Massachusetts Bar Association Vice President Douglas K. Sheff,
chair of the MBA's Workplace Safety Task Force, testified before
the Joint Committee on Labor & Workforce Development in favor
of a "Right to Know" bill at the Statehouse on June 9.
"When workers are abused, the results range from inadequate pay to
broken bones, amputated limbs, brain injury and even death," Sheff
said. "Regardless of their individual backgrounds and interest,
leaders at the MBA and around the state came together and had the
decency to do the right thing. I am certain this committee and this
Legislature will do the same."
House Bill 1393 -- which would mandate that workers receive
basic information about their employer and their legal
rights -- has the support of the MBA's Executive Management
Board and its House of Delegates, which earlier this year passed a
resolution endorsing the bill. The Massachusetts Attorney General's
Office and the Massachusetts office of the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration are also in favor of the bill.
Temporary workers often have limited knowledge of their legal
rights, and may not know the correct name of their employer, Sheff
said. If injured on job sites, temporary workers are sometimes left
abandoned at the hospital. A temporary worker's job location may
change before he or she can return after an injury, leaving the
burden of medical care and other expenses with the injured worker's
family.