Tragedies prove some labor is still risky, dangerous
If you think unions and government safety regulations are needless and unnecessary burdens to business, drive over to Alliance and tell that to the family of the late Joseph Ferrall.
Ferrall, just 34, recently left behind a wife and three small sons, after a fatal industrial accident July 26 at the TimkenSteel Faircrest plant in Perry Township.
Ferrall was severely burned when a furnace exploded. He died three weeks later, on Aug. 19. Two others also were injured, but survived.
Regardless of how many computers and robots have been installed, many blue-collar jobs like the ones found in steel mills remain dangerous places.
More Charita Goshay:July 4, 1776, was only the start
We've been lulled into thinking technology has reduced the need for unions and for such agencies as the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Both entities often are accused of making it harder to do business. But unions, which have been demonized since the Gilded Age, are the reason there are eight-hour work days, paid vacations, health care benefits and until recently, pensions.
From the coal fields of West Virginia to the slaughterhouses of Chicago, people fought and died for the benefits and humane working conditions we take for granted as basic rights.
Yes, there are cases of abuse and fraud within union ranks. We also know the very same can be said for white-collar America. It wasn't shop stewards who triggered the banking crisis of 2008-2009, which nearly took this country over the cliff.
Fast forward to the billions stolen from the Paycheck Protection Program by people who would rather risk prison than carry a lunch pail and do an honest day's work.
Unions are the reason why your 10-year-old grandchild isn't digging ditches or assembling overpriced sneakers, unlike in other countries where there are no child-labor laws.
Unions are why, once upon a time, America had a strong middle class.
Attacks on unions, and outsourcing jobs under the guise of globalization are why we now don't.
Labor Day, by the way, is a union holiday enjoyed by the very people who oppose them.
It's hard to understand why life at times seems grossly unfair. Not that they are of less value, but there are a lot of people wandering about these days with no purpose, and aren't looking for one. Meanwhile, a husband and father dies for simply doing his job?
Those who knew and loved Joseph Ferrall say he was wholly committed to his wife, Amber, whom he met when they were 8 years old, and their sons Tucker, 8, Colton, 6, and Jaxxon, 3.
His death is just the latest for TimkenSteel, which was tagged as a "severe violator" by OSHA in 2015.
In 2015, a worker suffered a 40-foot fall from a crane while performing maintenance at the Faircrest plant. OSHA investigators reported a lack of guardrails, safety devices, and protective equipment. It was the second serious injury that year.
In May of that same year, 1,000 pounds of equipment fell from a crane onto a worker at TimkenSteel's Gambrinus plant.
This past June, TimkenSteel was fined $315,000 by OSHA due to a fatality that occurred at its Gambrinus plant in December 2021.
The face of working America is Joseph Ferrall. It is Ray Sullivan, a 27-year-old from Waynesburg who died last week following accidental exposure to hydrogen sulfide at the U.S. Ecology Co. in Canton Township. A total of five workers were injured. OSHA is investigating.
A recent story by Massillon Independent reporter Amy L. Knapp states that Ferrall told family and friends he didn't want to work at Faircrest because it was dangerous.
In 2016, a Faircrest employee died from asphyxiation after entering a room filled with nitrogen gas.
Today, Ferrall's family and friends are holding a 21-day protest to bring attention to his death and to what they say are still dangerous conditions in the plant.
The men and women who work to build America deserve safety and protection. It's a standard that shouldn't require demands from a union, the government or a grieving family.
It should be the American way.
Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Charita Goshay: Many working Americans are still at risk
