Tag: workplace health and safety

How Tariffs Are Making Workplaces More Dangerous

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Recent data on consumer spending ahead of the holiday season suggests that price increases from import tariffs may already be reducing shoppers’ purchases. But another, less obvious effect of duties may also make it less safe to go to work. According to a new report from a trade association representing construction, manufacturing, energy agriculture, medical, and other companies, many member businesses are delaying procurement of workplace safety materials made abroad. That adjustment to higher costs risks creating a downstream effect of potentially rising accidents on the job.

The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) says many businesses that rely on personal protective equipment (PPE) as a workplace safeguards are buying less of it. Imported first-aid kits, respiratory protectors, high-visibility clothing, and even steel-toed work boots are among the many items that now cost more, according to ISEA. A survey of association members blamed the purchasing cuts on those higher outlays since import tariffs were imposed. The move not only increases the risk of injury for the 125 million employees who use those materials to ensure their protection on the job. It also exposes their employers to greater threats of accidents that already cost U.S. businesses $176.5 billion each year.

According to “The Hidden Costs of PPE Tariffs “report, the ISEA says import levies are forcing many businesses whose employees face higher risk of workplace mishaps to make a very hard choice. Either they pay the increased costs of protective equipment that duties have created immediately, or scale purchasing plans back in the hopes customs taxes will be lowered over time — or perhaps be overturned by a looming Supreme Court ruling.

In most cases, business owners have decided to bide their time.

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Nearly 60 percent of companies surveyed said they’d delayed planned purchases of safety materials, “in many cases using PPE far beyond its useful lifespan.” Another 41 percent of participating businesses said they’d sought to offset the higher costs tariffs have generated by switching to cheaper made, often less effective protection equipment.

The reason? Fully 93 percent of respondents reported their costs for safety materials have risen since import duties were announced in April. By contrast, the study didn’t establish a figure for the average increase of PPE prices under tariffs, or even offer an ballpark percentage of those hikes.

However, it did find 90 percent respondents believe that companies cutting procurement of costlier PPE materials “will have a negative impact on the safety” of workers. But faced with choice of paying more now or waiting to see if tariffs decrease, many employers have decided to take a calculated risk.

“Workplaces will cut corners to accommodate the extra costs,” said one unidentified ISEA member cited in the report. “They’ll use PPE too long, buy inferior and less protective PPE, and not use PPE when they should. We haven’t yet seen the full consequences.”

The report projected how the resulting increase in workplace risks might play out.

It warned that if “worker injuries increase by just a single percentage point, over 40,000 workers will be injured on the job, costing the American economy $1.8 billion.” That’s on top of the $176.5 billion accidents already cost companies each year. ISEA CEO Cam Mackey called that a tragic waste in more ways than one.

“When tariffs make it harder to afford quality protective gear that keeps workers safe, everyone pays the price,” Mackey said in comments about the report’s release this week. “This isn’t about politics. It’s about protecting the people who make America run — the workers building the infrastructure that keeps our cities moving, manufacturing the machinery that defends our nation, powering the energy systems that drive our economy, and caring for our families. Ensuring their safety should be a national priority.”

Injuries aren’t the only way higher PPE costs are affecting business owners and employees. The survey found 44 percent of participating companies — which collectively contribute $15 trillion in annual GDP growth — have already delayed hiring plans in reaction to rising costs, including those of safety materials. Another 33 percent of respondents said they’re considering doing likewise.

Release of the report is part of the ISEA’s continued drive to convince the Trump administration and members of Congress to exempt PPE and other safety materials from import tariffs. Doing that, it argues, would prioritize the protections of U.S. workers exposed to workplace risk by sparing their employers the cost of trade war duties.

“Businesses don’t want to cut corners on safety,” said Mackey. “But when costs rise and budgets tighten, difficult choices follow. We’re asking policymakers to help prevent that situation before it starts.”

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November 13, 2025
Biden unveils a new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention | CNN Politics

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CNN
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President Joe Biden on Friday unveiled a new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, a step he said was part of an effort “to send a clear message about how important this issue is to me and the country.

In a speech in the White House Rose Garden, the president detailed his experience traveling to the sites of mass shootings across the country, including after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 as vice president.

“Anyone who doesn’t think that these kinds of engagements have a permanent effect on young children … these were hardened, tough cops, asking me, could I get them psychiatric help?” he asked, raising his voice.

An official told reporters on a call Thursday previewing the announcement that the office’s mandate will be twofold – it will be tasked with implementing and expediting last year’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the president’s signature gun legislation, and with finding additional actions within the president’s purview to stem the flow of gun violence.

The announcement comes just days after a group of congressional Democrats in a letter called on Biden to leverage “the full power of the executive branch” to combat gun violence. In March, a day after a mass shooting left six dead in Nashville, Biden told reporters, “I have gone the full extent of my executive authority to do, on my own, anything about guns.”

Biden on Friday took the opportunity to tout the steps his administration had taken to address the scourge of gun violence.

“To date my administration has announced dozens of executive actions to reduce gun violence – more than any of my predecessors at this point in their presidencies, and they include everything from cracking down on ghost guns, breaking up gun trafficking, and so much more,” he said.

“And last year with the help – with your help I signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety law in almost 30 years. It expanded background checks, expands the use of red flag laws, improves access to mental health services and so much more. This historic law will save lives. It’s a really important first step.”

Vice President Kamala Harris will head the new office, Biden said.

Biden said Harris “understands this more than any vice president ever – no, really. That’s not hyperbole, that’s a fact. She’s been on the front lines of this her entire career as a prosecutor, as an attorney general and as a United States senator. Her deep experience will be invaluable for this office.”

And he thanked the gun safety advocates assembled in the Rose Garden for their work.

