DELL, notorious for using labor all over the world (exploitation shipped from country to country) has contracted with UNICOR to recycle their computers (only after they came under fire from environmental advocates for dumping toxic waste).

CBS News posted a story on this (but since it’s from AP, I won’t be linking to those rat bastards at AP). The most important aspect of this piece is that UNICOR pays their inmates who do recycling as much as $1.26 per hour. Okay, they also pay as little as about a quarter of a dollar, but, whatever.

Years ago, 60 minutes did this amazing piece on how UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries) doesn’t have to worry about trademarks and patents and has actually put textile mills in the states out of business.

So, this got me thinking about why UNICOR’s future challenges tend to be an explosion in the prison population. Why have prison populations exploded and why should I care?

Well, you see, we all should care, because, there's a correllation between unemployment and crime.

In a 1987 study of Growth in incarceration among African Americans showed a direct correlation with growth in unemployment among African Americans. In another study, for the Journal of Human Resources, author Ming–Jen Lin correlates a drop in UNION workers with unemployment and an INCREASE in rates of burglary and robbery. From the paper's abstract:

We find a one-percentage-point increase in unemployment would increase property crime by 1.8 percent under the OLS method, but that the elasticity goes up to 4 percent under 2SLS. The larger 2SLS effect has significant policy implications because it explains 30 percent of the property crime change during the 1990s.

Freakin-A. Not only do unionized workers get a "union-premium," but there's a correlation to the drop in unionzation with a rise in crime (coupled with a rise in unemployment).

So, when I saw the latest post on Unbossed (thanks again Shirah) about inmates and UNICOR, it didn’t really surprise me that UNICOR has complaints against it from inmates seeking help with the recycling program’s toxic exposures of inmates. From UNBOSSED (in its entirety):

They're just criminals - so why should we care about how they are treated in The Big House?
In fact, if we can get "Onshore outsourcing at offshore prices" by using prison labor, what's the problem?

As I said in 2007,

It's hard to imagine a creepier government web page than that of the National Security Agency - do not skip intro. Although the NSA kid's page comes close.
This is sock you in the face creepy. But a far creepier federal agency webpage is that of Unicor. What? Never heard of Unicor?

And don't we just know that the bureau of prisons program through UNICOR is just Poisoning Prisoners for Profit and that Life in Prison is a Riot

Well, now the latest, in the sorry saga. Here is the July 16, 2008 letter from NIOSH on this subject:

On November 27, 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received your request for technical assistance in your health and safety investigation of the Federal Prison Industries (UNICOR) electronics recycling program at Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) institutions in Elkton, Ohio; Texarkana, Texas; and Atwater, California. You asked us to assist the United States Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General (USDOJ, OIG) in assessing the existing medical surveillance program for inmates and staff exposed to lead and cadmium during electronics recycling, and to make recommendations for future surveillance.

In addition, you asked us to assess past exposures to lead and cadmium, and to investigate the potential for take home exposure. This interim letter summarizes our findings and provides recommendations to improve the safety and health of the inmates and staff at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Elkton, Ohio. These findings will be included in a final report that will contain findings from the evaluations at all three institutions identified in your request.

As it turns out, monitoring results for past exposures are not available because they just weren't done for the most part or, if performed, they were so badly performed that they are of little use.

Electronics recycling at FCI Elkton appears to have been performed from 1997 until May 2003 without adequate engineering controls, respiratory protection, medical surveillance, or industrial hygiene monitoring. Because of the lack of both biological monitoring and industrial hygiene data, we cannot determine the extent of exposure to lead and cadmium that occurred during that time frame, but descriptions of work tasks from staff and inmates indicate that exposures during that time frame were likely higher than current exposures. The current GBO is a significant improvement, but can be further enhanced to limit exposure to those performing glass breaking, as well as limiting the migration of lead and cadmium from the room into other areas. While some take-home contamination does occur, surface wipe sampling and biological monitoring suggest that take-home contamination does not pose a health threat at this time. Take-home contamination can be further reduced by changes to the GBO, work practices, and improved personal hygiene as recommended below.

We cannot determine the extent of exposure to lead that occurred in the chip recovery process because of the lack of data. Descriptions of work tasks from staff, and a BLL of 5 μg/dL in an inmate 4 months after the process ended indicate that exposure to lead during this process did occur. We found no evidence that actions were taken to prevent exposure to lead at the outset in the chip recovery process and found that no medical surveillance was performed until after the process ended.

