Workers’ Rights - Access, Assertion, and Knowledge in Mining Final Report

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Release Date: June 01, 2013

Workers’ Rights - Access, Assertion, and Knowledge in Mining Final Report

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Topic

Worker Protection, Labor Standards, and Workplace-Related Benefits

Research Methods

Study Population

DOL Partner Agency

U.S. Regions

U.S. States

Country

About the Report

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In 2010, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis made Good Jobs for Everyone the strategic vision for the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), characterizing a good job as one that “…is safe and secure and gives people a voice in the workplace.” From this vision, DOL developed the concept of “Worker’s Rights – Access, Assertion, and Knowledge” (WRAAK) as a way of measuring Secretary Solis’ vision.

The purpose of this project described in the report was to develop a measure of WRAAK and to pilot test methods for collecting data on WRAAK from miners. DOL awarded a task order to Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG) and its subcontractor, the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago (NORC), to conduct this study to identify meaningful measures of WRAAK in the coal mining industry.

DOL directed ERG to perform this as a pilot project, focusing on (1) developing a measure of WRAAK, (2) developing a survey instrument to collect data on WRAAK, and (3) assessing the feasibility of different data collection modes. At the outset, DOL and ERG agreed that development of a statistical sampling plan for collecting representative data and collecting a large number of responses was out of scope for the project. This report provides the outcomes from this pilot study. As such, the data presented in this report should not be considered representative of the population focused on (coal miners). Rather, the focus is on reporting on the measure of WRAAK that was developed and its associated survey instrument and the efforts that were undertaken to test data collection modes.

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Research Questions

  • What measures of WRAAK and perceived non-compliance, combined with what modes of data collection could be best used to track MSHA’s worker protection outreach activity?

Key Takeaways

The survey instruments were effective at collecting responses, but this conclusion was based on few responses.

  • Most respondents are aware of the outreach materials.
  • Responses appear to be internally consistent.
  • The data collected under the survey provide some support for the conceptual model of voice.
  • WRAAK measures require more data and analysis to provide actionable information.
  • A newspaper advertisement method (i.e., online survey with recruitment through newspaper advertisements) is easy to monitor but inconsistent and expensive.
  • A training event recruitment approach (i.e., survey request tied to a training event) must balance survey distribution with training program needs.

Citation

Eastern Research Group. (2013). Workers’ Rights – Access, Assertion, and Knowledge in Mining Workplaces: Assessing the Feasibility of Developing a Measure of WRAAK in Mines and Different Modes of Data Collection - Final Report. Chief Evaluation Office, U.S. Department of Labor.

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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Chief Evaluation Office (CEO) sponsors independent evaluations and research, primarily conducted by external, third-party contractors in accordance with the Department of Labor Evaluation Policy and CEO’s research development process.