“We’re never going to forget your loved ones, we’re never going to get there unless we remember. You know, I know we will do this because I know you – heroes, heroes proving that even with heavy hearts, you have unbreakable spirits,” he said.

CORRECTION: This headline and story have been updated to reflect the correct name of the office.

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September 22, 2023
A new bipartisan push for paid family and medical leave | CNN Politics

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CNN
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A cocktail party on Capitol Hill is often hardly notable.

But at one recent soiree, the clinking of glasses had a different ring. Members of both parties joined together to kick off a renewed effort to solve a uniquely American problem: no universal paid family and medical leave.

It’s been 30 years since the Family and Medical Leave Act became law. It guaranteed workers the right to unpaid, job-protected time off.

But the United States is one of only seven countries in the world without some form of universal paid family and medical leave.

A bipartisan congressional duo is trying to change that.

“We live in the greatest nation in the world, and we do so many things well, but when you’re talking about families, this is one area that we have struggled,” Republican Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma told CNN during an interview in her Capitol Hill office last month.

Sitting beside her, nodding, was Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania.

“It’s frankly an embarrassment that we are one of the seven nations or so that doesn’t have this kind of focus on the family,” Houlahan said. “It’s really, really important that we lead by our example.”

At the end of January, determined to find a solution to the lack of universal paid family and medical leave in America, the congresswomen officially launched their House Bipartisan Paid Family Leave Working Group.

“We are action-oriented, and we are committed to having open eyes and ears,” Houlahan said, addressing policy advocates and politicians alongside Bice at the group’s launch party.

Their task force is composed of six House members: three from each party, including Democrats Colin Allred of Texas and Haley Stevens of Michigan and Republicans Julia Letlow of Louisiana and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa. Such a partnership across the aisle, Bice insisted, is not that uncommon.

“More of that happens than people realize back home,” the Oklahoma Republican told CNN. “There’s a lot of bipartisanship that goes on behind the scenes, trying to bring everyone together and move the country forward. And this is one way we’re doing that.”

Houlahan represents a blue-leaning district in eastern Pennsylvania that includes parts of the Philadelphia suburbs. Bice represents a reliably red seat that includes parts of Oklahoma City. They’re both relatively new to Congress – elected in 2018 and 2020, respectively. They shared committee assignments – and previously a hallway in a House office building – and “just kind of connected,” said Bice.

But the two have something else in common: They’re both mothers with daughters.

Bice said she worked in the private sector when her daughters were born and had the ability to take paid family leave through her company. That was 20 years ago. “[It] was almost unheard of,” she shared. She said she doesn’t know what she would have done without that opportunity for paid time off.

The Oklahoma native acknowledges that her circumstance was the exception, not the rule, when it came to paid family leave. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 1 in 4 workers had access to paid family leave in 2022.

Families in the lowest 25% of wage earners had even less access. Only 13% of those low-income workers were eligible for paid family leave last year.

“I was incredibly fortunate,” Bice said.

Houlahan was an active-duty officer in the Air Force when her daughter was born 30 years ago. She recalled that the policy at the time was effectively six weeks of convalescence.

“And I know, I remember acutely that the child care on the base was a six-month waiting list,” Houlahan said. “I couldn’t figure out how to make ends meet.”

The veteran said she struggled to find a solution: Child care on the base was affordable but not accessible, and child care off base was the opposite.

“To be really honest, it was one of the reasons that drove me to separate from the military,” she admitted. “These are choices that are being made by husbands and wives and families across the country.”

A lack of paid family and medical leave doesn’t just create burdens for families, Houlahan said – it hurts the economy by taking women out of the workforce, causing what she called a “vicious cycle.”

“The domino effect of all of this kind of thing is real,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said. “When we’re talking about these issues, it’s not just about the mom. It’s not just about the family. It’s about the infrastructure and the economy as well.”

Bice and Houlahan face what many from the outside would call insurmountable odds: a deeply partisan and divided Congress, with narrow majorities in both chambers. But Houlahan said the razor-thin majorities present an opening.

“We have an opportunity-rich environment right now, to use a military term, to make sure that we take advantage of this really special time, honestly, where the majorities and minorities are so small and so slim that it really requires that we work together,” she said.

“We can pretty much assure that our far edges of both parties will not necessarily be interested in working collaboratively,” Houlahan added. “So we need to find that moderate middle.”

Bice hopes the growing number of women in the House GOP Conference will make a difference, too. There are now 33 Republican women serving in the chamber – the highest number ever. It’s still small in comparison with the 91 female House Democrats (soon to be 92) across the aisle, but it’s momentum nonetheless.

“Having that female conservative perspective, I think, is important to bring to the conversation,” Bice said. “Many of the women in the Republican Conference are young mothers. And so I think this conversation is ripe on our side of the aisle right now.”

Part of the frustration in Washington – and around the country – is that universal paid family and medical leave is quite popular across the political spectrum. A Morning Consult poll this past summer found that 85% of Democrats and 66% of Republicans supported congressional action on ensuring paid family leave.

But the two parties have deep philosophical differences about how to pay for it. It’s part of the reason successful legislation has eluded Congress – and a big obstacle for Bice and Houlahan as they start their work.

“We want to start with a clean slate,” Bice said. “Coming at this from maybe a new fresh perspective, looking at what’s been done in the past. What legislation currently in place isn’t working? And figuring out either do we expand on that or do we pull back and look at a new policy that would actually be much more effective?”

They’re also realistic about what’s possible. Houlahan is prepared for incremental change.

“If we’re able to give some family leave for benefits to our federal employees and then our uniform personnel and then this population and then that population, at least we’re making progress,” she said.

Bice and Houlahan are certainly not the first lawmakers to try to tackle the issue in recent years.

