When the U.S. Chamber of Commerce opposed early versions of the healthcare bill Tuesday, we weren't surprised. This is, after all, the same group that colorfully told the Associated Press it was "time to unload the powder and fill the musket" in their fight against health care reform. Call us cynical, but we didn't think they were planning on using that $100 million "campaign to defend the free market" on tea parties and Civil War reenactments.

The fact is, America's healthcare system is broken and all the right-wing continues to do is champion the status quo and purposely distort the reality of what fixing healthcare will mean to millions of American families. The Chamber's assault on the current bill is simply the latest in a string of attacks on common-sense healthcare reforms during the course of their existence. Here's our "Top 10."

Top 10 Historical Chamber Quotes Against Healthcare

10. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Denounced Patients' Bill of Rights As Special Interest Giveaway To Trial Lawyers. Bruce Josten, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that 2001 of the Patients' Bill of Rights "should be called the Trial Lawyers' Right to Bill...adding new mandates and expanding liability will only serve to increase insurance costs and undermine employers' ability to offer this valuable benefit." [U.S. Chamber of Commerce Press Release, 6/12/01 ]

9. U.S. Chamber Spokesman Said OSHA Is a "Blatant Denial of Fundamental Fairness." When describing the structure of the Labor Department within the Executive Branch rather than the Judicial Branch of the government, Richard Berman, director of labor law for the United States Chamber of Commerce, said "This has a chilling effect on an employer's exercise of his right to appeal and is thus a blatant denial of fundamental fairness." [U.S. News & World Report, 11/24/75]

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vigorously Opposed Occupational Safety Regulations and "led the fight to defeat the 1968 bill." In an article written between the initial bill supported by President Johnson and the second bill, that passed, supported by President Nixon, the New York Times reported: "The first legislation providing for a comprehensive nationwide system of health and safety standards was proposed last year by President Johnson. Strongly supported by labor, the bill ran into immediate and vigorous opposition from industry, led by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States." [New York Times, 12/10/69; New York Times, 3/19/70]

8. U.S. Chamber President Called OSHA "An Abysmal Failure." In 1980, Richard L. Lesher, President of the U.S. Chamber of Congress, charged, "OSHA at best has been a major disappointment, at worst an abysmal failure." "To date, there has been no solid documentation that OSHA has yielded any gains in safety or health," said Lesher. [AP, 4/1/80]

7. U.S. Chamber Spokesman Compared Employer Mandates to Jumping on a "Runaway Train." In 1989, U.S. Chamber Spokesman Frederick J. Krebs was asked by the Washington Post about employer mandated coverage and said, "Health-care costs are out of control -- so being forced to provide these benefits is like being told to jump on a runaway train." [The Washington Post, 4/13/89]

6. Referring to Mental Health Parity Legislation, Chamber Officials Said Personal Tragedy is a "Poor Way to Make Legislation." Complaining that opposing Republicans on mental health parity legislation put them in an awkward position, Neil Trautwein, manager of health care policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said, "It's tremendous to have someone with the stature of Pete Domenici or Alan Simpson get up and describe these personal tragedies, but it's often a poor way to make legislation," says Trautwein. "An emotional argument late in the night is not the way to make policy." [The Washington Post, 6/19/96]

We thought we'd save the best for last, so: be sure to read the "top 5" quotes, after the break.

Little Rock--Tyson Foods and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Reverend Steve Copley today.

On Friday, a U.S. District Court in Arkansas ruled that Tyson Foods Inc. must pay a $500,000 fine for "willfully" violating workplace safety regulations that led to the 2003 death of Jason Kelley, a maintenance worker at its River Valley Animal Foods plant in Texarkana. Mr. Kelley was killed by toxic fumes emitted from a machine he was repairing.

"Mr. Kelley's death is the worst possible example of what can happen when employees do not have a voice on the job and are not protected at work. If workers had a voice at that plant, if they had a union, there could have been a more rigorous safety program in place to prevent this tragic loss of life," said Rev. Copley.

Despite an identical accident in 2002, Tyson Foods did not put safety measures in place to make sure it didn't happen again. Tyson Foods workers do not have a union and its workers were not able to hold their employer accountable for failing to enforce these federally mandated worker safety protections.

"Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that opposed the original Occupational Safety and Workplace Act and are now fighting legislation that would enable allowing more workers to choose to form a union. They're opposing workplace safety," said Rev. Copley.

The fine imposed on Tyson Foods is the maximum allowed by law.

"While the court was right to fine Tyson Foods, I believe a person's life is worth more than $500,000," said Rev. Copley. "This never should have happened."

According to several studies, union workers are more likely to have the right training and other precautions that create safer workplaces. Union workers:

• Have more training. Union workers are more likely to have access to formal, on-the-job training, making employees more skilled and adding to productivity.
• Have safer workplaces. Union workers are often better trained on health and safety rules and union workplaces are more likely to enforce Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) standards.
  
• Are more likely to receive workers' compensation. Union members also get their benefits faster, and return to work more quickly. When workers are injured, unions help workers through the often complicated process of filing for workers' compensation and protect workers from employer retaliation.

You can read the U.S. Department of Justice press release on the ruling here.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) role is to promote the safety and health of America's working men and women. One of the ways they do this is by holding an annual competition for grants; awarding funds to organizations to enable them to provide training and education programs on safety and health topics for workers and their employers.

OSHA is now soliciting applications for nearly $7 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants available to nonprofit organizations, including labor unions and community-based and faith-based organizations that are not an agency of a State or local government. For 2009, the program is offering 24 targeted topic areas for grants including emergency preparedness and response (including pandemic flu preparedness), ergonomics and workzone safety. Training grants will be awarded for a 24-month performance period, and applications must be submitted electronically using the http://www.grants.gov/ website no later than 4:30 pm on July 24, 2009.

« More information on the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program and how to apply is available on OSHA's website.

Can nursing home work be hazardous to your health?
SEIU's Education and Support Fund has been awarded renewable Harwood grant funds several times over the past couple of years. With this funding, SEIU produced training materials that have broad application in the workplace. A few years back, SEIU put together a training program to educate workers in healthcare facilities (specifically, nursing homes) about health and safety on the job, and learn how to prevent back injuries. View the plethora of materials created here.

SEIU.org also offers many more resources on workplace health and safety guides - check them out at www.seiu.org/a/members/safety-and-health.php

In 2008, one of SEIU Local 1021's members was killed on the job: James Strickland, a BART structures inspector, was hit by a train he didn't see coming because BART wasn't keeping brush and tree branches cleared away from the tracks.

Every April 28, the international labor movement stops to commemorate the lives and sacrifices of workers who never made it home, and to renew the struggle for safer and healthier workplaces. It's a day for speaking up as well as moments of silence. According to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than four million workers were injured on the job and nearly 6,000 were killed by injuries due to job-site hazards in 2007 alone. Thousands more died of job-related diseases.

New Era of Workplace Safety Enforcement

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis spent part of Workers' Memorial Day helping to break ground for a new national workers' memorial at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland and to honor fallen workers who have been killed on the job. "When it comes to worker health and safety let me be clear, the Department of Labor is back in the enforcement business," said Solis, reiterating that the focus on the department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration as well as its Wage and Hour Division is especially important now.