Trumka Hits Biden on Delayed OSHA Pandemic Workplace Regulations

(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration has taken too long to implement Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency regulations to ensure on-the-job protections for workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

“I keep pushing the administration to get it done. They keep saying they’re working on it, but I have yet to see that temporary pandemic standard be issued,” the labor leader said in an interview Friday on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power” program.

In January, President Joe Biden ordered OSHA to issue updated guidance on Covid-19 worker protections by early February, and determine whether emergency temporary standards were necessary by March. While some guidance has been updated, no emergency rule has been issued.

Meanwhile, Biden has faced pressure from Republican lawmakers and business groups to abandon these regulatory goals altogether.

Trumka, a Biden ally, said he is frustrated at the delayed rule-making process. “It is a shame because every day it is not there, workers get exposed, workers get hurt, workers get sick.”

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