The Trump administration is fundamentally reshaping the nation’s approach to workplace safety, scrapping Obama-era protections and tools intended to hold dangerous companies accountable.
Some of these rollbacks have hewed to the National Association of Manufacturers’ agenda.
For example, finding out about workers’ injuries and deaths now is harder to do because of changes under the Trump administration. In March, President Donald Trump signed a resolution, after it narrowly passed Congress, that companies vying for large federal contracts no longer had to disclose labor violations, including workplace safety penalties.
The manufacturers association previously urged lawmakers to revoke what it called the “blacklisting” rule for federal contractors. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the focus of a Reveal investigation into the company’s lax approach to safety, is a regular recipient of contracts with the Defense Department.
During his first week in office, Trump invited manufacturers to propose ways to cut “regulatory burdens.” The manufacturers association responded by submitting its wish list March 31.
That same day, Trump met with members of the manufacturers’ association at the White House.
“My administration is working every day to make it easier for manufacturers to build, hire and grow in America,” Trump said. “We’re removing job-killing regulations and lifting the burdens on American industry like I would say have never been lifted before.”
Earlier this year, Rosario Palmieri, a former top official with the National Association of Manufacturers, joined an obscure White House agency called the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs that reviews federal regulations. The office will be instrumental in carrying out Trump’s goal to roll back federal regulations.