Medical surveillance that has been carried out among inmates and staff has not complied with OSHA standards. No medical exams (including physical examinations) are done on inmates; staff receive inconsistent examinations and biological monitoring by their personal physicians; biological monitoring for lead is not done at established standard intervals; and results are not communicated to the inmates.

Inappropriate biological monitoring tests have been done. Records of medical surveillance are not maintained by the employer for the appropriate length of time.

The report makes many recommendations for improvement. I personaly like this one as the most likely to ameliorate the situation:

7. Appoint a union safety and health representative. This individual should be a regular participant on the joint labor-management safety committee that meets quarterly. Since inmates do not have a mechanism for representation on this committee, ensure that they are informed of its proceedings and that they have a way to voice their concerns about and ideas for improving workplace safety and health.

Yep. If you want help getting your workplace conditions improved, get union representations. Not so easy for the prisoners, of course, but maybe they can piggy back on the prison workers' union representation.

After all, contamination for one is probably contamination for all.

But Shirah has only provided the most recent blog posting on UNICOR and their roll in the US. Before Shirah’s most recent posts, there was this one from Ian Urbina, America’s Prison Factories. Where Ian notes that:

Over the years, FPI has grown exponentially, now ranking as the government's thirty-ninth largest contractor -- in no small part due to the quantity and diversity of apparel items it manufactures for the Department of Defense. The company has churned out more than 150,000 Kevlar helmets in the past 24 months, more than $12 million worth. Aside from the battle-dress shirts sewn at Greenville, the company is also a major supplier of men's military undershirts, $1.6 million of which it sold to the Pentagon in 2002. In that year, FPI made close to $3 million fashioning underwear and nightwear for the troops. Inmates also stitch together the vestments donned by military pastors and the gowns cloaking battlefield surgeons. If an item of clothing is torn in combat, it will likely be sent to the prison shop in Edgefield, South Carolina, where it is mended at a cost of $5 per shirt and or pair of trousers. In 2002, 700 prisoners based at FPI laundry facilities located in Florida, Texas and Alabama washed and pressed $3 million worth of military apparel.

Snip

...Out of the 1.3 million pairs of these trousers bought by the Defense Department last year, all but 300,000 were produced by FPI, which means that at least three out of four active-duty soldiers in the region wear pants made by the inmates of the FPI factories in Atlanta and in Beaumont and Feagoville, Texas. These sorts of numbers have earned FPI critics from a range of perspectives. FPI competitors, such as Propper International, point out that they use free labor to make the exact same trousers for the government at $2.39 cheaper per pair. Organized labor questions why the government should buy from a company which depends solely on inmate workers, while paying sub-minimum wages (from 25 cents to $1.15 per hour), skirting workplace safety standards and enjoying exemption from the payroll and Social Security taxes levied on other employers.

Which then brought me over to the UNICOR site where there are no pictures of inmates in prison garb or looking as if they're behind bars or even guards, it's pretty eerie. But I found this statement from their site more eerie and way more creepy:

The Future Challenge
The challenge for FPI is to remain financially self-sufficient while providing enough work for an increasing number of inmates. The Federal inmate population has tripled over the last 10 years, and it is projected to continue growing for the foreseeable future. In order for the Bureau of Prisons to successfully manage the increased number of inmates, FPI will have to create jobs for these additional inmates.

FPI's influence on the successful management of Federal prisons is no secret; it has been a matter of public policy for over six decades. Policymakers have long recognized that increasing the number of incarcerated individuals means increasing the number of prisons and, in turn, increasing the size of FPI in order to improve both the management of the prisons and an inmate's chances of success upon release. As we begin the next decade, continued support of Federal Prison Industries will pay important dividends for the country.

Creepy, huh?

Thanks Shirah for making me think about this.

Since I was already thinking, I decided to put the pieces together for me. I looked at the numerous reports linking crime rates, incarceration and unemployment and thought about how it is possible that it’s okay for UNICOR to pay inmates all of $1 (ish) an hour (if even that much) to produce things that American manufactures had been producing and STILL produce. I'm just not sure why this is acceptable anymore.

