Secretary of Labor Concerned About Latino Workplace Safety

Workplace safety has long been a point of concern for workers and public officials alike. Labor unions in the early 20th century pushed for important reforms, and the workers’ compensation system was implemented to underscore the need to provide for the needs of injured laborers. But there has been a lingering and unspoken disparity in the application of these measures and in the tangible commitment to ensuring that Latino workers are granted the same considerations as other workers.

This gap was addressed by U.S. Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis and others last week in Houston as part of the first gathering organized by the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as in an op-ed piece by Secretary Solis which was published in the Houston Chronicle. This is a matter that is, of course, of great importance in Texas and other similarly situated states where a significant component of the labor force is drawn from immigrant Latino populations who face the same challenges.

Nationally, there are approximately 22.7 million Latino laborers working in jobs that are critical to the success of our economy, despite the fact that the positions in which they toil are often in an unseen or intentionally hidden capacity. This lack of public transparency, a lack of familiarity with American workers’ rights laws, and the complications of culturally different expectations combine with an often formidable language barrier to create circumstances in which Latino workers are disproportionately likely to be exposed to hazardous working conditions.

More than 5,000 workers die on the job each year, and the Latino labor force is at particular risk of falling into this tragic statistical count because of the aforementioned lack of understanding and awareness about work-related safety. Abusive employment practices and intentional deception serve to demean and devalue Latino workers and create an environment in which employees are not properly informed and educated about their rights, and this is a situation that cannot continue to be tacitly accepted.

Secretary Solis suggested that the best way forward to resolve these issues is through a commitment to educating and empowering Latino workers. She summarizes her view on the situation as follows:

“My goal for American workers is a good job for everyone. But jobs can’t be good jobs unless they are also safe jobs, where men and women can go to work secure that they can go home each day alive and healthy. A safe job is fundamental to the dignity of every human being.”

The Houston workplace injury attorneys of Williams Kherkher agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly. If you are a Latino who has been subjected to unsafe working conditions or has been hurt on the job in such an environment, contact us today at 832-369-8296.