FIGHTING LABOR

CORPORATE CRIME. In the wake of several corporate scandals – most notably Enron, Arthur Andersen, and WorldCom -- Bush had no choice but to try to convince the American public that he did not approve of such business practices. His past was scarred by four suspect stock transactions, the biggest of which was when he dumped his Harken Energy stock and failed to report the transaction to the SEC until nearly nine months later.

Bush failed to explain why the methods he employed as a Harken Energy executive were different from the insider trading and creative accounting now undermining the credibility of corporate America. He made the disastrous mistake of arguing that in his case, accounting rules were “not always black and white.” For a president whose foreign policy, and entire political outlook, was based on the idea that the world could indeed be divided into good and bad, black and white, nothing could have sounded worse.

Bush claimed he supported the enforcement of “a new ethic of responsibility” in boardrooms by giving more money and power to regulators and by doubling the maximum prison term for some types of fraud, from five to 10 years. He also called for prison terms for executives who falsified financial statements. (New York Times and Washington Post, July 9, 2002)

In what appeared to be a hypocritical statement, Bush went to Wall Street where he appeared on national television and called on American corporate leaders to appeal to their conscience and end accounting fraud.

Bush claimed that there were a few rotten apples out there. Unfortunately for him, they included himself as well as several of his cronies including Ken Lay and his Secretary of the Army, Thomas White. As a Boston Globe (July 10, 2002) commentator said, “Bush offered a rotten apple solution for a rotten barrel problem.”

Bush proposed several changes which, he claimed, would deter corporate crime:

*Bush called on the United States Sentencing Commission, an independent agency in the judicial branch, to enhance prison time for fraud when committed by corporate officers and directors.

*He proposed making it easier to charge an executive with obstruction of justice for shredding documents, even if they were not subject to a subpoena.

*He issued an executive order creating a Corporate Fraud Work Force, which he called “a financial crimes SWAT team. The agency overlooked the investigation of corporate abusers and bringing them to account.

*Bush suggested the Securities and Exchange Commission would be strengthened by adding $100 million to its $467 million budget. Critics charged this would not benefit the agency in investigating corporate crime. A week earlier, the House had passed legislation authorizing a budget of $776 million.

A corporate reform bill was enacted into law in July. Bush talked as if he sought to crack down hard on corporate criminals. However, the law was little more than providing lip-service to an embarrassing problem for Bush. It basically granted federal protection to corporate whistle-blowers who presented Congress with information that books had been tampered or investors had been misled. (Washington Post, July 31, 2002)

THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR. Bush’s fiscal 2002 budget called for cuts in the Labor Department by five percent -- from $11.9 billion in 2001 to $11.3 billion.

Funds were cut for several key Labor Department programs were cut: health and safety programs, job-training programs, and international labor standards that reduced child labor.

$4.8 million was slashed for grants to various organizations to develop workers’ health and safety programs.

*Job training programs designed to promote international labor standards and reduce child labor were reduced by $474 million.

*$76 million was eliminated from other Labor Department programs. (Associated Press, April 9, 2001)

THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION. Bush took on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Over 1.8 million injuries – such as neck sprains and carpal tunnel syndrome -- resulted each year from repetitive motions like lifting, bending, and typing. These disorders affected a wide array of employees: construction workers and secretaries, farm workers and meatpackers, postal sorters and deliverers. They resulted from a variety of activities, including hand harvesting, sewing, typing, lifting heaving objects, and operating machinery in factories.

Occupational musculoskeletal disorders could affect muscles, tendons, joints, nerves, and related soft tissues anywhere in the body but most often in the lower back and arms. Repeated use of the same muscle or tendon could result in injury or inflammation. The results were called cumulative trauma disorder, repetitive motion injury, repetition strain injury, and occupational overuse syndrome.

OSHA spent $9 billion through increased productivity and reduced sick days. In 1999-2000, anti-ergonomics interested parties gave $1,948,538 to Bush and $28,689,636 to GOP committees and candidates. (New York Times, March 7, 20010; Washington Post, March 7, 2001)

In March 2001, Bush supported legislation to repeal an ergonomics law, designed to prevent injuries from repetitive motion in the workplace. This was the first major step in diminishing the regulatory legacy of President Clinton. Bush’s commented, “The safety and health of our nation’s workforce is a priority for my administration. Together, we will pursue a comprehensive approach to ergonomics that addresses the concerns surrounding the ergonomics rule repealed today.” (Washington Post, March 18, 2001)

The regulation terminated the prevention of approximately 600,000 injuries a year through such changes as better workstation design for chicken de-boners and meat packers. (Washington Post, March 18, 2001)

Employers in most states were encouraged -- not required -- to protect workers from such risks as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, and back injuries.

OSHA was required to write safety guidelines for particular industries and jobs, urging companies to adopt them or devise their own plans. White House officials claimed this would provide the flexibility that employers needed to take the right action for their businesses. (New York Times and Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2002)

Bush suspended a federal regulation that required federal agencies to investigate whether companies bidding for government contracts had violated federal labor laws.

The rules allowed agencies to investigate whether the companies violated other federal laws, including environmental laws, and any violation could be considered in the agencies' decisions. Bush suspended the regulation for nine months and would allow 60 days for public comment on the suspension. (Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2001)

CHIPPING AWAY AT ORGANIZED LABOR. Bush signed several executive orders aimed at weakening the position of organized labor.

*Bush issued an executive order that eliminated the National Partnership Council.

*He signed another executive order banning project labor agreements (PLAs) on federal construction projects. PLAs allowed contractors to negotiate wages and conditions for a construction project with construction unions in exchange for no-strike agreements. Wages and benefits were established for all workers and companies that worked on a given project. Nonunion contractors could bid on the work.

*Bush issued another executive order that revoked a job-protection policy for service industry workers. Bush’s order said that federal contractors did not have to rehire workers when the government changed contractors in their industry. (Washington Post, February 18, 2001)

*Bush signed an executive order that required federal contractors to post a notice that says workers do not have to pay the portions of their dues used for political activities. President Clinton had revoked an earlier version of this order issued late in President George H. Bush’s administration. (Washington Post, February 18, 2001)

PRIVATIZING FEDERAL JOBS. In November 2002, the Bush administration announced its intention to privatize thousands of federal jobs in an obvious aggressive campaign to weaken unions.

As many as 850,000 federal jobs -- nearly half of the nation’s 1.8 million federal civilian jobs – would no loner fall under the 600,000-member American Federation of Government Employees, the largest federal employee union. (Los Angeles Times, November 16, 2002)

The jobs covered a wide range of white- and blue-collar jobs which included many areas: military logistics and support, information technology, data collection, OSHA employees, mapmakers, computer programmers, engineers, landscapers, park-fee collectors, road builders, and lens- and eyeglass-makers.

MORE ATTACKS ON ORGANIZED LABOR … A federal judge suspended the black lung regulations that went into effect on January 19, 2001. The regulations had been designed to streamline a complicated process of claiming for black lung benefits with the Department of Labor.

Bush lobbied to add “paycheck protection” provisions to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill. His plan required unions to get permission before spending dues money on political activities. However, Bush’s plan did not have any provisions requiring corporations to get permission before using their shareholders' money for political purposes.