To me, it’s almost as if the US Government is in the business of creating inmates to work for almost nothing, driving American manufacturing into the ground and thereby, creating new inmates.

Of course, my understanding of this issue, isn’t science, I just like to read. And sometimes, things strike me. This issue, doesn’t just strike me, it makes me sick.

Honestly, this just really sucks.

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I'm starting to feel as if all I do now is post other people's stuff, but this post on Unbossed by Shirah is just too good not to post!!

That's the theme of a long overdue campaign to reclaim the dignity of public service.
One of the most effective parts of the Grover-Norquist-Drown-Government-in-a-bathtub campaign has been to demean public employees and the dignity and importance of the work they do.

If you're ready to side with the GNDGIAB view, let me just say one acronym: CDC. The Centers for Disease Control play a critical role in keeping us safe, in tracking diseases.

Or how about NOAA - the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a broad mission to keep us safe.

From daily weather forecasts, severe storm warnings and climate monitoring to fisheries management, coastal restoration and supporting marine commerce, NOAA’s products and services support economic vitality and affect more than one-third of America’s gross domestic product. NOAA’s dedicated scientists use cutting-edge research and high-tech instrumentation to provide citizens, planners, emergency managers and other decision makers with reliable information they need when they need it.

Or how about those National Parks - jewels that are protected and maintained by federal employees of the National Park Service.

And then there is the much maligned US Postal Service that for pocket change carries mail to all parts of the US. And I have to say in my experience with amazing accuracy.

So, call me crazy, but I am glad that at last someone is taking on the idea that government employees are the dregs. The campaign is by the National Treasury Employees Union and is called "They Work for Us".

They print our nation’s money; preserve our national parks, historic sites and other evidence of our history and heritage; they work hard in pursuit of a healthier America and a nation in which no one goes hungry; they work every day to find ways for us to become energy independent; they help ensure a viable agricultural industry; they strive to make certain that our air and water are clean and healthful; they make sure our airwaves are used in the public interest; they help protect our democracy by letting us know who contributes to candidates for federal office; they collect the taxes that make all of this possible—and they work to ensure that everyone pays his or her fair share.

All that is just the beginning of the list of tasks these dedicated and talented public servants undertake each day in your name and in your service. These men and women make up the most diverse, best educated workforce in America, and they do it all for you, every day.

The federal workforce, which provides so many vital services to America’s taxpayers, is at the beginning of a retirement wave that is predicted to become a tsunami. About 60% of current federal workers—and 90% of civilian senior government executives—will be eligible to retire in the next ten years. We need to preserve their expertise and attract new workers to a federal career.

It’s easy to take for granted the work that federal employees do. But they ought not to be overlooked, because there is a straight line linking their commitment to excellence, expertise and efforts to your life and that of your family.

The stereotype of government as an army of file clerks is a fallacy. At the federal level, it is much more likely to be a group of scientists searching for a cure for cancer or other diseases; a group of experts on all kinds of merchandise protecting the public from counterfeit products; a group of agricultural inspectors working to keep harmful pests from threatening our food supply; a group of patent attorneys helping foster the inventive climate so vital to our economic success; a group of experts in money and investing ensuring the integrity of our financial markets—and so many more doing so much more.

You surely will recognize federal employees in another way, too—as full-fledged members of your community, taking part in so many familiar neighborhood activities like helping keep a park clean or coaching a softball team. They do it for the same reasons you do—they love their community and their country and are happy being an integral part of both. And it is that joy and sense of fulfillment from working in the service of others that led them to choose the federal workplace.
America’s federal workers. They truly do work for U. S.

More at the website.

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I'm a huge fan of the stuff that Unbossed does, especially the stuff that Shirah is able to pull out of GAO reports and other legal documents that I'm either too lazy to sift through or too bored to try. Today, Shirah decided to go out on a limb and call Labor for not regulating wages and hours like they're supposed to. Here's a teaser from Shirah at Unbossed:

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division is charged with collecting underpaid and unpaid wages and enforcing violations of the minimum wage and overtime laws (plus prohibitions on child labor). In addition to collecting wages owed, the WHD has the power to prosecute employers in court and to assess and collect penalties from employers as well as other sanctions.

