TRADEChamber Predicts Job Losses Unless Congress Acts on Trade The US Chamber of Commerce released a study showing imminent job losses if Congress fails to pass pending free-trade agreements and does not reverse the “Buy American” provision included in the stimulus package. The study, titled “Trade Action – or Inaction: The Cost for American Workers and Companies,” predicts more than 380,000 US jobs will be lost if inaction continues on pending trade agreements with Colombia and South Korea. Another 170,000 jobs will vanish if foreign governments retaliate against the Buy American provision by locking US companies out of their competitive bidding processes. “These losses would likely accelerate if the European Union and Canada implement their trade agreements with South Korea and Colombia,” stated Laura Baughman, president of the Trade Partnership and author of the study. Canada has completed negotiations of its trade pact with Colombia and is awaiting Parliament’s approval. Similarly, the EU and South Korea concluded negotiations on their trade agreement which is expected to become law later this year. Former President Bush signed free-trade pacts with Colombia in November 2006, with Panama in June 2007 and with South Korea in June 2007, but Democrats blocked congressional approval, citing concerns about labor and environmental standards. All three are still pending, but with Congress entrenched in debate to overhaul the health care system, high-ranking Democratic staffers expect little movement on trade until after President Obama delivers a major speech outlining his trade priorities which is likely to occur after disputes on health care subside. Obama was originally expected to announce his trade agenda in August, but raucous town hall meetings on health care forced the Administration to shelve those plans. LEGISLATIONCard Check Rally Gets Sobering News The leading Senate backer of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) candidly told supporters that the bill may be stalled for the rest of the year, even as he pledged to make it a top priority in the next session. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) pledged to use his new post as Chairman of the HELP Committee to pass the measure during this session of Congress. But it remains doubtful Democrats can muster the votes to pass the bill. EnviromentalCombustible Dust – What to Do? When it comes to ensuring worker safety in any industry, there tend to be two major motivators at work for plant managers – mainly avoiding the potential for catastrophe but also preventing the possibility of severe fines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). When both of these risks exist at a plant, action must be taken for the sake of worker safety as well as for the sake of facility finances. The issue of combustible dust presents both of these challenges for a number of industries. Until recently, the specific hazards presented by combustible dusts have been largely overlooked. However, episodes of severe dust explosions as well as the issuance of stiff fines by OSHA as of late have brought the problem of combustible dust to the head of facility agendas. To understand how an industrial facility should address the issue of combustible dust safety, a number of topics need to be considered:
If an industrial plant understands all of these points, then actions can be taken to minimize the likelihood of a catastrophic event and eliminate its exposure to significant
fines from OSHA. (To read the entire article, follow this link http://awpa.org/private/operationsmanagers/combustible-dust-article.pdf).
 American Wire Producers Association |
