skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

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

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Non-union Charleston Hotel Construction Cited For Breaking Safety Rules

play audio
Play

Thursday, August 8, 2013   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A Charleston hotel construction project criticized for hiring out-of-state and non-union workers has just been cited for endangering some of them. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) fined a sub-contractor at the Marriott site $9,000 for what it calls a "serious" violation: having employees work in a ditch that could collapse on them.

Terry Turley, business representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said they reported the problems this spring after inspecting the conditions for non-union workers there.

"Working in a ditch that was over their head. It was on back-fill - loose dirt - with heavy equipment working right over them and they were unprotected. That's a pretty imminent danger situation, there," Turley said.

Turley said after documenting the violations in May, they came back a week later and found exactly the same problems.

"I actually saw the same situation going on at that time, too," he said. "Guys were down in ditches and in holes that were over their heads. They weren't properly sloped. There was no protection to keep it from caving in."

Ditch cave-ins are no small matter, he said, noting that workers are injured or die from them on a regular basis.

"Rules are made for a purpose. If you're underground and a ditch collapse on you, there's not much time for you before you're just crushed," he said.

Studies have shown that union construction is safer than non-union. OSHA looked at construction deaths in New York last year and found three quarters were on non-union job-sites. Turley said the construction unions in West Virginia require their members to take safety training, which keeps injuries down and lowers their employers' workers' comp rates.

"The guys that's on union projects have extensive training. And the people on these non-union projects, their contractor won't afford them the time. Therefore, they don't know what's going on; they don't know what to look for," Turley pointed out.

Hi-Tech Electric of Ashland has two weeks to appeal. Initial calls for comment weren't returned. Later calls found the number disconnected.

The OSHA inspection that resulted in the citations is #904819.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

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