The new, aggressive stance of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) would get an added boost if Congress passes a key piece of pending legislation.
Shortly before his death last year, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., reintroduced the Protecting America’s Workers Act (PAWA), a bill he had unsuccessfully sponsored in previous sessions. A few months earlier, Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., had introduced a companion bill in the House. The proposed legislation would give Labor Secretary Hilda Solis more ammunition to back up her promise to the AFL-CIO that “the DOL will once again be back in the enforcement business.” (See “OSHA’s Offensive.”)
