Federal Regulations on Ergonomics. This amendment by Representative James Traficant (D-OH) would strike language in the labor appropriations measure that would ban funding for the promulgation of federal ergonomic regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA has pushed for intrusive and vague federal regulations on ergonomics in recent years, using as a pretext the charge that many workers suffer injuries as a result of repetitive motion and other uncomfortable work conditions. Representative Henry Bonilla (R-TX) explained that the drive for ergonomics regulations was not driven by workers themselves, but by "OSHA bureaucrats and power-hungry union leaders who are trying desperately to implement an ergonomics rule that would put a noose around the neck of many employers in this country."
The Traficant amendment to H.R. 4577 was rejected by the House on June 8, 2000 by a vote of 203-220 (Roll Call 250). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
