MARATHON, Wis. –Federal safety inspectors found multiple woodworking machines at a Wisconsin lumber company lacked adequate safeguards and that workers were not properly trained in isolating energy to machines to prevent contact with operating parts during set-up, servicing and maintenance.

COLUMBUS, Wis. – A federal investigation prompted by the death of a 17-year-old worker at a Columbus metal fabrication facility has resulted in multiple safety and health violations.

PASSAIC, N.J. – Fifty-five low-wage production workers who spend long work days sewing and loading mattresses at a Passaic mattress refurbishment company will soon receive their share of $292,998 in back wages and liquidated damages after the company entered into a consent judgment with the U.S. Department of Labor.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. General Services Administration, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, today announced the issuance of the Request for Proposals (RFP) — Phase I for a new DOL Headquarters.

NEWARK, N.J. — For too long, a hard day's work for United Airlines' baggage handlers at Newark Liberty International Airport meant unnecessary pain and the risk of debilitating injuries caused by lifting customer baggage using awkward postures. From 2011 to January 2015, the airline's baggage handlers reported at least 622 musculoskeletal injuries.

Date of Action: Dec. 21, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendant(s): Larry Porter, Susan Porter, SeaBoard Management LLC, SeaBoard Management Inc., and SeaBoard Management Inc. Money Purchase Plan

Employer name: Hackensack Roofing Co. Inc.
83 First St.
Hackensack, New Jersey

Inspection sites: 297 Carlton Ave.
East Rutherford, New Jersey

3100-3400 Nelkin Drive
Wallington, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Dec. 16, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the company for one serious and three repeat safety violations.

MOLINE, Ill. – Under terms of a settlement agreement, a pipefitter previously employed by John Deere will receive a total of $204,315 in back wages and “front pay” and $70,685 in other damages.

In the week ending December 17, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 275,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 254,000. The 4-week moving average was 263,750, an increase of 6,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 257,750.

MIAMI – If Southern Chills, a Homestead-based contractor, had not ignored the construction industry’s most dangerous hazard, Leonardo Javier Lopez-Montelo might be alive today.

The 33-year-old laborer fell nearly 11 feet through an unprotected stairway opening as he performed punch-list activities at the Kendall Square housing complex construction site in Miami, and suffered fatal injuries.

WATFORD CITY, N.D. – An operator and two servicing companies’ failure to control a North Dakota oil well properly led to a flash fire that killed a 52-year-old worker and burned three other workers severely at a Watford City well site, federal investigators have found.

Employer name: Southern Sanitation Inc.

Investigation site: 7706 B Hampton Place
Loganville, Georgia 30052

Employer: Amigo Farms, Inc.

Sites:4245 East 32^nd St.
Yuma, Arizona

Investigation findings: Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found that Amigo Farms, Inc. failed to pay lettuce pickers at fields in Winterhaven, California, for time spent on the job waiting for ice to melt off the produce in the winter months. At times, the thaw could take 1 to 3 hours per day.

FREMONT, Neb. – Hormel Foods Corp. has agreed to hire 37 women with retroactive seniority and pay $550,000 in back wages to 403 female job applicants denied entry-level production positions at its Fremont hog-processing facility. The global food manufacturer’s action resolves U.S. Department of Labor findings that the company – a large federal contractor – discriminated in hiring against women in violation of Executive Order 11246.

Date of action: Dec. 15, 2016

Type of action: Complaint

Name of defendants: Urban Hotels Inc., doing business as LAX Plaza Hotel
Urban Hotels 401(k) Plan and Trust

WASHINGTON – Increasing access to retirement savings opportunities is the surest way to help more of America’s workers secure their financial futures. Today, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration is announcing a final rule to assist large cities and other political subdivisions that establish payroll deduction individual retirement account savings programs for workers who do not have access to workplace savings arrangements.

WASHINGTON – At 13, Sonia Pierre began her stand for workers’ rights in the Dominican Republic, leading a march to demand humane working conditions for sugar cane harvesters in the “batey” – the worker settlement in which she grew up.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued a statement regarding today’s release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of its Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries.

EL DORADO SPRINGS, Mo. – A federal workplace safety inspection – that occurred only after a federal court ordered an El Dorado Springs sheet metal manufacturer to allow inspectors to respond to complaints of unsafe working conditions and employee injuries – led to the discovery of more than a dozen repeated and serious violations and an assessment of $138,430 in proposed fines.

WASHINGTON – To broaden career opportunities in registered apprenticeships for traditionally under-represented groups, the US Department of Labor today issued a final rule that updates equal employment opportunity requirements.