OSHA’s Plus One? A Union Rep

There is something the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does called a walkaround.

Typically, this has involved an employee calling OSHA, saying there was a problem at work, and OSHA sending someone to inspect.  The employer could have someone walkaround with the inspector or, in some cases, OSHA could bring an expert with to be extra careful (stamping machine cutting off finger after finger? Bring someone who really knows stamping machines.)

At union shops or worksites, the shop steward could possibly wander around with OSHA as well.

But last year OSHA decided to issue a new rule to change things up a bit, change things up in a way that will be of great service to Big Labor.  Before heading out to a non-union jobsite OSHA will be able to make a call and bring a union rep with them to accompany them as they walkaround.

This is important for a few reasons. First, a union rep would not typically be allowed to wander around without permission on other people’s (the business owner) property introducing themselves to workers. Private property means private property.

Under this rule, the union gets a way to access the workplace without having to ask for permission.

Second, that fact that the union rep is there with a government employee is mind-blowing in its implications, even explications. OSHA bringing a union person is clearly an endorsement of the union, no matter that certain people say it really isn’t.

For example:  you neighbor is being way loud way late and you go and knock on the door – might work, might not.

But imagine you have a cop with you when you knock on the door?  That stereo is getting turned down (of course, that usually happens 11 seconds into a song you actually wouldn’t mind hearing, but longer term it’s a good thing.)

Third, the walkaround gives the union rep the perfect opportunity to spy on the workplace which makes later efforts to unionize the workplace much easier by having all of that info.  The “hey join us!” pitch can be tailor-made for the worksite with that info, info they could not otherwise get.

“This walkaround is a workaround” for the unions, said Michael Lotito, Co-Chair of the Workplace Policy Institute in San Francisco.

Lotito the new rule is yet another step in President Joe Biden’s quest to become the most “union friendly” president of all time.

“This is a sheer power play,” said Lotito, adding that it will be challenged in court.

This rule, coming from Julie Su’s Department of Labor, should not be a surprise.  Su – still acting Secretary of Labor nearly a year after being nominated – has already issued rules to gut the gig economy and issued other devastating strictures and regulations designed to boost the power of Big Labor.

Reminder:  Su was in charge of the California unemployment agency as it lost between $32 and 40 billion dollars to fraud, something she could have prevented about 90% of if she acted more quickly…or even just plain acted.

Essentially since OSHA’s founding, the agency calling a union rep to come with ha not been permitted.  During part of the Obama presidency, the practice was briefly permitted.  And it was every bit as bad as you could imagine.

For example, wrote Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who chairs the Committee on Education and the Workforce which oversees the Labor Department, “representatives from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) used the OSHA inspection process to target a non-union, locally owned and operated cleaning service company, Professional Janitorial Service (PJS), which had long been subject to union organizing campaigns, according to legal filings. Professional Janitorial Service (PJS), which had long been subject to union organizing campaigns, according to legal filings. Despite the company having never received a safety and health violation before, SEIU officials with no safety experience showed up with (OSHA inspectors) at four separate PJS facilities within five months…”

Last year, Foxx said the changes have “absolutely nothing to do with keeping workers safe. OSHA giving the green light to union operatives and activists to infiltrate non-union worksites during safety inspection walkarounds is blatantly intended to give unions access to employer private property and aid in organizing efforts. The Biden DOL would do well to respect the autonomy of the private sector and not aid hostile takeover attempts by union cronies.”

This week, Foxx sent another letter to the Labor Department, asking them to provide further information and drop the regulation immediately:

“The proposed walkaround rule puts politics first by promoting Big Labor’s interests, interferes in labor-management relations, increases costs, puts union bosses ahead of workers, and overturns longstanding regulations.  The DOL should stop putting its political goal of promoting unionization at all costs ahead of keeping workers safe.”

Foxx added that there is no factual basis for the proposed changes.

OSHA, said Foxx, “has no data or information regarding the use of third-party representatives under its current regulations suggests that it does not have a quantitative understanding of the facts surrounding its proposed rule and whether it would improve workplace safety, as the proposed rule purports to do.”

A Department of Labor spokesman said that “Employee involvement is essential for ensuring thorough and effective inspections, and this proposal aims to make workplaces safer by ensuring that employees may select a third party who has knowledge or skills that will aid the inspection.”

The final rule is under review by the federal Office of Management and Budget and could be put in regulatory place within a few months.