Monday, November 25, 1996
FAIRNESS:
Occupational Safety and Heath Act applies to only ‘normal’
businesses, not CongressBy Dr. Richard L. Lesher
Two years ago, Labor Secretary Robert Reich personally appeared
at a Dayton Tire Company plant in Oklahoma to announce a proposed
$7.5 million penalty against the company for alleged violations of
the Occupational Safety and Health Act, along with a court order
temporarily shutting the plant down and putting 1,100 Oklahomans
out of work because of an alleged "imminent danger."
As is customary practice with OSHA inspections, Reich did not
let the company know he was coming, though the international
president of the union representing the company’s workers was
notified ahead of time and was present. The result was a major
media "event" which enabled the union, backed by the U.S.
government, to besmirch the company as insensitive to the safety of
its employees. Predictably, Reich used the occasion to proclaim his
and the Clinton administration’s solidarity with organized
labor.
Not surprisingly. the claim of an "imminent danger" at the
Dayton plant proved to be bogus. The same federal judge who had
issued the order shutting down the plant, at the request of
Secretary Reich, lifted it 24 hours later, but not before the union
gave the company a black eye.
Now Congress itself is vulnerable to surprise OSHA inspections.
Thanks to the Congressional Accountability Act enacted by the 104th
Congress, the same federal labor laws that business must contend
with apply to the people who write the laws. The idea is that once
it is on the receiving end of federal regulation, Congress will
have more sympathy for what business goes through. Presumably, this
experience will enable our legislators to write better laws in the
future.
But while I applaud the Congressional Accountability Act and
believe it will accomplish some good, it is already clear that the
federal regulators are treating Congress with kid gloves that
business people would find laughable. With regard to the Fair Labor
Standards Act, for example, Congress has given itself great
flexibility in determining which employees are eligible for
overtime, and which are not. Anyone whose duties fall anywhere
close to the managerial or administrative categories is exempt.
What would happen if business people shared such independence in
interpreting the law to suit their own particular situations?
Similarly, there is little likelihood that OSHA inspectors will
begin appearing in congressional offices unannounced ordering
legislators to drop what they’re doing to accompany the inspection,
and to designate certain key employees to spend their time with the
inspectors instead of doing their jobs. Such inspections will be
announced well in advance and scheduled to accommodate the
legislators’ busy schedule.
Nor is there much chance Secretary of Labor Reich will suddenly
loom into view, accompanied by union bosses and TV cameras,
shutting down legislative business with court orders based upon
fraudulent claims of "imminent danger" and branding members of
Congress indifferent to the health and safety of employees.
All of which is just too bad. OSHA is always an annoyance for
business, and its nit-picking enforcement rarely has any direct
relationship to safety and health. But it is when OSHA is being
used to promote a union’s agenda that the real sting of its
arbitrary power is felt. Regrettably, the members of Congress will
never get to know the real OSHA.
Dr. Richard L. Lesher is President of the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce.