cleanup workers

On March 25, 1911, a fire caused by a wayward cigarette broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. The workers scrambled to find safety from the life-stealing smoke and flames, and horror descended as they faced the realization that managers of the factory had chained most of the exits to the building over worries of worker theft (a common practice of the day).

 [...Read more]

Willie Seaman of Irvington, AL, lays carpet and floors for a living. But last summer, as the BP well gushed thousands of barrels of oil daily into the Gulf, Seaman signed up with the BP cleanup program, working on a shrimp boat several miles off shore. [...Read more]

Editor's note: Today, a guest blogger explains some of the legal obstacles and opportunities for whistleblowers in the BP disaster. Lindsey Williams of the National Whistleblowers Center describes how a law signed by Abraham Lincoln could be used to protect whistleblowers on the Gulf Coast, and make negligent corporations pay. [...Read more]

“Feinberg says no claims filed on cleanup illnesses,” ran an erroneous Associated Press headline last week, stirring up more mistrust of the BP claims process among Gulf Coast residents.  It is simply not true that sick cleanup workers have not filed medical claims with the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), administered by Kenneth Feinberg.  Rather, Feinberg and the GCCF ap [...Read more]