DOL defends budget request as "make or break" for middle class
While some items ended up on the financial chopping block, the budget proposal for fiscal year 2013 presented to Congress yesterday by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) includes millions to enhance worker health and safety.
The budget request includes $16.9 million to continue efforts to help reduce an unacceptably large case backlog at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. The DOL is requesting an additional $5 million to bolster the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's enforcement of the numerous laws that protect workers and others from retaliation for reporting unsafe and unscrupulous practices.