Pasadena, TX – Congressman Al Green (TX-09), today, joined colleague Congressman Gene Green (TX-29), members of the Harris County AFL-CIO and United Steel Workers, as well as, family members of victims of the BP Refinery Tragedy to announce the reintroduction of his Equal Protection for All Workers Act.  This bill is supported by the AFL-CIO.

The tragic explosion which occurred at the British Petroleum (BP) refinery in Texas City on March 23, 2005 killed 15 contract workers and injured more than 100 other people.  Prior to this fatal event, BP had been repeatedly fined in conjunction with multiple fatalities and a separate explosion in September 2004.  Despite the fact that OSHA’s rules may have been "willfully" violated and resulted in the deaths of the 15 workers, the U.S. Attorneys office was unable to take legal action on behalf of the families of the victims because the victims were employees of contract firms, not employees of BP, and the law does not explicitly cover contract employees.

"Under current OSHA law, any employer who willfully violates OSHA law and whose violation causes death to any employee, shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or by both.  This penalty is increased in the case of multiple offenses.  While this law provides a crucial measure of safety for employees, it does not explicitly cover employees of contract firms," stated Congressman Al Green.  "Despite the strides we have made to protect our workers, an American worker is killed on the job every 96 minutes – between 5,000 and 6,000 are killed every year.  Contract workers make up to ½ of the refinery workforce.  This means that under the current law significant numbers of America’s workers could be considered unprotected."

"Tomorrow, I will be supported by my colleagues from the Congressional Caucus for Labor and Working Families to reintroduce my Equal Protection for All Workers Act. This common sense legislation would specifically include employees of a contract firm in the current statute so that any employer that willfully violates OSHA standards unequivocally may be held criminally accountable if the violation leads to the death of ANY employee under contract,” continued Congressman Green.  “Our hope is that we can pass this piece of legislation to make certain that the government has the legal authority to take whatever action it deems necessary to provide justice and protection for ALL American workers and their families.  By taking this step to protect all of America’s workers equally, we honor the lives of those 15 victims by assuring that employers should not be allowed to ignore the real issue of improving overall safety."

Congressman Gene Green introduced legislation, HR 141, in January of this year which would require employers to report to OSHA contract workers' injuries the same way they report their own employees' injuries. Congressman Al Green is an original co-sponsor of this bill.

A copy of Congressman Al Green's Bill, Statement, and Pictures from the Press Conference are attached.

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