In 2021, House Democrats pushed to get 12 weeks of universal paid leave in the sweeping Build Back Better package. They eventually pared it down to just four weeks to get the necessary votes to pass in the House along party lines. But the $1.75 trillion social spending bill stalled in the Senate. Paid family leave was then left out of Democrats’ $750 billion climate, tax and health care package, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, that was enacted last summer.

Houlahan told CNN that she and Bice “stand on the shoulders of great people, mostly women,” who have worked on the issue for decades and across the Capitol. Currently, New York Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand and Louisiana Republican Bill Cassidy are among the senators working on solutions of their own in the upper chamber.

The House working group co-chairs also acknowledge the importance of bringing men into the conversation. Their six-member task force includes Allred, who made headlines in 2019 when he became the first member of Congress to take paternity leave.

“If we’re going to be pro-family, it’s going to be pro-family, Mom and Dad,” Bice said.

This February marked three decades since the Family and Medical Leave Act became law.

“We’ve been at this since I was pregnant,” Houlahan quipped at the launch party for their group, noting that her oldest daughter is 30 years old.

“It’s time for there to be additional progress on this issue. It’s wonderful that you now can’t lose your job for taking time off, but that’s not enough for us to be a competitive nation. I don’t think that embodies the American values of the strengths of families as well,” she told CNN in the joint interview.

Her Republican colleague agreed.

“It’s time for us to find a solution and take action,” Bice said. “Thirty years is too long. You can’t sit back and watch. You got to move forward.”

This headline has been updated.

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February 26, 2023
California state agencies investigating conditions at the two sites of the Half Moon Bay mass killing | CNN

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CNN
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Two California state agencies are investigating whether there were potential labor and workplace safety and health violations at the two Half Moon Bay, California, farms where seven people were fatally shot last month.

The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the state’s Labor Commissioner’s Office “want to ensure that employees are being afforded all the protections of California labor laws,” a state official told CNN in an emailed statement.

The statement did not offer further details about the probe, saying neither agency comments on ongoing investigations.

The suspect worked on one of the mushroom farms where he is suspected of fatally shooting four of his coworkers. The site, owned by California Terra Garden, is a mushroom farm where the suspected gunman worked and lived on for at least seven years, according to officials and a spokesperson for that company. A California Terra Garden spokesperson has said there were several mobile homes and trailers for employees on the property.

The suspect was also a former employee of another nearby farm where he’s accused of killing three former colleagues, San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus previously said.

In a news conference the day after the massacre, California Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted the living conditions the farm workers faced.

“Some of you should see where these folks are living, the conditions they’re in. Living in shipping containers,” the governor said. “Folks getting nine bucks an hour … no healthcare, no support, no services, but taking care of our health, providing a service to each and every one of us every single day.”

And in a statement several days later, the governor’s office called the workers’ living conditions “deplorable.”

“California is investigating the farms involved in the Half Moon Bay shooting to ensure workers are treated fairly and with the compassion they deserve,” according to a January 26 statement posted on Twitter by Daniel Villaseñor, the governor’s deputy press secretary.

At the time, a California Terra Garden spokesperson responded to the accusations, saying the governor’s comments did not reflect the living conditions of farm workers.

“The salary of all employees range from $16.50 to $24,” the spokesperson said, adding that workers receive “vacation days, company-sponsored health insurance, life/disability insurance, workman’s compensation insurance, and access to a 401(k) plan.” CNN has reached out to California Terra Garden for further details on how its employees are paid and for comment on the state agencies’ investigations.

The spokesperson said last month that the eight families who lived on the property lived in “mobile homes and large recreational vehicles” equipped with kitchens, bathrooms, showers and “standard living amenities.”

“No one lives in anything like shipping containers or tents as was erroneously reported. The families pay approximately $300 a month to rent these living spaces, well below market rate,” the company spokesperson said.

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February 10, 2023
What to expect at work this year | CNN Business

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CNN
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The pandemic has transformed work over the past three years in ways few expected. It normalized remote work, created a shortage of critical workers and drove home to organizations that employees’ mental health and need for a sane work-life balance are critical to retention and engagement.

So what does 2023 likely hold for you at your job, regardless of your industry?

There are welcome and unwelcome developments on tap, along with some potentially confusing ones, too.

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

Regardless of whether the United States slips into a recession, there will be more widespread job cuts than what we’ve seen happening so far in industries like tech, media and finance.

“We’re starting to see more layoffs pick up in other industries. I do anticipate rising layoffs in most sectors,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

But that shouldn’t be surprising, given that layoffs in 2021 and 2022 were at their lowest levels since 1993.

That said, the job market has cooled a bit — but it’s still running hot, with a high level of job openings per job seeker.

The overall slowdown in hiring is likely to continue, with employers more likely to reinstate performance-improvement plans for underperforming employees and performance-related layoffs, Challenger predicts.

And, of course, should there be a real recession, the layoffs would cut much deeper.

While there is still tension between executives and employees about how many days people should be physically present at work, hybrid work and work flexibility isn’t going away.

“Today, the majority of employers (66%) are permitting hybrid working and an additional 9% give employees the option to work from home every day,” according to benefits consulting firm Mercer.

Nevertheless, this may be the year employers start to actually enforce their minimum-days-in-the-office mandates, Challenger said.

Just this week, for example, Disney CEO Bob Iger ordered employees to return to corporate offices four days a week beginning March 1.

Front-line employees like retail workers, health care aides and security guards, whose jobs require them always to be on site, may be offered other forms of flexibility, said Emily Rose McRae, senior director of research at Gartner, a workplace consulting firm.

That could include being given a regular schedule, as opposed to working “on demand,” where they don’t know their schedule in advance, McRae said. It also could mean getting more paid leave, or that front-line workers could opt out of working certain shifts or certain days.

McRae said she sees more employers offering what she calls “proactive rest” options this year.

The idea is to actively help people recover before becoming fully depleted not only by work, but by the upending of their lives from the pandemic and the social and political upheaval of the past few years.

“The big shift is in recognizing our work force is in trouble,” McRae said.

Proactive rest can take many forms. Some employers may offer days off — whether it’s a whole week or just one day a week for a set period of time. Or it could simply mean branding a given workday as a no-meeting day.

Information technology professionals will continue to win the day at work when it comes to who gets the biggest raises and bonuses.

“Most organizations are anticipating the talent market to remain as competitive, or more competitive, at least in the first half of this year,” said Tony Guadagni, a senior principal in Gartner’s HR practice. “They will do what they have to to attract that critical talent.”

Employers’ projected increases for this year in terms of merit increases (3.9%) and total pay (4.3%) are the highest they’ve been in 15 years, according to workplace consulting firm Mercer. But given that inflation is still pacing higher than those levels, you may not feel the raise you get is making a huge difference in what you can afford — unless your skills are in high demand.

It used to be difficult to figure out whether you were being paid competitively for your talents, since companies weren’t open about what they paid others and colleagues wouldn’t discuss their pay.

But now that New York City, the state of California, and a handful of other states and localities have implemented pay transparency rules for job postings, it will be easier in 2023 to confirm you’re being paid fairly relative to your teammates, and to determine the salary range on offer if you’re looking for a new job.

Still, these laws are very new, and companies have not been uniform in how they’re handling the new rules. Some recent job postings, for instance, have advertised unhelpfully wide pay ranges — think $50,000 to $200,000.

Beyond the big benefits employers typically offer full-time staffers (e.g., subsidized health insurance, a 401(k) match, etc.), they also offer a range of secondary benefits or perks, such as tuition reimbursement, supplemental life insurance, a stipend for home office supplies or financial coaching.

Gartner and Mercer are seeing more companies let employees decide how best to spend these perk dollars by letting them direct a fixed amount of money across the secondary benefits that are most important to them.

Your organization may engage in “quiet hiring” this year, if it hasn’t already.

It’s a misleading term, in that it is neither quiet nor does it involve actual hiring.

Rather, your company will want to repurpose existing employees — possibly you, if you have relevant skills — for the employer’s highest priority projects this year.

That could be a great opportunity if you hate being limited to the same tasks of your official job, or if you want to develop new skills and work with new people in your company.

It also could be highly frustrating, especially if a company is simply putting everyone on rotation to make sure understaffed, critical tasks get done by anyone with the adequate skills to do so.

Either way, “quiet hiring” may offer an initial taste of a broader trend likely to unfold over the next several years that could spell the end of “jobs” — and specifically job descriptions as we know them, according to consulting firm Deloitte.

That’s because many employers want to transition away from being a jobs-based organization to a skills-based one so they can quickly adapt to change, address talent shortages and provide their workforce with opportunities to develop professionally, said Arthur Mazor, a principal global leader at Deloitte’s Human Capital Practice.

So instead of viewing you as a holder of Job X, your company is likely to view you as a person with an array of skills that can be deployed in many ways.

Early adopters this year can be found across various industries, Mazor said — from software makers to auto manufacturers to financial services to health care.

Even at companies that have not formalized a shift to being a skills-based organization, the change is happening anyway. Roughly 70% of workers say they’re already doing work outside of their job, according to Deloitte.

One recent example, cited in Deloitte’s latest work report, comes from M&T Bank, a leading Small Business Administration lender. Its chief talent officer told the firm, “when the Paycheck Protection Program was rolled out during the pandemic, we had to stop thinking about jobs and start thinking about skills. … By focusing on skills versus jobs — and rapidly mobilizing talent in an agile way — we outperformed our peers.”

It’s too early to determine exactly how this will play out for employees, in terms of incentives offered for switching to a new project or pinch-hitting for another department, how an employee’s work will be assessed and rewarded, and how much say they will get in the projects assigned.

But done right, Mazor said, employees should have the opportunity to share on an internal database their skills and what areas they wish to develop before being matched with a new assignment.

“This isn’t a clandestine effort. It involves worker input.”

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January 11, 2023
More false claims from George Santos about his work, education and family history emerge | CNN Politics

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CNN
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Rep.-elect George Santos made additional false claims over the years about his family history, work history and education in campaign appearances over the years, a review of statements made in two of his campaigns for Congress found.

CNN’s KFile uncovered more falsehoods from Santos, including claims he was forced to leave a New York City private school when his family’s real estate assets took a downturn and stating he represented Goldman Sachs at a top financial conference where he berated the company for investing in renewables.

CNN also reviewed more instances of Santos providing additional false history of his family’s background. In one interview, Santos said his mother’s family’s historical Jewish name was “Zabrovsky,” and later appeared to operate a GoFundMe campaign for a pet charity (which he falsely claimed was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) under that alias. Genealogists CNN previously spoke with found no evidence of Jewish or Ukrainian heritage in his family tree.

In another, he said his mother, whose family has lived in Brazil since the late 1800s, was a White immigrant from Belgium.

Santos’ campaign did not respond to CNN’s comment request.

Since reports first surfaced about his false claims, Santos has made efforts to downplay his fabrications as mere “embellishments.” But the previously unreported claims from Santos illustrate a pattern of fabricating details about his life, often in service of presenting a more compelling or interesting personal narrative. The Nassau County district attorney’s office said Wednesday that it is looking into Santos’ fabrications, though it did not specify the falsehoods it would explore.

In interviews over the past few days, Santos admitted to lying about parts of his resume, including graduating from college, but he told the New York Post that the misrepresentation of his work history at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup was a “poor choice of words.” There is no record he worked at the top financial institutions in the country, as he had previously claimed.

Santos also denied that he falsely called himself Jewish, claiming he “never claimed to be Jewish” but jokingly said he was “Jew-ish” to the New York Post. He also falsely claimed that his grandparents “survived the Holocaust” and fled Europe to escape Jewish persecution. But CNN found that Santos called himself an “American Jew” and “Latino Jew” on multiple occasions. The Republican Jewish Coalition disinvited Santos from appearing at any of its events because he “misrepresented his heritage.”

Despite the scandals, the New York Republican, who flipped his Long Island seat, said he will take office in January — spurring calls to resign from Democrats.

Here are some of the outright falsehoods CNN found:

In appearances, and in an old campaign biography, Santos claimed his parents sent him to Horace Mann, an elite private school in the Bronx.

“He began Horace Mann preparatory school in the Bronx, however, did not graduate from Horace Mann due to financial difficulties for his family,” his biography read in 2019 for his first campaign for Congress that Santos lost. “He obtained a GED during his senior year.”

Santos also made the same claim in an appearance on a YouTube show in 2020.

“They sent me to a good prep school, which was Horace Mann Prep in the Bronx. And, in my senior year of prep school, unfortunately my parents fell on hard times, which was something that would later become known as the depression of 2008. But we were hit a little earlier on with the overleveraging of real estate. And the market started to implode. Um, and the first thing to go was the prep school. You know, you, you can’t afford a $2,500 tuition at that point, right? So anyway, um, I left school, uh, four months to graduation.”

But the claim is false, according to the school.

“We’ve searched the records and there is no evidence that George Santos (or any alias) attended Horace Mann,” Ed Adler, a spokesman for the school, told CNN.

“Have you ever heard of a Goldman Sachs employee take the stage at the largest private equity conference in the world – SALT, run by Anthony Scaramucci – and berate their employer? Well, I did that,” Santos said on a local podcast this summer. “And I did it in the fashion of renewable energy and global warming. This was the panel I was on. And they’re all talking about solar, wind, and this was back, what, seven years ago now? And I said, you know what, this is a scam. It’s taxpayer money that gets subsidized.”

The claim is entirely fictional, according to both Goldman Sachs – which has said Santos never worked there – and Scaramucci, who runs the conference.

Scaramucci told CNN in a message there is not only no record of him appearing on a panel, but no record of him even attending the conference.

In an appearance on a Fox News digital show in February, Santos said his maternal grandparents changed their Jewish last name from Zabrovsky – a claim for which there is no evidence and records contradict.

“We don’t carry the Ukrainian last name. For a lot of people who are descendants of World War II refugees or survivors of the Holocaust, a lot of names and paperwork were changed in the name of survival. So I don’t carry the family last name that would’ve been Zabrovsky. I carry my mother’s maiden name which is the Dutch side of the family.”

Megan Smolenyak, an author and professional genealogist who helped research Santos’ family tree at CNN’s request, previously told CNN, “There’s no sign of Jewish and/or Ukrainian heritage and no indication of name changes along the way.”

Santos deleted his former private Facebook account last week, but CNN’s KFile reviewed records indicating he used the alias of “Anthony Zabrovsky” for fundraising for a pet charity. The GoFundMe page under that alias no longer exists. CNN reached out to GoFundMe but did not receive a response.

In one radio appearance from December 2020, Santos falsely claimed that his mother “fled socialism” in Europe and moved to the United States.

“My father fled socialism in Brazil. My mother fled socialism in Europe, and they came here and built a family. And today they can be proud to have a son who is a well accomplished businessman, who is now running for United States Congress. That’s something that wasn’t in the cards for my family,” Santos said.

He also claimed in another interview from 2020 that he “grew up with a White Caucasian mother, an immigrant from Belgium.”

But Santos’ mother was born in Brazil, according to genealogical records.

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December 29, 2022

Best standing desks of 2022 | CNN Underscored

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Whether you’re a professional, a student or somewhere in between, the “new normal” has meant trading in a proper desk for a work-from-home space. It could be your kitchen tablet, a small hallway turned into an office or even tossing together something in the bedroom. But what about a standing desk or convertor desk? The trend that has taken the professional industry by storm is now readily available — with literally countless options — and could be the perfect solution for working from home.

That’s why we’ve been testing a handful of standing desks for months on end — from assembly to entire days spent on each — to find the best one for you.

Best standing desk

Best standing desk overall

The Branch Adjustable Standing Desk is a near-perfect desk that can handle multiple monitors, dual laptops and a plethora of knickknacks. It’s also incredibly sturdy, with one of the best builds we’ve encountered.

Branch’s standing desk might only come in two sizes and a handful of colors, but it doesn’t corner the product into oblivion. Instead, it keeps a high level of craftsmanship in a standing desk that ultimately rises above the best with seamless motion, a sturdy build and a design that doesn’t distract.

It starts with the desktop — in this case, a 48-inch wide by 30-inch depth particle board laminate. You can also opt for white or a dark walnut finish. Either route, though, you’re stuck with a set of legs in white. What’s especially lovely about the Branch option is that the depth is wider than the average desk. This makes it easy for multiple monitors, a laptop (maybe a tablet as well), a notebook with plenty of room to spare.

Furthermore, the desk’s front edge has a comfortable rounded bevel, making it pleasant to rest your arms on or lean into it without the feeling of a sharp corner jutting into your abdomen. During our testing, spills of water, coffee and never stained the finish, nor did the tabletop scratch. The side edges did peel a bit and showed some scuffs — but from pretty unnatural, heavy bangs.

The Branch also features a metal plate in the center rear of the desk that can either tilt backward or forward to reveal a brush system, through which you can snugly run cables to keep them tidy — and it even kept loose Lightning and USB-C cables from falling through.

