skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Day two of David Pecker testimony wraps in NY Trump trial; Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho's near-total abortion ban; ND sees a flurry of campaigning among Native candidates; and NH lags behind other states in restricting firearms at polling sites.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

"Squad" member Summer Lee wins her primary with a pro-peace platform, Biden signs huge foreign aid bills including support for Ukraine and Israel, and the Arizona House repeals an abortion ban as California moves to welcome Arizona doctors.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The urban-rural death divide is widening for working-age Americans, many home internet connections established for rural students during COVID have been broken and a new federal rule aims to put the "public" back in public lands.

Remembering Wyoming's Fallen Workers

play audio
Play

Friday, April 29, 2016   

JACKSON, Wyo. - Wyoming workers who have been killed or injured on the job are being honored this morning at Jackson's City Council chambers.

The U.S. Department of Labor recently ranked Wyoming last in the nation for workplace safety, with 37 work-related deaths in 2014. It was the deadliest year since 2007, when 48 workers were killed on the job.

In the past quarter century, said Mark Aronowitz, director of Lawyers and Advocates for Wyoming, the state consistently has ranked among states with the highest numbers of workplace fatalities.

"So, we acknowledge that we have a problem here," he said. "And we pay respect to the dozens of workers in Wyoming that lose their lives each year, and to let their families know that they are not suffering alone, that there are people who care."

Aronowitz said the state's fatality rate in 2014 was almost four times higher than the national average. Because investigations take time, he said, updated numbers for 2015 won't be released until later this year.

Wyoming has taken positive steps by increasing the number of state inspectors, but Aronowitz pointed to AFL-CIO estimates that it would take 98 years to inspect every workplace a single time. He said a balance must be struck between productivity goals and ensuring safe conditions for workers, particularly in a state that has seen years of prosperity from high-risk mining and oil and gas production.

"But on the flip side, you've got children who will grow up without their fathers or mothers," he said. "I think if we look a little bit less at the bottom line, maybe we lose a little bit of production value. But that's OK if it means everyone gets to go home at the end of the day."

The Equality State Policy Center, the Spence Association for Employee Rights, Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association and the Wyoming State AFL-CIO are among the organizations sponsoring today's event.

The AFL-CIO report is online at aflcio.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Creedon Newell practices teaching construction skills in Wyoming's new career and technical educator bridge course, designed to encourage trades students and professionals to pursue a career in CTE teaching. (Photo by Rob Hill)

Social Issues

play sound

By Lane Wendell Fischer for the Shasta Scout via The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service for the Public News …


Environment

play sound

By Naoki Nitta for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public Ne…

Social Issues

play sound

Concerns about potential voter intimidation have spurred several states to consider banning firearms at polling sites but so far, New Hampshire is …


Though Connecticut's benefits cliff persists, there are other programs helping people maintain benefits of some kind when their income pushes them over the limit. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Today, groups working with lower-income families in Connecticut are raising awareness about the state's "benefits cliff" with a day of action…

Social Issues

play sound

Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick has released 57 "interim charges," the topics he wants Senate committees to study in preparation for the 89th …

It is estimated the Wild Springs Solar Project in New Underwood, South Dakota, will offset 190,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. (Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

The construction of more solar farms in the U.S. has been contentious but a new survey shows their size makes a difference in whether solar projects …

Social Issues

play sound

Minnesota's largest school district is at the center of a budget controversy tied to the recent wave of school board candidates fighting diversity pro…

play sound

Minnesota lawmakers are considering a measure which would force employers to properly classify certain trade union workers and others as employees rat…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021