US Department of Labor, Office of the Trade Representative announce resolution of alleged labor rights’ denial at Hidalgo manufacturer WASHINGTON – The U.S. and Mexican governments have announced the successful resolution to a Rapid Response Labor Mechanism petition alleging the denial of workers’ rights at Odisa Concrete Equipment, a manufacturer in Hidalgo. To remediate workers’ claims, the Mexican government facilitated a resolution with Odisa taking several actions, including posting a neutrality statement, creating guidelines on freedom of association and collective bargaining, reinstating a fired worker with back pay and refunding improperly withheld union dues to workers. In addition, the Mexican Ministry of Labor provided labor rights training to workers.“We commend the actions taken by Odisa Concrete Equipment and the government of Mexico to resolve the alleged labor violations at the facility and ensure that freedom of association is fully respected,” said Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs Thea Lee. “The reinstatement of an improperly dismissed worker involved in union activity underscores a commitment to ensuring that workers can freely choose their union and engage in collective bargaining.” This is the 29th use of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Rapid Response Labor Mechanism by the department and the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative to benefit workers in partnership with Mexico.“The successful resolution of this case reflects the RRM’s effectiveness as a tool for holding employers accountable and enabling workers to freely exercise their union rights,” said Ambassador Katherine Tai.  “We commend the government of Mexico and Odisa for their actions to remediate the denials of labor rights that occurred. The Biden-Harris administration celebrates this outcome and recalls that nearly 42,000 workers have directly benefited from the mechanism to date.”Founded in 1976, Odisa Concrete Equipment S.A. de C.V. manufactures and exports concrete equipment and material-handling equipment, including sheet metal and aluminum goods, to more than 35 countries. Learn more about the department’s international work.
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US Department of Labor awards Florida $1.5M in funding to support jobs, training services in 21 counties affected by opioid crisis WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $1.5 million in grant funding to Florida’s Department of Commerce to assist people affected by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.The opioid epidemic has significantly affected Florida’s workforce, with opioids involved in over 6,000 fatal overdoses in 2022, as well as contributing to absenteeism, increased healthcare costs, turnover, loss of productivity and shortages of treatment providers and facilities.Overseen by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant will serve people in 21 counties across Florida by creating disaster-relief positions to address the shortage of health and counseling services available to individuals impacted by the opioid crisis.“The Employment and Training Administration is committed to ensuring Florida workers affected by the opioid crisis have access to assistance that will help their communities address the unique impacts of this complex public health crisis,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “This Dislocated Worker Grant provides critical support to Florida by providing jobs to affected workers and training in the areas of addiction treatment, mental health and pain management.”Funds will also support employment and training services for workers experiencing unemployment and other workforce barriers resulting from the opioid crisis. Six workforce development boards will operate the project, serving eligible participants in Baker, Bay, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Franklin, Gulf, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Nassau, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter and Volusia counties.In October 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency, enabling Florida to request this funding.Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that cause significant job losses.
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US Department of Labor awards Florida $1.5M in funding to support jobs, training services in 21 counties affected by opioid crisis WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $1.5 million in grant funding to Florida’s Department of Commerce to assist people affected by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.The opioid epidemic has significantly affected Florida’s workforce, with opioids involved in over 6,000 fatal overdoses in 2022, as well as contributing to absenteeism, increased healthcare costs, turnover, loss of productivity and shortages of treatment providers and facilities.Overseen by the department’s Employment and Training Administration, the National Health Emergency Dislocated Worker Grant will serve people in 21 counties across Florida by creating disaster-relief positions to address the shortage of health and counseling services available to individuals impacted by the opioid crisis.“The Employment and Training Administration is committed to ensuring Florida workers affected by the opioid crisis have access to assistance that will help their communities address the unique impacts of this complex public health crisis,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “This Dislocated Worker Grant provides critical support to Florida by providing jobs to affected workers and training in the areas of addiction treatment, mental health and pain management.”Funds will also support employment and training services for workers experiencing unemployment and other workforce barriers resulting from the opioid crisis. Six workforce development boards will operate the project, serving eligible participants in Baker, Bay, Brevard, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Franklin, Gulf, Hillsborough, Lake, Manatee, Nassau, Orange, Osceola, Pinellas, Putnam, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter and Volusia counties.In October 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency, enabling Florida to request this funding.Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, Dislocated Worker Grants temporarily expand the service capacity of dislocated worker programs at the state and local levels by providing funding assistance in response to large, unexpected economic events that cause significant job losses.