While it’s not curved with an ergonomic cutout in the front like our previous overall pick — the ApexDesk Elite Series — we feel the Branch Standing Desk is a better overall package. Setup as a whole took about 20 minutes, and found a drill sped things up a bit. Branch does include all the necessary tools in the box and can be done with ease. The desk comes in two boxes — one with the legs and one that’s the desktop, and the directions were clear and thorough.

Heights range from 25 to 52 inches, and you can make adjustments by the centimeter at most heights. Whether adjusting up or down, the transition was one of the smoothest we tested no matter how heavy the items we had atop the desk. The Branch comes standard with a control switch that’s on the left-hand side that features an LED dot display showing the exact height, an up and a down switch and four presets. Those presets are easy to set and one touch to operate.

The Branch was also one of the sturdiest desks we tested, never rocking side to side or back and forth.

Best customizable standing desk

The Uplift V2-Commercial Standing Desk offers the widest breadth of customization out of any standing desk we’ve encountered, from size to finish to keypads — in addition to being a high-quality desk.

Read our review

Best budget standing desk

The SHW Electric Height-Adjustable Computer Desk is a surprisingly functional, sturdy desk at an incredibly affordable price, comparatively. It was a breeze to assemble, comes with a cable management tray and features a digital keypad with memory presets.

Read our review

	Best standing desk overall	Most customizable standing desk	Best budget standing desk
What we loved about it	The Branch Adjustable Standing Desk is a near-perfect desk — the sturdiest we tested (no matter the height) and one of the most comfortable to belly-up to thanks to its a slightly diagonally cut finish in the front. Setup took just 20 minutes.	We value choice. And with such an investment, we appreciated Uplift’s customizability — from size to finish to keypads — that ensures you’re getting the exact desk you want.	We were surprised by just how sturdy this affordable desk was once assembled, with minimal wobble from front to back and side to side at all heights. The this desk moves smoothly up and down without a hitch. Setup took just 25 minutes.
What we didn’t like about it	While you can choose from several finishes for the desktop, you’re stuck with white legs. Also, the side edges did peel a bit and showed some scuffs — but from pretty unnatural, heavy bangs.	The Uplift was one of the toughest desks to assemble, thanks to and assembly took nearly an hour due to all the parts required. Expect an hour-plus of assembly time.	We should note that the desktop is actually two planks of wood rather than one solid piece as the product photos may lead you to believe. Certainly looks and feels a bit cheaper than the other models highlighted.
Key specs	48-inch wide by 30-inch depth; adjustable from 25 inches to 52 inches high	42-inch wide by 30-inch depth up to 80-inch wide by 30-inch depth; adjustable from 22.6-inches to 48.7-inches high	47.25-inch wide by 24-inch depth; adjustable from Adjustable from 28-inches to 46-inches high
Price	$699	$599+	$209.87

The testing process for these desks lasted nearly two months. We unboxed and assembled each desk, paying special attention to the amount of time each unboxing and building process took. We noted how long it took to put each one together, how clear the product’s instructions were and if any special tools were needed. Once each electric standing desk was fully built, we used it at both sitting and standing heights; desk converters, of course, were used only in standing positions. We used each product for at least three full workdays and carefully noted how each desk performed in terms of ease of adjustments and ergonomics. Overall, we evaluated them on what we considered the most important factors: function, build and length of warranty. After tallying up scores for each product, we also took value into consideration, factoring the starting price of each desk with regard to the features it delivered on, to determine our final winners.

We broke the testing into the following categories and subcategories:

Function

Comfort: We made note of whether the desk provided proper ergonomics at all heights, and, where applicable, in both sitting and standing positions.
Number of different height adjustments: We noted the range of heights the desk was capable of reaching.
Ease of adjustments: We considered how easy it was to adjust the height of the desk, noting how smoothly it was able to move up and down as well as how easy and intuitive the keypad, if there was one, was to operate.
Sturdiness from front to back: We noted how much the desk wobbled, if it all, from front to back.
Sturdiness from side to side: We noted how much the desk wobbled, if it all, from side to side.
Organization: We noted if the desk came standard with any slots/grommets to organize wires, cable management trays, extra outlets. etc.

Build

Build quality: We looked at the quality of the desk’s materials, assessing whether it felt cheap or flimsy, as well as whether the desktop was prone to scratches and/or smudges.
Ease of assembly: We considered the time it took to unbox and fully assemble the desk, how clear the instructions were, if any special tools were necessary as well as if the included tools were efficient in the building process.
Appearance: We assessed the aesthetics of the desk — how it looked in a room/home office, if it was available in different colors and if so, how many.
Size: We noted how much equipment could fit on the desk, how much room it took up and whether it was available in more than one size and if so, how many.

Warranty

We looked into the warranty for each product and noted the length of coverage and what parts were covered.

ApexDesk Elite Series 60” (starting at $599.99)

The ApexDesk Elite Series 60” — our previous pick for best standing desk overall — is a sturdy, gorgeous standing desk available in two desktop sizes, both big enough to accommodate multiple monitors and devices. With a curved front, it’s more comfortable to use in both sitting and standing positions compared with the other standing desks we tried, allowing us to sit closer to the desk. It also comes standard with covered grommets to manage your wires. When we re-tested against the Branch, we found the latter had a sturdier and overall more premium build — and, therefore, more worth your money.

