House votes to forbid ergonomics standard
Workplace health and safety suffered a setback May 8 when the House of Representatives voted to ban the federal government from issuing new ergonomics standards.

These standards would help workers who suffer from poorly designed workplaces and repetitive, stressful motions. The vote was 220 to 203 (Wrong: R-203, D-16,
I-1, Right: D-188, R-14, I-1).

Dislocated workers take a $200 million hit
The House passed a spending bill for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services that cuts $200 million from dislocated worker programs despite the loss of half a million U.S. manufacturing jobs since March 1998. The bill which passed 218-204 (Wrong: R-215, D-2, I-1, Right: D-202, R-1, I-1) also skimps on money for workplace health and safety inspections and funding needed to allow the National Labor Relations Board to reduce its backlog of cases.

House votes to repeal estate tax
Despite strong objections from the U.S. labor movement, the House of Representatives voted to repeal the estate tax (Wrong: R-213, D-65, I-1, Right: D-135, I-1). The UAW said that Congress should not provide tax relief for a tiny group of wealthy families given the need to fund Social Security, Medicare, and other programs. The long-term loss of revenue in the House bill will eventually be $50 billion a year. The estate tax only affects couples with estates greater than $1.35 million and individuals with estates greater than $675,000. President Clinton has threatened to veto the legislation.

Senate rejects strong Patients’ Bill of Rights
The cause of quality, affordable health care took a hit June 8 when the U.S. Senate blocked a strong Patients’ Bill of Rights on a 51-48 vote (Wrong: R-51, Right: D-44, R-4).

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