[574] in peace2
in our "representative" government, businesses win over workers
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (felixauyeung@juno.com)
Mon Mar 12 09:46:52 2001
From: felixauyeung@juno.com
To: peace-list@mit.edu
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 22:37:54 -0800
Message-ID: <20010312.224347.-229161.1.felixauyeung@juno.com>
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United Push By Business Kills a Rule
Helen Dewar and Cindy Skrzycki
Washington Post Service
Friday, March 9, 2001
Worker-Injury Measure Is Undone by Republicans
WASHINGTON Rarely has American business been as united in a cause as it
was in trying to scuttle a stringent Clinton administration regulation to
prevent workplace injuries, and rarely has it worked more closely with
congressional Republicans to get what it wanted.
.
As a result of this confluence of interests and a new political alignment
in Washington, the House on Wednesday followed the lead taken by the
Senate less than 24 hours earlier and voted, 223 to 206, to kill the
rule, which is aimed at curbing repetitive-motion injuries on the job.
The measure now goes to President George W. Bush, who has indicated he
will sign it.
.
The swift action to overturn 10 years of work on the regulation
underscores that, no matter how close the November election was, the
balance of power has shifted dramatically in Washington. There is no
longer a Democrat in the White House to veto Republican bills. There is a
Republican president to sign them. So, for groups such as business, there
is new incentive to try what might have been impossible only a few months
ago.
.
With this in mind, business organizations and Republican leaders seized
the opportunity and mounted a surprise attack to get rid of the
ergonomics rule, which President Bill Clinton endorsed last year despite
business claims that it is unworkable and could cost $100 billion to
implement. As lawmakers dusted off a little-used procedure to speed
passage of a resolution revoking the rule, business groups mobilized,
with phone calls, e-mails and personal visits, to bring pressure on
lawmakers from both parties.
.
Every day for a week, at 6 p.m., business lobbyists met in the office of
the House majority whip, Tom DeLay of Texas, to discuss strategy, talk
with lawmakers and count votes. At other times, they holed up in a "war
room" in the Longworth House Office Building where, if they arrived early
enough, they could munch on products baked by members of the American
Bakers Association, one of the leading opponents of the rule.
.
Organized labor fought hard, too, but with less impact. An aide to one
Democratic senator who voted against the rule reported receiving 10 phone
calls from business people for each call he received from labor.
.
In a blitzkrieg that lasted less than a week, corporate America scored
one of its biggest victories in years, and organized labor, despite its
increased clout in political campaigns over recent years, suffered a
major defeat.
.
Despite Democratic gains that produced a 50-50 split in the Senate and a
narrower margin of Republican control in the House, Republicans
demonstrated that they still control Congress, at least when they are
more disciplined and united than Democrats. In the Senate, instead of a
close vote Tuesday night reflecting the even split, six Democrats bolted
to join all 50 Republicans, producing a 56 to 44 victory for the
Republicans and their business allies. In the House on Wednesday evening,
16 Democrats, mostly from the South, joined 207 Republicans in voting for
the measure.
.
But even Republicans appear unsure whether the forces that combined to
help them in the ergonomics struggle, including the extraordinary
cohesion among business groups, would work as effectively on other issues
such as Mr. Bush's tax-cut plan.
.
"I can't think of another issue that was so important to business in so
many states, and senators had to be cognizant that how they voted on this
issue would be remembered for a long time," said a Senate Republican
leadership aide. On many other issues, ranging from taxes to health care,
corporate America often divides. But workplace rules "cut across all the
lines in the business world," the aide said.
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