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/eta/eta202412

US Department of Labor announces settlement with Amazon requiring corporate-wide ergonomic measures at facilities across the country WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Amazon have entered into a corporate-wide settlement to help better protect employees from hazardous working conditions leading to serious lower back and other musculoskeletal disorders at Amazon facilities. The settlement agreement resolves the department’s multiple ergonomics cases against Amazon.com Services LLC, in the first major multi-site investigation brought by OSHA in over a decade. The parties had been scheduled to begin trials in 10 cases before the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission between January and June 2025 stemming from inspections conducted across 10 Amazon facilities beginning in the summer of 2022.“This corporate-wide settlement agreement focuses on improving conditions for several hundred thousand Amazon workers nationwide,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Douglas L. Parker. “The agreement requires Amazon to assess ergonomic risk across its facilities, including through annual updates, and investigate and implement controls to reduce ergonomic risk. The ball is in the company’s court. OSHA stands ready to work with their ergonomics team to evaluate their progress and verify the commitments they made to OSHA.”“Corporate-wide settlements can be a critical tool to protect workers from health and safety violations because they protect the most workers and can incentivize companies to solve underlying problems. This settlement requires Amazon to take action at the corporate level to ensure corporate-wide ergonomic requirements are effectively implemented at its warehouses nationwide,” said Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda. “The Solicitor’s Office supports agreements that require employers to demonstrate their commitment to solving complex problems and work with OSHA on improving their processes. Amazon must do so under this agreement, and the department has the ability to enforce the agreement in court should the company fail to live up to its commitments.” The Solicitor’s Office, led by the New York regional office, had been engaged in active litigation against Amazon in these cases for nearly two years.The agreement requires Amazon to take action at the corporate level to ensure ergonomics requirements are effectively implemented at each Amazon facility covered by the agreement. The agreement will apply to all of Amazon’s fulfillment centers, sortation centers, and delivery stations, among other facilities, in federal OSHA’s jurisdiction and provides for an alternative dispute resolution process intended to quickly address and correct ergonomic hazards raised by Amazon workers. OSHA was seeking nationwide relief in the case, which the presiding OSHRC judge ruled last year that OSHA could pursue.The agreement also memorializes ergonomic safety measures that Amazon has implemented at facilities cited by OSHA for ergonomic hazards in 2023. OSHA retains the right to conduct an onsite inspection and enforce under the OSH Act if Amazon fails to meet the requirements of the corporate-wide ergonomics plan or otherwise fails to comply with the agreement, or if OSHA believes that additional controls exist that are feasible and likely to reduce ergonomic risks. The parties will meet biannually to discuss leading and lagging indicator data, including MSD injury trends; the status of pilot projects and controls intended to address ergonomic risks; and elements of Amazon’s corporate ergonomic program. Amazon will also pay a penalty of $145,000, over 90 percent of the amount assessed by OSHA in the ergonomics citations.The agreement also contains the following commitments:The corporate ergonomics team must conduct ergonomic risk assessments, identify and pilot engineering controls, provide ergonomic support and expertise to local sites, and have a designated Site Ergonomics Lead. SELs must review corporate’s ergonomic risk assessments and prepare their own site-level ergonomic risk assessments. These must be updated annually or sooner if a change occurs that increases ergonomic risk. SELs must also investigate and implement feasible site-specific controls. Amazon must ensure that SELs, site-level safety and health staff and site employees receive ergonomic training.Amazon must offer and maintain multiple methods for employees to communicate with Amazon regarding ergonomic concerns and potential solutions, including methods that permit employees to submit concerns anonymously if desired. Amazon must also evaluate the effectiveness of its corporate-wide ergo program by tracking sites’ compliance with it, including analyzing training requirements, SEL assignments and site ergonomic risk assessments.The agreement authorizes OSHA to conduct monitoring inspections at the locations where OSHA cited hazards, including access to documents and witnesses relevant to Amazon’s implementation of its ergonomics program.The agreement also identifies ergonomic safety measures that Amazon has implemented at various local sites, including adjustable height workstations, a redesign of packing stations, new conveyors, ergonomic mats, scanner harnesses, updated Go Carts, job rotation, and a new sortation system. The agreement is for a term of two years, although either party may seek to terminate the agreement after the first year.This agreement does not impact the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York concerning, among other things, whether Amazon is engaged in a fraudulent scheme to hide its true injury rates and worker safety hazards at Amazon warehouses around the country.For more information about ergonomics and ergonomic-related hazards, see OSHA’s Safety and Health Topics page on ergonomics at https://www.osha.gov/ergonomics 
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US Department of Labor awards $3.5M to provide training services for Montana workers in 9 counties displaced by Sibanye-Stillwater layoffs WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $3.5 million to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry for employment and training services for people in the state’s communities affected by the Sibanye-Stillwater mine layoffs. The department’s Employment and Training Administration oversees the award, which will allow the state to provide retraining and skills development for eligible individuals affected by the layoff as well as other dislocated workers in Carbon, Golden Valley, Meagher, Musselshell, Park, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland and Yellowstone counties. “The Employment and Training Administration is committed to ensuring Montana workers laid off by Sibanye-Stillwater have access to assistance,” said Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training José Javier Rodríguez. “This Dislocated Worker Grant provides critical support to Montana by providing employment and training services to workers displaced by the layoffs.”Supported by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, National Dislocated Worker Grants provide a state or local board with funding for direct services and assistance in areas experiencing a major economic dislocation event that leads to workforce needs exceeding available resources.
http://www.dol.gov/newsroom/re....leases/eta/eta202412