Signing the renewal of an alliance agreement Wednesday, Dec. 6, between the Centro Latino de Apoyo, Recursos y Oportunidades (Latin Center for Support, Resources, and Opportunities) and the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration are, from left, Barbara Theriot, representing OSHA, and Carrie Tyler, representing CLARO. In the background, from left, are Nicolas Romero, representing the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and Robert P. Mercer of OSHA. [Click to enlarge]

CLARO and OSHA renewed a formal alliance at a signing ceremony Wednesday, Dec. 6, cementing a relationship officials of both organizations hope will be mutually beneficial.

Carrie Tyler, executive director of the Centro Latino de Apoyo, Recursos y Oportunidades in Marshall and Barbara Theriot, director of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Kansas City area office, signed the agreement at CLARO's office just east of the Marshall square.

Also present at the signing were Robert P. Mercer, Regional Supervisory Investigator with OSHA, and Nicolas Romero, a board member of the United Commercial Food Workers union.

Robert P. Mercer of OSHA discusses with CLARO Executive Director Carrie Tyler how he envisions OSHA and CLARO working together. The alliance between the organizations was renewed with a signing ceremony at the CLARO office in Marshall. [Click to enlarge]

For CLARO, the two-year arrangement is an opportunity to provide better services to its primarily Hispanic constituency, according to Tyler, helping area workers learn more about workplace safety and about what to do if they have questions or concerns.

"This is an opportunity for employees," she said. "They can come to us and we can contact OSHA."

For OSHA, the alliance provides an opportunity to reach workers who may be more vulnerable than most to workplace safety problems and who may be less likely to know their rights and responsibilities for remedying problems, Theriot said.

And CLARO's role as a liaison is especially important because many immigrant workers are reluctant to seek help from the U.S. government themselves, she said.

"Our job is to protect the employees," Theriot said. That protection involves informing employers about proper safety practices and helping employees identify safety problems without fear of retaliation from employers.

"Most people are great," Mercer said. "They want to do the right thing."

The primary purpose of the alliance is education and outreach, according to the agreement text. Both organizations pledge to work together to provide education programs focusing on issues in industries where CLARO's members are likely to work.

Mercer said both workers and employers can benefit from better education and OSHA welcomes the opportunity to meet with both groups.

Romero indicated that the union supports the alliance.

"A lot of people come to CLARO" with problems, he said. "They come here and we work together."

Theriot said OSHA has changed in the past decade and now depends more on voluntary compliance by employers than on compliance inspections.

She said in the vast majority of cases safety problems are addressed without requiring a formal inspection.

Romero agreed and said industries in the Marshall area tend to take safety complaints very seriously.

On the Net:

www.osha.gov

www.ufcw.org

Contact Eric Crump at

marshallfaith@socket.net