Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on the day's biggest business stories
Subscribe to Axios Closer for insights into the day’s business news and trends and why they matter
Stay on top of the latest market trends
Subscribe to Axios Markets for the latest market trends and economic insights. Sign up for free.
Sports news worthy of your time
Binge on the stats and stories that drive the sports world with Axios Sports. Sign up for free.
Tech news worthy of your time
Get our smart take on technology from the Valley and D.C. with Axios Login. Sign up for free.
Get the inside stories
Get an insider's guide to the new White House with Axios Sneak Peek. Sign up for free.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Want a daily digest of the top Denver news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Want a daily digest of the top Des Moines news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Want a daily digest of the top Twin Cities news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Want a daily digest of the top Tampa Bay news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Want a daily digest of the top Charlotte news?
Get a daily digest of the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
A cashier behind a plexiglass barrier tries to enforce social distancing at a Hannaford supermarket in Scarborough, Maine. Staff Photo: Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
With states reopening for business and millions of people heading back to work, the nation's largest labor organization is demanding the federal government do more to protect workers from contracting the coronavirus on the job.
What's happening: The AFL-CIO, a collection of 55 unions representing 12.5 million workers, says it is suing the federal agency in charge of workplace safety to compel it to create a set of emergency temporary standards for infectious diseases.
Driving the news: The lawsuit against the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is expected to be filed on Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.
- Citing an urgent threat to "essential" workers and those being called back to work as government-imposed lockdowns are lifted, the AFL-CIO is asking the court to force OSHA to act within 30 days.
- It wants a rule that would require each employer to evaluate its workplace for the risk of airborne disease transmission and to develop a comprehensive infection control plan that could include social distancing measures, masks and other personal protective equipment and employee training.
The agency has issued guidance, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to protect workers in multiple industries — including dentist offices, nursing homes, manufacturing, meat processing, airlines and retail.
- But the unions complain these are only recommendations, not requirements, and that mandatory rules should be imposed.
- OSHA has been considering an infectious disease standard for more than a decade, it notes, and has drafted a proposed standard.
U.S. Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, in a letter to AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, said employers are already taking steps to protect workers and that OSHA's industry-tailored guidelines provide more flexibility than a formal rule for all employers.
- Scalia said his department can enforce worker safety under a provision in the 1970 statute that created OSHA called the "general duty clause," which requires businesses to maintain "a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards."
Yes, but: OSHA has received more than 3,800 safety complaints related to COVID-19 as of May 4, but it had already close to about 2,200 of them without issuing a single citation, according to the AFL-CIO.
What they're saying: "It's truly a sad day in America when working people must sue the organization tasked with protecting our health and safety," Trumka said.
- "But we’ve been left no choice. Millions are infected and nearly 90,000 have died, so it’s beyond urgent that action is taken to protect workers who risk our lives daily to respond to this public health emergency."
- "If the Trump administration refuses to act, we must compel them to."
The other side: "The Department is committed to protecting American workers during the pandemic, and OSHA has been working around the clock to that end," a Labor Department spokesperson said. "The Department is confident it will prevail in this counterproductive lawsuit."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from the Labor Department.