According to a new GAO study that is so not how itis done in this administration. The way it now works is the employer fails to pay wages, admits it wasn't paying, says it doesn't have th emoney to pay, and the WHD tells the law violating employer, "Aw, Gee! Sorry to Bother You." And then the WHD tells the victim to find a lawyer and sue.

GAO identified case studies that show WHD inadequately investigated complaints from low-wage and minimum wage workers alleging that employers failed to pay the federal minimum wage, required overtime, and failed to pay employees their last paychecks. Examples of inadequate WHD responses to complaints included instances where WHD inappropriately rejected complaints, failed to adequately investigate complaints, or neglected to investigate until it was too late. The table below provides examples of several case studies.

Here are some examples from the new GAO study. GAO found that there has been:

(1) a decrease in enforcement activities at WHD amidst a decrease in investigative staff,

(2) WHD’s failure to make effective use of its current compliance tools and strategies, and

(3) the agency’s inability to demonstrate performance results.

The stories of the people hurt by these failues are clear examples of harming the least among us.

Night attendant at assisted living facility/ Ohio

• A homeless woman receiving free room and board while working as a night attendant at a nursing home alleged her employer had failed to pay her wages for an entire year.

• According to WHD, the employer admitted it had failed to pay any wages to the night attendant and considered the room and board to be pay, but stated it did not have any money to pay the back wages.

• WHD dropped the case and advised the night attendant of her right to file a private lawsuit.

• The employer was still in business as of June 2008.

Pool maintenance technician/ Florida

Last paycheck – minimum wage

• Pool maintenance technician alleged that he did not receive his final paycheck from his employer.

• Employer admitted to the WHD investigator that they did not pay the employee’s last paycheck but refused to pay employee.

• WHD dropped case and advised the worker of his right to file a private lawsuit.

High tail it on over to Unbossed for the rest of Shirah's anlysis. It's worth the time. Oh and as per usual, Shame On Elaine.

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I wandered over to Unbossed again and found something interesting, a listing of their previous reports on the Mine disaster and a bunch of linky goodness to a number of other resources as well.

More on the Crandall Canyon Mine Disaster
unbossed has had many reports on the August 6, 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. The latest news is Rep. George Miller's call for indictments.

Here are prior stories related to the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster. Feel free to skip them to get to the story here.

February 02, 2008 Mine Safety - The Report of the Crandall Canyon Mine Commission
http://www.unbossed.com/index.php?itemid=1938

February 25, 2008 Unsafe at Any Mine
http://www.unbossed.com/index.php?itemid=1970

November 23, 2007 A Stickler - But Not a Stickler for Mine Safety II
http://www.unbossed.com/index.php?itemid=1855

March 09, 2008 Crandall Canyon Mine: "Murray Energy, disregarded dangerous conditions at the mine"
http://www.unbossed.com/index.php?itemid=1995

Of the events and the committee's investigation, Rep. George Miller states:

On August 6, 2007, a section of the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah became the site of the worst coal mining tragedy of 2007. Pillars of coal supporting a roof burst, sending coal flying and creating enough force to register a 3.9 on the Richter scale. Rubble blocked every exit, entombing six miners somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 feet underground. Three courageous rescuers who attempted to reach them also died in the rescue effort.

The Committee launched an investigation immediately after the disaster, finding it likely that the tragedy was the result of a flawed plan for conducting retreat mining in the area of the mine where the deaths occurred.

In this letter, Rep. George Miller asks Attorney General Mukasey to investigate a cover of conditions up by Laine Adair. The letter recounts events and the reasons for the referral. It also includes references to support each claim.

You can find an overview of events in a memorandum from Miller here.

All of these documents are available from links at this website.

And more Linky goodness from Unbossed
MSHA
mining,
crandall-canyon,
work,
labor,
health,
safety,

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Found this on Unbossed and Shirah agreed to let me cross post it!!

Monday, April 28, 2008
The New Risky Pension Investment Strategy
For workers lucky enough to still have defined benefit pensions, PBGC, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is their protection from destitution in old age. Take the 1600 former employees of the now bankrupt Austin Co. in Cleveland, Ohio. Because the PBGC stepped in, those employees will get pensions.

But the PBGC can't do this forever, and it is especially challenged in this financial climate. So you can imagine that it might be tempted to make high-return, high-risk investments. And you'd be right.

