M&H Crates Inc. faces $254K in penalties after 2024 follow-up inspectionJACKSONVILLE, TX – Despite receiving warnings and citations for more than a decade, a Jacksonville pallet manufacturer’s history of failing to protect employees from the risk of amputation continues, a U.S. Department of Labor follow-up inspection has found. Inspectors with the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration returned to M&H Crates Inc. in February 2024 and found lockout/tagout violations similar to those discovered during inspections in 2012 and in subsequent visits in 2014, 2020 and 2022. The company now faces $254,527 in proposed penalties.During two inspections in February 2022, OSHA cited…
Author: admin
The experts said they have received allegations that migrants are being deceived about “working and living conditions and the nature of their agreements with employers in the agricultural or care sectors.” “This is unlawful and highlights the need for urgent reform of the current system governing labour migration, to ensure effective protection of the rights of migrant workers,” they said. Exploiting migrants The UN experts are concerned about shortcomings of the Seasonal Worker Scheme – a system implemented in response to labour shortages in the UK. These specialists say some “scheme operators” which are licensed recruitment companies will recruit migrants…
The United States hosted Sweden for a dialogue on the Indo-Pacific August 5 in Washington, D.C. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Jan Knutsson co-chaired the dialogue. The U.S. delegation included senior government officials from the Department of State, the National Security Council, and the Department of Defense. The United States and Sweden discussed joint priorities in the region to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, including upholding international law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, enhancing maritime and security cooperation in the…
WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor and the General Services Administration today announced a collaborative effort to centralize government benefits information on USA.gov and USAGov en Español, which will offer a new benefits experience for the public in English and Spanish. Benefits.gov, a website managed and hosted by the department since 2002, will shut down in September 2024. In alignment with Executive Order 14058, USA.gov will ensure users can continue to connect with government benefits programs, while also improving government services.“For over 20 years, Benefits.gov was a leading example of interagency collaboration, technological innovation and a focus on customer experience,” said the Department of Labor’s Chief Information Officer…
“The trajectory of the development in Yemen has since the beginning of the year moved in the wrong direction and if left unaddressed could reach a tipping point,” he said. Yemeni Government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition have been battling with Houthi rebels, also known as Ansar Allah, since 2014. The Houthis also began attacking commercial ships in the Red Sea – a crucial route for global trade – following the eruption of war in Gaza last October. Regional dimension increasing Mr. Grundberg said the regional dimension of the Yemen conflict “is getting more and more pronounced”, and the “escalatory trajectory reached a new and dangerous level last week”. He was briefing a…
Today we mark sixteen years since Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Georgia and remember those killed, injured, or displaced by Russia’s military campaign and illegal occupation. To this day, Russia continues to occupy 20 percent of Georgia’s territory and impose its will on the people there, including by claiming the transfer of strategically important lands in Abkhazia to Russia and taking steps to establish a permanent naval base in Ochamchire. The United States remains steadfast in support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. We call on Russia to fulfill its commitments and obligations under the 2008…
WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor today announced its Wage and Hour Division will offer contracting agencies, contractors, unions, workers and other stakeholders an opportunity to attend an online seminar on Aug. 29 on requirements for paying prevailing wages on federally funded construction and service contracts.Part of the division’s continuing effort to increase awareness and improve compliance, the day-long seminar will offer sessions on the labor standards protections in the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act – including how the department sets and administers prevailing wages – and other topics. “Prevailing wage laws empower workers by ensuring that federally funded construction and service jobs…
The following is the text of a joint statement by the U.S. Department of State and the Kingdom of Sweden Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The United States of America and the Kingdom of Sweden, Understand wireless communications play a crucial role in our societies and these networks have become a core part of our critical infrastructure; Acknowledge requirements for wireless technologies are steadily increasing, highlighting the technical and regulatory requirements for advanced wireless deployments, and the need for continuous advancement; Underline the substantial potential for collaboration between our respective governments, academia, private sector, and innovation ecosystems in this field; Recall…
Links between Irish anti-immigrant groups and foreign organisations with similar aims are now a cause for grave concern.As reported here yesterday, Irish organisations are now linked to groups such as the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM), which has been formally declared a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.The fear is that links with such groups in the US, Britain, and Europe will facilitate the growth of the far right in Ireland through sharing information and funding, leading to more confrontations and more violence.The ideological inconsistency in Irish groups attacking people from another country while utilising the money and expertise of…
PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal consent judgment requiring a Philadelphia-based home care services provider to pay 66 home health aides $129,697 in back wages and damages after investigations and litigation confirmed the employer willfully denied them overtime pay. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered the judgment on July 10, 2024, and directed Blue Ridge Home Care Inc. to pay back wages and liquidated damages to the affected employees, who provide home care as assigned by the company’s Philadelphia and Dover, Delaware, locations. The court also required Blue Ridge to pay $49,434…