Saturday, April 16, 2011

Gas industry worker injured in Terry Township

From The Towanda Daily Review:

A gas industry worker was flown by emergency medical helicopter to a hospital in the region after he suffered a foot injury in an accident at a gas drilling site in Terry Township, the Wyalusing fire chief said.

"He was on a drilling rig (with his foot) stuck between two metal plates" said Adam Dietz, chief of the Wyalusing Volunteer Fire Company.

He was stuck approximately 20 feet above the ground, the fire chief said.

Dietz said he did not know the severity of the man's injury.

I have found that many gas workers do not want to report injuries for fear of being blackballed or just flat out fired.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Workers At Walmart Warehouse Claim Wage Theft

From The Huffington Post:

A group of eight workers has accused Wisconsin-based Schneider Logistics, a Walmart contractor, and Reliable Staffing, an Illinois-based temp agency, of violating state and federal labor laws at the Elwood, Ill., warehouse where the workers load and unload trucks and containers carrying goods bound for Walmart stores in the Midwest.

Schneider is contracted to run what is effectively a Walmart distribution center. The warehouse inked its contract with Walmart back in 2006.

Reliable and other staffing agencies supply the workforce for Schneider and other warehouses like it in the Chicago area, and much of the staffing comes on a temporary rather than direct-hire basis. The suit could involve hundreds of warehouse employees if it is certified as class-action.

As In These Times first reported, the workers claim their employer reneged on the promise of a $10 hourly rate for their work, a “piece rate” for each of the items they schlepped and bonuses for “team lifts” on especially heavy goods. Robert Hines, who’s been working on and off in Chicagoland warehouses on a temp basis for years, said he wasn’t compensated for what was often grueling work.


This type of behavior is par for the course for WalMart and it's contractors.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Two injured in Sullivan County gas drilling vehicle fire

From the Towanda Daily Review:

DUSHORE - Two men were injured as a result of a vehicle fire at a Chesapeake drill site around 11 a.m. Sunday off Star Road in Colley Township, Sullivan County, said Dushore Fire Company Fire Chief Scott Hope.

He said the men were hurt while fighting the fire, which destroyed the vehicle. He described it as a construction truck, and said the fire occurred near the rig at the site.

According to the fire chief, one man was flown by Geisinger to a hospital and the other man was taken by ambulance to a hospital. He didn't know what hospitals they were taken to or what caused the fire.

He said they both suffered burns.