among the employers with the most reported injuries and deaths, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration.” Over 300 of those were deaths. Jefferson county saw the most deaths at nearly 50.
You can read the rest of the analysis here:
Georgia Killers
U.S. Department of Labor safety investigators have determined that an engineering and construction company exposed workers to safety hazards after an investigation into a worker fatality at the Hanwa Q Cells Georgia Inc. plant in White, Georgia.
OSHA issued Hyoungwon E&C America Inc. a citation with a serious violation under the Occupational Safety and Health Act’s general duty clause for failing to protect employees against asphyxiation hazards related to nitrogen gas and another serious violation for not providing effective information and training on hazards related to nitrogen gas and oxygen-deficient atmospheres. The employer faces $20,522 in proposed penalties.
Because of the launch of the recent Recall Injustice at Hyundai-Kia campaign, I wondered if this company was a supplier for Hyundai-Kia. When you look up Hyoungwon E&C America Inc. the first result is hyoungwon.com, but they identify themselves as “Hyoungwon ENG Co., Ltd.” It is probably the same company, since their linkedin shows the same locations mentioned in the site I linked earlier (TX and GA), and Korea. Their Linkedin identifies the company as “Hyoungwon ENG USA & E&C AMERICA.” They say they are “becoming” a “professional construction company recognized for our technology and business management capabilities.” Not an automotive parts supplier.
While Hyoungwon E&C America Inc. is the entity that was fined, the death took place in a Hanwa Q Cells Georgia Inc. plant. When you search Hanwa Q Cells Georgia Inc. you get this website. It looks like they primarily make solar panels. So also probably not a Hyundai Kia supplier.
There might be a connection in that Hyoungwon could have construction projects with Hyundai-Kia but I couldn’t find evidence of that. If anyone reading this might have any information about connections between Hyoungwon and Hyundai-Kia, please reach out!
OSHA Press Release: https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/osha20251204
West Virginia Discriminators
Wrightway Ready-Mix, LLC, and Wright Concrete & Construction, Inc., related concrete-construction companies operating in Delbarton, West Virginia, unlawfully questioned a job applicant about using methadone as part of medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction and then refused to hire him because of his answer, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, when a job applicant went to a Wrightway facility in Delbarton to apply and interview for a laborer position, the hiring manager asked him what medications he was currently taking. The job applicant said he was taking methadone; the hiring manager then told the job applicant that Wrightway would not hire him due to a longstanding company policy prohibiting employment of workers who take methadone. When the job applicant then spoke with the onsite head of human resources, she affirmed that Wrightway would not hire him because of its policy of refusing to hire workers who take methadone, according to the suit.
Because of these policies and practices, the EEOC’s lawsuit charged that Wrightway has excluded a class of workers from employment in violation of federal law.
The type of conduct alleged in the EEOC’s complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against job applicants and employees on the basis of disability. The ADA also prohibits an employer from asking job applicants for information which may reveal the existence, nature or severity of a disability before the employer has made an offer of employment. The ADA further prohibits a covered employer from implementing a qualification standard or other selection criteria to screen out or tend to screen out workers with disabilities unless the qualification standard or other selection criteria are job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
EEOC Press Release: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-wrightway-ready-mix-and-wright-concrete-construction-disability-discrimination
Union Busters
Brought to you by LaborLab: The nation’s leading watchdog standing with working families to stop employer coercion and intimidation. Visit www.laborlab.us for more info.
Here are the new filings from this week:
- ATI Materials (TX) hired Cummings Group for $3,750/day
- Cassia Healthcare – Chapel View Health Care Center (MN) hired Government Resources Consultants of America
As a reminder, due to a lack of enforcement, some labor relations consultants may disregard the law and fail to report their activities to the U.S. Department of Labor. Therefore, it’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS).
It’s crucial for organizers and workers to report suspected “persuader” activity to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS). You can reach them via email at OLMS-Public@dol.gov, by calling (202) 693-0123, or by contacting your nearest OLMS District Office.
For assistance, please contact LaborLab at contact@laborlab.us.