Fisher Price Recalls 3 in 1 High Chair

Fisher Price had yet again joined the bandwagon of companies that ordered recalls of their own products from the market. The recall was prompted by a report of a child who sustained a skull injury in an accident using the company’s high chair product.

The Fisher Price 3 in 1 high chair had been recalled due to its faulty features. The seat descends or leans backwards from its high chair frame when the booster seat button is released while the child is still seated. Moreover, the seat back can separate if not fully snapped in place. These features pose great fall hazard to young children.

The company voluntarily ordered the recall of all Mexico-manufactured high chairs which were sold exclusively at Target for $100.

Authorities advised consumers especially those who already purchased one to stop using the product immediately.

Products intended for children must be checked and scrutinized before they are sold. As young children are oblivious to dangers, they are the ones most likely to get hurt. Otherwise, manufacturers, distributors, and sellers can be held liable for injuries and harm caused by defective products under product liability.

In addition, parents must also ensure that all products being used, eaten or consumed by their children are manufactured by companies which have high regard for safety.

Measures to Battle Unemployment

California is one of the states badly hit by the economic slowdown. In fact, the unemployment rate currently stands at 10.5% which is 2% higher than the national jobless rate.

Seeing the need to address this issue, the state senate voted to approve two bills that would provide additional funds to unemployment insurance benefits.

Currently, most California workers receive employment insurance benefits for the duration of 59 weeks. If the proposed bill is approved, AB 23 X3 would give additional 20 weeks of unemployed insurance benefits.

The funds to be used for this benefit would not cause additional burden to the state, as it will come from the federal stimulus package. The Assembly already approved the bill and now awaits Governor Schwarzenegger’s signature.

The second bill, AB 29 X3 was aimed at establishing the “alternative base period” to decide if an unemployed individual who has earned sufficient wages can be eligible for such benefits. If passed, a worker’s recent earnings would be used as basis for one’s determining eligibility, which is more advantageous to seasonal workers.

With the increasing rate of unemployment cases, the primordial consideration is to find ways on how to help unemployed Californians in their daily existence like feeding their family and paying for their bills. The two bills, if enacted, hope to address these needs.

To know that both the Legislature and the Schwarzenegger’s administration are moving and working as a team to deal with this employment dilemma is a relief. It creates the impression that Californians, especially the unemployed, are taken care of by the government.

BUI Policy Reintroduced

Boating is a more popular recreation during summer and fall. Consequently, it is during these seasons that boating accident also rises.

The U.S. Coast Guard revealed that motorboats have the most accident with 44%, personal water crafts with 24% and cabin motorboats with 15%. Over all 21% of deaths were attributed to alcohol use.

Consequently, authorities saw the need to address this matter. The California State Senate is reviewing a bill that would make boating at par with driving in case of intoxication.

Senator John J. Benoit, crusader against drunk driving, introduced Senate Bill 154 allowing authorities to suspend boater’s licenses if found boating under the influence (BUI). As Vice Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, Senator Benoit said that drivers of both cars and watercrafts have the same reckless mindset.

California Department of Boating and Waterways reported that about 55 deaths transpired on California waterways in 2007 and half of it involved intoxication.

This bill was just a re-introduction of The Department of Motor Vehicles’ BUI regulation which was stopped by the California Court of Appeals for lack of explicit statutory authority.

If passed, Senate Bill 154 would amend state law thereby permitting DMV to resume its license suspension policy.

Wheelchair man died in a crash

Pedestrian accidents increase due to the risks involve just in crossing the streets. In fact, injuries or deaths are more attributed to pedestrian accidents than car collisions or mishaps.

If an able bodied person is in threat for danger when crossing the street, what more for a person bound in a wheelchair?

Cross walks and crossings have designated access ramp for people in a wheelchair. However, the threat of being in danger is greater for them compared to able bodied people.

The limited mobility of people in wheelchairs was manifested in an accident happened in Santa Rosa.

Richard Trenam, a 58 year old wheelchair-bound was hit when crossing Guerneville Road crosswalk. He remained on life support until his death last Monday, March 23.

Antonio Salano Villa was the driver of the car that hit Treman. There were no signs of intoxication or drug use. He claimed that he had the green light at the time.

The crash was under investigation. Police officers were urging any one who witnessed the crash to step up and shed light to what really happened.

Workers Deserve Better Protection

Workers may be at the bottom of the company food chain. But, without them, it is impossible for a company to still continue its operation and cater to the needs of their consumers.

Because of this, it is important to provide them protection from workplace accidents.

A recent accident in Orange County involved the death of two victims and injury to others as they were working on their night shift when an electric water heater exploded in a plastic factory.

Aside from the two deaths in Solus Industrial Innovations, two workers sustained minor injuries while two others refused to be administered with medical treatment. The blast has caused great deal of damage.

Reports indicate that the blast was felt and heard by firefighters in the nearby fire station although there was no fire resulted from it.

Though the company expressed their remorse towards the incident and promised help to victims of the explosion, one may still think that there should have been extra caution on the part of the company that could have prevented the accident.

Radical Changes of Employee Free Choice Act of 2009

The Employee Free Choice Act of 2009 is yet another controversial bill passed under the Obama Administration. This Act, when signed into law, would mean another victorious milestone for the employees.

The Act, otherwise known as the “card check”, would affect the employers in three major ways.

First, the Act eliminated voting by private balloting when organizing a union. The Act provides that if the majority of the employees authorized union organization, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) shall not direct an election but shall certify the individual or labor organization.

Second, the Act also touched on how negotiations are undertaken between the employer and a newly organized union. It required a binding arbitration in case of disagreement. The arbitration panel shall decide the case for not more than 2 years. No appeal is recognized.

Third, the Act provided greater penalty in case of discrimination. Currently, the National Labor Relations Act provides that employees who are terminated for unionism would be entitled to back pay and reinstatement.

However, under the proposed bill, the employee would be entitled to damages or an amount triple the back pay and the employer would be subject to civil penalties up to $20, 000.

With the provisions of the bill, employers certainly would not take it sitting down. Employers, however, are urged to be prepared for the potential passage and effect of this bill.

Discrimination Suits Hit Record High

Among the most common work issues is discrimination. It has been a societal dilemma since time immemorial.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reported a 15% increase or 15,000 more cases involving workplace discrimination.

EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru, in its statement, revealed that he has not seen such an increase in magnitude. He could not however say if it signified a trend although he admitted that employment discrimination remained a persistent problem.

Recession has even fueled the increasing number of discrimination cases. Older workers had been badly hit by this. Eileen Applebaum, visiting scholar at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said that laying off an older worker means more savings on the company than laying off a younger worker.

Racial discrimination has been the most frequently filed discrimination case with 35.6% or an 11% increase from 2007.

Retaliation ranked second increasing by 22.6% from 2007 while cases on sex discrimination increased by 14%.

EEOC, however, admitted that recession could not only be the factors for the increasing complaints on discrimination. Factors such as diversity in the workforce, awareness on employment laws and systematic litigation are contributory to these alarming numbers.

The recent data relayed to by the EOCC covered only up to September 2008. Hence, a more alarming data is yet to come.