Fully Jarvis EcoTop Standing Desk (starting at $519 for 30×24”; fully.com)

Let it be known that we adored this desk, for myriad reasons. A newer model produced by Fully’s Jarvis line, the EcoTop is the brand’s most eco-friendly design to date, crafted from locally sourced fiber in Oregon that’s a minimum 92% pre-consumer, recycled or recovered, meeting the Eco-Certified Composites (ECC) Sustainability Standard. Beyond this new desktop, it’s identical in build and function to the customer-favorite (and also earth-friendly) Jarvis Fully Bamboo Standing Desk — and it’s easy to see why it’s so beloved. It scored top marks for its range of sitting and standing heights (25.5” to 51.1”, the second largest range of all desks we tested, displayed in increments of 0.1”) as well as its ease of adjustments, with the industry-standard four memory presets being intuitive to program. This desk felt high-quality — according to Fully, it can support upwards of 350 pounds — though a bit more wobbly from side to side at higher heights than our best overall pick. Similar to the Uplift’s warranty, Jarvis desks are covered by an impressive all-inclusive 10-year warranty on all frame components, including motors and electronics, and a five-year warranty on desktop surfaces, excluding normal wear and tear, and damage caused by improper assembly, disassembly or repair.

Ultimately, this desk lost points when it came to assembly. It was one of the most complicated builds of our pool, taking the most time and clocking in at a bit over an hour; particularly we found that the giant allen key, with prongs of equal lengths, made things clumsy to assemble. While the EcoTop features two uncovered grommets at the back corners for your cables, if you’d like to attach cord organizer, you’ll need a power drill to do so, as there are no pre-drilled holes. (We did appreciate that it came packaged with a surge protector, however.) The EcoTop is available in six sizes, and in black and white finishes.

This is a solid desk — and was indeed a solid contender for winner — particularly if you value sustainable, earth-friendly materials.

Vari Electric Standing Desk (starting at $650 for 60”; amazon.com; starting at $695 for 60” models; officedepot.com)

Another one of our favorites, the Vari is a classic electric standing desk, and there’s a reason — well, many reasons — why you may have seen it in myriad office spaces throughout the country as the standing desk du jour. For one, it’s impossibly sturdy, racking up top marks in that category during our testing. And despite its heavyweight build, it was by far the easiest of the non-budget-priced electric standing desks to assemble, taking approximately 20 minutes to do so. The Vari moves up and down smoothly, from a minimum height of 25” to a maximum of 50.2” (the highest maximum height of all desks we tested), and its LED keypad displays increments of 0.1. Programming the four memory presets is easy as pie; we didn’t even need to consult an instruction manual for that. And while there wasn’t much difference among all our standing desks in terms of motor noise, we’d contend that the Vari was noticeably quieter than the others in our pool. It has a five-year warranty for all components.

The Vari Electric Standing Desk is available in two sizes, 60×30”, 48×30” (starting at $550 at Amazon and Office Depot for the latter) as well as five finishes. Really the only place where it lost major points was in the category of organization. It features no grommets to contain wires, but rather a slightly indented back should you want to place it flush against the wall, so you’ll still have space for all your cables to comfortably hang; an additional wire tray is sold separately. (We did appreciate the complimentary bag hook that was included with our shipment.) The Vari came in just one point behind our overall winner, the ApexDesk Elite, so suffice it to say that we would recommend this desk in a heartbeat, so long as you can make do with that caveat.

Readydesk 2 Adjustable Standing Desk ($154.99; amazon.com)

While we were fans of this converter’s artsy, minimalist design, constructed from sustainable birchwood (it just screams “Brooklyn architect,” does it not?), admittedly we can understand how not everyone might be — and how it may not necessarily vibe with your decor scheme. Aesthetics aside, we appreciated how easily this converter assembles: Literally, it took just five minutes to unbox and slot the shelves into the base, no tools necessary. Because of this, it’s a good option for students living in dorms, or anyone else who may be moving around a lot and have minimal desktop space to work with. Disassembling is just as simple if you need to quickly get it out of the way and store it in a corner without taking up much space at all. Despite its lightweight build (it weighs in at less than 15 pounds), we found the Readydesk 2 to be impressively sturdy, both from front to back and side to side. It’s also designed with two keyhole-esque slots on each ledge to manage wires. The product has a one-year warranty free of defects in craftsmanship and material and a generous 100-day free return policy in the US.

It fell short in a few categories, however: It’s available in just one size and color, and doesn’t provide as much room for equipment as other converters in our testing pool did. Its unfinished edges had us worried we might snag the fabric of our sleeve on it (a valid concern among reviewers as well, as we later learned). Because of the lack of grips at the base, depending on the surface beneath it, it could be prone to sliding, although we had no issues in this regard. And, given its unique design, it’s not the most ideal product if two or more people of different heights are sharing use of it, as you have remove the piece of wood and manually move it to a different slot if you’d like to change up the adjustments, which is easy enough, but obviously not as simple as raising or lowering a lever.

Flexispot Standing Desk 48×30” ($249.99; amazon.com)

The Flexispot Standing Desk is another budget-priced standing desk model, similar to the SHW. It’s available in black, white and mahogany finishes, and while it does look quite sleek, and the desktop is indeed one solid piece rather than two narrow pieces assembled side by side, for the same price as our best budget winner, it comes with some noticeable downfalls. For one, the basic model includes a keypad with only an up and down button; the desk has a standing range from 28–47.6”, but in order to know what height you’re standing at (if that’s important to you), you’ll have to tack on another $90 for the “standard” model, which is 55” long and includes a digital LED keypad with memory presets. There’s also a smaller, 42×24” model, for $244.99.

We also noticed significant wobble once fully assembled, mostly from side to side but also from back to front. And on the topic of assembly: this desk arrives in two boxes, both pretty lightweight, but the instructions were confusing at times. A particularly baffling example: One step was to loosen bolts and stretch a rod, but the instructions didn’t specify to what length to stretch it. So we guessed, and when it came time to add the desktop, we had to loosen the bolts once again and then measure it to the correct length. Another step also required backtracking and unscrewing screws from a previous step. This desk comes with a five-year warranty for the frame, motor and other mechanisms, and a two-year warranty for the controller and switch, electronics.

