IN THIS MESSAGE: Americans Work the Longest Hours; OSHA Inspections Falling; Pro-Union Sentiment Growing Study: Americans Work Longest Hours By Geir Moulson Associated Press Writer Sunday, September 5, 1999; 8:01 p.m. EDT GENEVA (AP) -- Americans work the longest hours in the industrialized world, overtaking the Japanese, according to a United Nations study released Monday. But the U.S. lead in productivity is being whittled away by their European and Japanese rivals, who are working less while Americans stay on the job more, said the report by the International Labor Organization. Hard-working Americans run a risk of burning out, said the ILO's Lawrence Jeff Johnson, co-author of the 600-page ``Key Indicators of the Labor Market'' report. The report was based on figures covering the years 1980-1997. On average, U.S. workers clocked up 1,966 hours at work in the most recent year, the ILO study said. In 1980, the average was 1,883 hours. The Japanese were their nearest rivals. They worked an average 1,889 hours in the most recent year measured there, 1995, but have been spending less and less time on the job since clocking up more than 2,100 hours in 1980. The study, the first such comparison made by the ILO, found that U.S. workers first surpassed the Japanese in 1993. While U.S. labor productivity surged 20 percent from 1980 to 1996, Japan moved ahead by 38 percent, Johnson said. ``While the benefits of hard work are clear, it is not at all clear that working more is the same thing as working better,'' ILO Director-General Juan Somavia noted. Western Europe also saw a significant fall in hours worked, the report said, with Norway producing the shortest hours among the industrial nations studied -- 1,399 hours, according to latest figures. French and German workers labored for 1,656 and 1,574 hours respectively in 1997. In 1980, they worked 1,809 hours and 1,742 hours. But that trend toward less work was accompanied by a faster increase in productivity than in the United States. France progressed by 30 percent and Germany by 31 percent, the report said. ``As an American myself, working long hours is part of the culture,'' Johnson said. ``Whether it's correct, whether it's value-added, in the long haul, who knows.'' ``People do burn out,'' he said. ``If they keep working this hard for these long hours there is burnout and there is diminishing returns.'' Elsewhere, the report noted ``very little productivity improvement'' in Latin America over the past two decades, while working hours -- between 1,800 and 2,000 hours annually -- fell only slightly. © Copyright 1999 The Associated Press =============================================== Study: OSHA Inspections Falling By Alice Ann Love Associated Press Writer Sunday, September 5, 1999; 6:30 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal inspections of American workplaces have been conducted less frequently during the Clinton administration than at any time since the Occupational Safety and Health Act was brand new, a study has found. The Clinton administration responds that it is using its money to target the most egregious offenders, and the agency's budget has been cut in recent years. In 1998, the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted 33,697 inspections, according the examination of government records by the liberal consumer group Public Citizen. Fewer inspections were conducted in only three previous years: 1995 and 1996, during Clinton's first term, with 26,396 and 25,850 inspections respectively, and in 1972, the year after OSHA was implemented, when 17,164 inspections were logged. More typically during the past three decades inspections have ranged from about 40,000 to 80,000 a year, with a high of 89,859 hit in 1975, according to the report. The study also found a decline in the number of serious, willful or repeat violations of workplace health and safety laws identified during Clinton's presidency. ``We think that there's an incredible dearth of inspections,'' said Public Citizen researcher Peter Lurie. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman said that OSHA inspections are more effectively targeted than before. ``What we're doing is going after the most egregious employers. We are going after the bad actors,'' said Herman. ``In the past, what OSHA has done has been random.'' The more targeted inspection strategy has coincided with OSHA budget cuts approved by Congress since Republicans took control after the 1994 elections. President Clinton has requested a $35 million raise for the agency next year. ``OSHA wants to do more,'' said Charles N. Jeffress, assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, in a written statement responding to the Public Citizen study. The study found that both random OSHA investigations and those triggered by concerns -- such as a complaint or a company's past history of OSHA violations -- are down. Workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths have declined in recent years. The 6,026 job-related deaths in 1998 was the lowest number since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started keeping a national tally. In 1997, the number of illnesses and injuries fell for the fifth straight year, to 6.1 million, or 7.1 per 100 full-time workers. ``The measure of OSHA's success is not told through inspection numbers or flawed research. The real measure is in making the workplace more safe and healthful,'' said Jeffress. However, Public Citizen, in its report, noted that workplace inspections are important for reasons that may not show up in yearly tallies of on-the-job mishaps and deaths. For example, poor working conditions can cause illnesses that may not affect a person for years, such as cancer and lung disease. © Copyright 1999 The Associated Press ================================================= Pro-Union Sentiment Growth Seen Sunday, September 5, 1999; 1:41 p.m. EDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney said that despite the strong economy, dissatisfaction among young American workers is increasing support for labor unions. ``Today, 54 percent of young workers say they would vote to form a union, up from 47 percent just three years ago,'' said Sweeney, citing a recent poll commissioned by the labor federation. In his traditional Labor Day message, Sweeney said that union membership increased by 100,000 people in 1998. ``Young workers don't see employers meeting their end of the deal,'' Sweeney said in the written statement. ``Corporations show too much concern for the bottom line and not enough for employees, they say, and employers fall short when it comes to sharing profits and investing in workers. ``They think it's time for new rules to hold corporations to a higher standard in the way they treat their employees,'' he added. Standing in the way, Sweeney said, are corporations that ``use every weapon and tactic available -- legal or otherwise'' to resist the formation of unions by their employees. ``As it stands, too many workers who want to form unions to improve their lives will never get the chance,'' Sweeney said. ``If working families are to thrive and prosper in the new economy, one of our priorities as a nation must be to restore the basic American freedom to choose to form a union.'' © Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
