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Washington, D.C.—The president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today reacted sharply to President Bush’s action yesterday to repeal workplace safety standards, calling it “a direct assault on American workers.”

Colleen M. Kelley said repeal of the ergonomics standards, which occurred with no meaningful opportunity for congressional debate, “derails ten years of scientific and legislative efforts to take the critical steps necessary to make the American workplace safe for the working people who contribute so much to our country. This decision raises very serious questions about whether the White House or the business community is driving the national agenda.”

Kelley said the president’s action “falls especially hard” on women workers who suffer the types of musculokeletal injuries that were the targets of the safety standards far beyond their proportion in the workplace. “This action signals a complete disregard for their safety and health, both short-term and long,” the NTEU leader said.

NTEU represents large numbers of office workers “who are at high risk for occurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome—an especially painful and debilitating repetitive motion injury—and back injuries that were the subject of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations,” said Kelley.

Repeated studies have shown that musculoskeletal disorders caused by ergonomic hazards are the most significant safety and health problem in the workplace, accounting for nearly one-third of all serious job-related injuries.

Kelley said a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report showed that in 1999, more than 600,000 workers suffered serious workplace injuries caused by repetitive motion and overexertion. Carpal tunnel syndrome

results in more lost work time than any other type of injury, generating workers’ compensation costs estimated by the National Academy of Sciences at up to $20 billion annually—and an overall cost to the economy of between $45 and $50 billion, Kelley said.

NTEU is the largest independent federal union, representing some 150,000 federal employees in 25 agencies and departments.