US Rep. Martha Roby, R-AL02, has vowed to get to the bottom of allegations that union officials are accompanying federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors during visits to non-unionized businesses.
OSHA’s stated purpose is “to assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and assistance.”
According to an article by Patrick Howley of The Daily Caller, when OSHA, which is a division of the Obama Administration’s Labor Department, receives a report of a rules violation at a non-union company, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) representatives will often come along with them to investigate. Their hope, presumably, is that they will be able to influence workers to unionize in response to whatever workplace violations are found.
“This raised a red flag with me,” Roby said in a Facebook post Monday. “If workers wish to unionize, they have a right to. They also have a right not to be coerced into unionizing, which is why OSHA inspectors teaming up with labor reps is alarming. I’m keeping an eye on this issue, and I’ll let you know what develops.”
Roby linked to Howley’s Daily Caller article, which detailed numerous instances of union officials using their OSHA connections to get into non-union businesses.
“Union representatives from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) are now accompanying federal government safety inspectors on site visits to review labor complaints at nonunion private businesses,” Howley wrote. “SEIU and other labor unions can accompany the government inspectors on site visits due to a quiet and contested Obama administration rule clarification issued last year in response to a request from a union representative.”
One of Rep. Roby’s oversight areas on the House Appropriations Committee is the Labor Department. A spokesperson for Roby told Yellowhammer News that they are researching the issue and would likely have more to say in the coming days.
What do you think about union officials teaming up with Obama Administration officials to infiltrate non-union businesses? Let us know in the comments below, or by tweeting @YHPolitics.
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