Pain for Workers, Gain for Rich

The Bush Administration's campaign claims of compassionate conservatism and bipartisan spirit were laid to rest last week as Congress, with the full backing of President George W. Bush and his Big Business campaign contributors, voted to kill the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's workplace ergonomics standard, reported the AFL-CIO's Work in Progress on March 12.

The House then approved the first portion of a tax cut for the rich that ignores the real needs of working families and risks the nation's economic future. 

Such corporate cabals as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers made killing the ergonomics rule, which could have prevented some 1.6 million painful and sometimes crippling workplace injuries a year, their No. 1 legislative priority.

On March 6, the Senate voted 56-44, with six Democrats abandoning workers, to kill the ergonomics standard under a never-before-used procedure that prevents OSHA from issuing a similar rule unless Congress approves.

One day later, the House wrapped up the gift to Big Business with a 223-206 vote, with the support of 16 Democrats.  Thirteen Republicans opposed the bill.

The next day, March 8, the House passed the centerpiece of Bush's multitrillion-dollar tax cut for the rich by approving a change in tax rates that would save the top 1 percent of taxpayers about $54,480 a year versus an average $47 for a family in the bottom 20 percent of earners, according to Citizens for Tax Justice.

To see how your members of Congress voted on the ergo standard and the tax rate -- and to send "thanks" or "no thanks" messages on the ergo vote, visit www.aflcio.org.