Union leaders are applauding a promise by state Democratic lawmakers to reinstate workplace safety regulations in Michigan.
The names of dozens of Michigan workers who died on the job were read aloud during a ceremony in Lansing. There are about 120 deaths in the workplace every year in Michigan.
Karla Swift is the president of the state AFL-CIO. She says Michigan workers need good safety regulations in place to protect them on the job "so that they come home after a day’s work in the same condition that they left in."
State House Democrats plan to file legislation this week to reinstate workplace regulations and commissions that Republican lawmakers eliminated last year.
Last year, the Michigan legislature eliminated the General Industry Safety Standards Commission, Construction Safety Standards Commission and Occupational Health Standards Commission. Lawmakers also changed a rule so that Michigan could not have more stringent workplace safety regulations than the federal government, unless the changes were called for by employers and employees.