That is exactly the message in an opinion letter from Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office to Congressman George Miller, Chairman, Committee on Education and Labor, last Thursday, April 24, 2008. link

According to the CBO, at the end of 2007, PBGC reported that its current liabilities for distressed pensions exceeded the value of its current assets by an estimated $14 billion. The PBGC's solution is to change the mix of its portfolio to include riskier investments.

Prior to February of this year, PBGC’s investment strategy was to hold about 75 percent of its portfolio in bonds, with the duration of those assets matched to the corporation’s obligations. The remainder of the portfolio was invested in equities. PBGC’s new strategy reduces to 45 percent its allocation to fixed-income assets, in order to increase the proportion devoted to equities (45 percent) and to further diversify into alternative asset classes (10 percent).

The change in investment strategy represents an effort on the part of PBGC to increase the expected returns on its assets and to diminish the likelihood that taxpayers will be called on to cover some of its liabilities. The new strategy is likely to produce higher returns, on average, over the long run. But the new strategy also increases the risk that PBGC will not have sufficient assets to cover retirees’ benefit payments when the economy and financial markets are weak. By investing a greater share of its assets in risky securities, PBGC is more likely to experience a decline in the value of its portfolio during an economic downturn—the point at which it is most
likely to have to assume responsibility for a larger number of underfunded pension plans. If interest rates fall at the same time that the overall economy and financial markets decline, the present value of benefit obligations will increase, and the pension plans likely to be assumed by PBGC will be even more underfunded as a result.
. . .
Although increased investment in risky securities will likely raise the expected rate of return, it also entails a greater downside risk. That risk is the probability that the value of PBGC’s assets will be below the amount necessary to meet benefit obligations as they come due, imposing on taxpayers a potential burden that increases as the shortfall grows larger.

Well, as the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition say:

Rule 62 The risker the road, the greater the profit.

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So, I was over at Unbossed today and noticed that both the NLRB and SBA are presenting new proposed rules or rule changes.

From Unbossed:

This is your chance to weigh in on an issue of critical importance

Comments do not have to be legalistic. They can be brief. To be effective, though, they should be directed to issues in this proposal.

Full details are provided below.

Significance of the proposed changes

So what does this all mean? I have no inside knowledge of what is going on, but it seems that the NLRB has decided to respond to several complaints.

1. NLRB elections take too long. As the statistics from FY2006 show, the NLRB election process is usually over in about a month, and over 92% are over within two months.

The real delay comes later when challenges or objections are filed to those who voted or to the conduct of the election. This holds up certification of the election, sometimes ballot counts, and the issuance of a certification. There has to be an investigation and then if there is sufficient evidence of a problem a hearing. The employer can refuse to bargain and then set in motion a process that can involve litigation through the courts of appeals. This is where the real delay comes in.

The changes make most of these delaying moves impossible. It also provides that the Regional Director's decision is final. An employer who refused to bargain after signing such an election agreement would have no grounds to do so.

2. The key issue, therefore, would be how to handle a refusal to bargain. This is the weak point. The NLRB currently needs to take a charge of bad faith bargaining up to the courts of appeals just to get an enforceable order. Congress failed to give the Board that authority, hence the need for the lengthy appeals. While the proposed changes are helpful, until this issue, we may continue to see delays.

Please drop a note in the mail to the NLRB

DATES: All written comments must be received on or before March 27, 2008.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be sent to the Office of the Executive Secretary, National Labor Relations Board, 1099 14th Street, NW., Room 11600, Washington, DC 20570-0001. The comments should be filed in eight copies, double spaced on 8\1/2\-by-11 inch paper and shall be printed or otherwise legibly duplicated.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lester A. Heltzer, Executive Secretary, Telephone (202) 273-1067, e-mail address Lester.Heltzer[at]nlrb[dot]gov.

Now, for SBA's proposals for other agencies in relation to small businesses...and here are my top favorites:

* Flexibility for Community Drinking Water Systems
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA should consider expanding the ways for small communities to qualify to meet alternative drinking water standards, provided that the alternative standards are protective of human health and are approved by state authorities.

* Simplify the Rules for Recycling Solid Waste
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA should simplify the rules for recycling useful materials that, because of their current classification, must be handled, transported, and disposed of as hazardous wastes.

Fascinating rule choices, huh?

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