NEW YORK – A Long Island-based petroleum barge company and three former and current management officials have paid $375,000 in restitution to the brother of one of two seamen killed in a barge explosion off the coast of Texas. The seaman alleged the company fired him for cooperating with investigators and reporting safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard. The explosion occurred on Oct. 20, 2017, off Port Aransas aboard the Buster Bouchard/B. No. 255.

In the week ending March 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 719,000, an increase of 61,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised down by 26,000 from 684,000 to 658,000. The 4-week moving average was 719,000, a decrease of 10,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since March 14, 2020 when it was 225,500. The previous week's average was revised down by 6,500 from 736,000 to 729,500.

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh issued the following statement after President Biden announced the American Jobs Plan, a comprehensive infrastructure package that will create millions of good-paying jobs and make America more competitive:

“President Biden’s American Jobs Plan is a historic investment in the working people of America. It will create millions of good paying, family sustaining jobs that rebuild the middle class by empowering our workers to build America’s future.

KALAMAZOO, MI – Zeigler Auto Group’s sales may place it among the leading auto dealerships nationwide, but a recent federal investigation found sales consultants’ commissions often failed to meet minimum wage requirements at 13 Michigan, Indiana and Illinois locations.

NEW YORK – A Long Island superstructure, foundation and concrete company will pay $135,612 in penalties stemming from the collapse of an approximately 30-foot deep trench in Oyster Bay that led to the deaths of two workers.

MANCHESTER, NH – The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered $245,351 in back wages for 117 employees of a greenhouse tomato grower in Madison, Maine, that failed to comply with federal laws governing wages and working conditions for agricultural temporary guest workers, U.S. workers and workers in corresponding employment.

ARLINGTON, VA – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced the availability of $10,537,000 in state grant funding to provide training and retraining of miners and mine operators working at surface and underground coal and metal and nonmetal mines. The training is federally mandated.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration announced today the availability of up to $1 million to fund grants to support education and training to help mine workers identify, avoid and prevent unsafe working conditions.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Office of Labor-Management Standards will not enforce its final rule on “Labor Organization Annual Financial Reports For Trusts In Which A Labor Organization Is Interested, Form T-1” until one year after the date a labor organization’s first Form T-1 is due.

OXFORD, OH – Without proper safety measures taken, gases and or vapors in a confined space may overcome a worker or a lack of oxygen may suffocate them. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that from 2011-2018, there were 1,030 confined space-related workers deaths.

HOUSTON – In January 2019, a worker at a Holiday Inn Express & Suites hotel in Waller alerted their employer that exposure to carbon monoxide made them ill and asked the employer to call an ambulance. In addition to refusing the worker’s request, the employer allegedly threatened to terminate the employee. After going to the hospital, the worker was terminated.

RIPON, WI – A forklift struck and seriously injured a 60-year-old seasonal employee as she walked toward a pallet to label products for shipping at a Ripon facility where vegetables are canned for Libby’s and several other brands.

WASHINGTON, DC – A lo largo de la pandemia, los trabajadores agrícolas se han mantenido en el trabajo en todo el país a pesar de las exposiciones potenciales, para alimentar a los estadounidenses y apoyar las exportaciones estadounidenses. Mientras el Departamento de Trabajo de los EE.

WASHINGTON, DC – Throughout the pandemic, farmworkers have remained on the job throughout the nation despite potential exposures to feed Americans and support U.S. exports. As the U.S.

BRIDGETON, MO – After a production operator at a carbon fiber manufacturer brought various safety concerns to management, he approached a third-party auditor reviewing operations at the company’s St. Peters facility with his concerns. The next day, his employer suspended him.

In the week ending March 20, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 684,000, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 11,000 from 770,000 to 781,000. The 4-week moving average was 736,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 2,750 from 746,250 to 749,000.

FARGO, ND – A North Dakota seed production company has committed to changing its safety procedures and training following a worker’s severe and life-altering injury in 2020.

GULF BREEZE, FL – For low-wage earners, every minute spent working equals much-needed income. When employers fail to account for all the hours employees work, as was the case with a Gulf Breeze restaurant, these workers find it more difficult to provide for themselves and their families.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced two Notices of Proposed Rulemaking related to tipped workers as the effective date approaches for the “Tip Regulations Under the Fair Labor Standards Act” final rule, published in December 2020.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Senate voted, on a bipartisan basis, to confirm Marty J. Walsh as the 29th Secretary of Labor.

“I am incredibly honored and privileged to serve as the United States’ next Secretary of Labor. I am grateful for the bipartisan support of members of the Senate, and I want to thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for their confidence in my ability to lead the Department of Labor during such a critical time in our nation’s history.