June 27, 2024

US Department of Labor awards $600K in incremental funding to continue employment, training services for workers displaced by QVC workplace fire

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $600,000 to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions to continue employment and training services for workers dislocated by layoffs in 10 counties after a fire led to the closure of the QVC Rocky Mount Inc.’s distribution center in December 2021.

June 27, 2024

US Department of Labor awards more than $57M in grants to help homeless, at-risk veterans re-enter workforce

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $57 million in grants to support programs that help veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness overcome barriers to the workforce and find meaningful employment.

June 27, 2024

Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

In the week ending June 22, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 233,000, a decrease of 6,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 238,000 to 239,000. The 4-week moving average was 236,000, an increase of 3,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 232,750 to 233,000.

June 26, 2024

Department of Labor cites Arcadia labor contractor after farmworker suffers fatal illness while harvesting oranges with heat index over 90

ARCADIA, FL – A federal workplace safety investigation found a Florida labor contractor could have prevented the fatal illness of a 41-year-old worker who collapsed while harvesting oranges at Alico Farms in December 2023 by taking required steps to protect employees from hazards associated with high temperatures. 

June 26, 2024

Departamento de Trabajo recupera casi $840K para empleados de empresas de almacenes y logística en San Diego; algunos recibían menos de $3 por hora

SAN DIEGO, CA – Desde 2021, el Departamento de Trabajo de EE.UU. ha observado un preocupante aumento de robo de salarios por parte de almacenes y empresas de transporte de carga y logística que operan en la zona de la frontera con México. Esta tendencia se ha visto reflejada en tres investigaciones recientes en San Diego que han resultado en la recuperaron de casi $840.000 dólares para 32 empleados.

June 26, 2024

US Department of Labor recovers nearly $840K from San Diego warehouse, logistics companies after probe finds some workers paid less than $3 per hour

SAN DIEGO, CA – Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a troubling increase in wage theft by customs brokers and freight-forwarding and logistics companies operating near the Mexican border, a trend reflected in three recent investigations in San Diego that recovered nearly $840,000 for 32 employees, some of whom one employer paid less than $3 per hour.

June 26, 2024

Department of Labor begins debt collection against Ohio landscaping company barred from federal worker program after owner allegedly threatened workers

NEWBURY, OH – The U.S. Department of Labor has initiated debt collection procedures against a Newbury landscaping company that allegedly threatened workers for cooperating with a federal investigation that found the company and its owner owes $169,015 in back wages and damages to 19 affected workers. 

June 26, 2024

US Department of Labor announces 8 additions to program to deliver employment assistance to transitioning service members, spouses

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the selection of eight Employment Navigator and Partnership Program partners with the department’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service. The ENPP provides service members transitioning from active duty and their spouses with personalized employment assistance. 

June 26, 2024

Department of Labor completed impact inspections at 15 mines with histories of repeated health, safety violations in May 2024

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today that its Mine Safety and Health Administration completed impact inspections in May 2024 at 15 mines in 12 states, leading the agency to cite 300 violations and one safeguard.

The agency began conducting impact inspections after an April 2010 explosion in West Virginia at the Upper Big Branch Mine killed 29 miners. 

June 25, 2024

US Department of Labor cites contractor for lacking required fall protection that contributed to 54-year-old employee’s fatal fall

ATLANTA – A five-man crew’s first day working to remove tar and stone from metal roof panels at a Macon warehouse ended abruptly in November 2023 when a 54-year-old laborer tragically suffered fatal injuries after stepping on a skylight and falling about 19 feet.

A U.S. Department of Labor investigation found Georgia construction contractor could have prevented by providing their employees with required fall protection.

June 25, 2024

Department of Labor obtains order to force Los Angeles-area meat processor, staffing agency to give up $327K in profits from oppressive child labor

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in a federal court ordering a City of Industry meat processor and a Downey staffing agency to surrender $327,484 in illegal profits made from sales of products associated with oppressive, exploitative child labor. The judgment also requires the employers to pay the department $62,516 in penalties. 

June 25, 2024

Worker’s fatal fall in Chenango County preventable if Tennessee-based contractor had provided employees fall protection equipment, training

SYRACUSE, NY – A construction contractor could have prevented an employee’s fatal fall at a Smyrna, New York job site in December 2023 by providing adequate fall protection and training employees in its effective use, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found.

June 24, 2024

US Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative seek review of alleged labor rights denial at munitions manufacturer in Cuernavaca, Mexico

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the government of Mexico review an allegation that workers’ rights are being denied by Industrias Tecnos, a munitions manufacturing facility in Cuernavaca. The U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Trade Representative co-chair the Interagency Labor Committee

June 24, 2024

US Department of Labor issues report to Congress on considerations for defined benefit pension plan fiduciaries choosing an annuity provider

WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor announced its Employee Benefits Security Administration today issued a report to Congress on an interpretive bulletin related to fiduciary standards when selecting an annuity provider for a defined benefit pension plan.

June 21, 2024

Department of Labor recovers $307K in back wages, damages for 23 restaurant workers deprived of overtime pay in Hawaii

Employer:       Asian Restaurant Group Inc., operating two restaurants as Max’s of Manila in Hawaii

                              1350 Pine St. #6

                               Boulder, CO 80304

June 21, 2024

US Department of Labor announces $10.5M funding availability to support mine safety, health training, education

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Mine Safety and Health Administration is making $10.5 million in grant funding available to help provide mine safety training for the nation’s miners.

June 21, 2024

READOUT: Department of Labor leads US delegation to promote worker rights at 2024 International Labor Conference

WASHINGTON –The U.S. Department of Labor led the United States’ delegation to the 2024 International Labor Conference in Geneva from June 3-14, 2024, joining over 4,900 delegates for the world’s largest annual conference on international labor rights. The ILC brings together governments, employers and workers from 187 member states.  

June 20, 2024

US Department of Labor condemns murder of Guatemalan trade union leader Anastacio Tzib Caal

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee released the following statement condemning the June 15 murder of Anastacio Tzib Caal, the recently elected secretary general of the Texpia II workers’ union. Texpia II is a garment production facility in Villa Nueva, Guatemala. 

June 20, 2024

ICYMI: Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su continues Good Jobs Summer Tour; visits Alabama, Florida, Arizona, , Florida

WASHINGTON – To highlight the investments and priorities of the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in history, Acting Secretary Su is traveling the country this summer to engage with workers and employers on the department’s commitment to improving job quality and fighting for workers. By investing federal resources that create pathways to good jobs for all communities, the Biden-Harris administration is making good on its promise to grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up. 

June 20, 2024

Department of Labor cites Boaz mobile home manufacturer after 62-year-old worker suffers fatal trauma after 10-foot fall

BOAZ, AL – A Boaz mobile home manufacturer could have prevented a 62-year-old roofing laborer’s fatal fall had the employer followed required fall protection standards, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation found.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that the Kabco Builders Inc. employee was alone loading shingles as they straddled a two-foot-wide space between a platform and a mobile home’s roof when they slipped and fell approximately 10 feet.