Seville Classics 27.8” Tilting Sit-Stand Height Adjustable Mobile Laptop Computer Desk Cart with Mouse Side Ergonomic Table ($44.99; homedepot.com)

If you’re looking for a simple sit-stand option with enough room for your laptop and a mouse, and a laptop and a mouse alone, this Seville Classics desk is one worth considering. At just a hair under $50, unsurprisingly, you’re not getting a super-sturdy, smart standing desk option — but you are getting a product that gets the job done (the job being: providing the option to stand while at your computer), and on wheels to boot. Assembly was easy enough, as the desk is lightweight, and though the flimsy hexagon key wrench proved a bit difficult to use, we were able to build it in approximately 25 minutes. It comes with a one-year limited warranty.

The desk adjusts from a minimum of 27.9” to a maximum of 40.7”, so if you’re above, say, 5’9”, we can’t imagine you’d find this the most ergonomic product to use. We should also note that the desktop’s tilt is not adjustable, i.e, you cannot position it parallel with the floor, and the manual twist-lock knob can be a bit annoying to use to make adjustments to heights. Bottom line: If you’re on a tight budget and looking for something that’ll allow you to take standing breaks from time to time, this is a perfectly adequate solution. It’s a desk that’s perhaps best suited to students, children, and those with minimal space.

Vivo Height Adjustable 32-Inch Standing Desk Converter (starting at $109.95, originally $119.95; amazon.com)

This Vivo converter was quite similar in both build and function to the Flexispot converter. Assembly required only attaching the keyboard tray to the base, which was simple enough, and adjustment is controlled via lever. It’s a standard desk riser, and we found its sturdiness to rival Flexispot’s as well, but ultimately we didn’t select it as a winner for a few reasons: We took value into consideration, and the Vivo is available only in one size, at a starting price of $119.99, versus Flexispot’s $99.99 for its 31-inch option. (For $159.99, you can snag the Vivo in light wood or white finishes, or dark wood for $179.99.) The width of both the keyboard and desktop are a bit smaller than the Flexispot converter we tested, at 10” and 15.75”, respectively, though it does rise to a maximum height of 19.5,” one inch higher than our winning converter does. It comes with two cable clips to stick to the underside of the product, and it has a three-year warranty. If you’re seeking a finish that isn’t solid black, could make use of another inch of height as a tradeoff for some desktop space, and you’re willing to shell out a bit more cash, we think the Vivo is a fine option.

Ergo Desktop Kangaroo Pro Junior ($399; amazon.com)

This desktop converter is unique in its design, and we appreciated the dual ergonomics at play here: Basically, the desktop work surface and your attached monitor adjust separately, allowing you to customize the setup more so than typically possible with a traditional desk riser. The desktop surface, which measures 24×18” — enough to fit a laptop, or a keyboard and mouse — is adjustable to 14.5” above your desk. You’ll have to mount your monitor, and though it took us a bit to figure out the twist-knob situation in order to adjust our monitor, we no sooner got the hang of it. However, we found the removable stabilization leg to, initially, be quite confusing, and ultimately, a crucial design flaw; while the adjustable rod is meant to provide extra stability to your desktop at all heights, we found it difficult to stay put, and ultimately not a reliable source of stability after all. The Kangaroo Pro Junior does, however, take up minimal space, and if you’re working with a single monitor and a keyboard, we could see why you might be interested in this product.

High Rise Height Adjustable Electric Full Standing Desk DC840B (starting at $499.99, originally $609.99; victortech.com)

The highlight of the Victor Technology’s High Rise standing — available in 4-foot top or 3-foot top versions — features a deep work space paired with various height levels. All of this allowed us to comfortably fit a laptop, phone, papers, water bottle and iPad with space to spare. Made from materials including wood and metal, the build is sturdy no matter the height at which it’s set. Taking less than 20 minutes to assemble, the desk came with tools to put it together and straightforward directions.

There’s a memory function which lets you save four preferable heights — just tap the button and it adjusts to that exact height, ranging between 28.7 to 48 inches. Better yet, for anyone who works around other people, the desk is quiet when moving between heights.

The High Rise does lack additional perks, like desktop customization, options for additional accessories or a curved design like the ApexDesk. The price is very similar to our top-ranked standing desks, but for the same price, many of those desks offer unique features that create an individualized experience for customers, including white board and laminate desktops.

Read more from CNN Underscored’s hands-on testing:

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November 29, 2022

Bernie Sanders launches Senate probe into Amazon warehouse safety conditions | CNN Business

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CNN
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Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday launched a Senate investigation into working and safety conditions at Amazon warehouses, adding to federal scrutiny on the labor practices of one of the country’s largest employers.

Sanders, the chairman of the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, also unveiled a website where Amazon workers can submit stories about their experiences at the company to help inform the investigation.

“The company’s quest for profits at all costs has led to unsafe physical environments, intense pressure to work at unsustainable rates, and inadequate medical attention for tens of thousands of Amazon workers every year,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announcing the probe.

Over the years, some Amazon workers have described the “grueling” experience of long hours racing around warehouses that can be the size of 28 football fields while the company tracks their every move.

Sanders has been one of Amazon’s most vocal and high-profile antagonists. He has sparred with the company over its labor practices and joined a rally of workers looking to unionize one of its facilities. In 2018, following heavy criticism from Sanders, Amazon announced it was raising its minimum wage for US employees to $15 an hour.

In his letter Tuesday, Sanders argued that Amazon warehouses “are uniquely dangerous,” and cited recent citations from the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration against Amazon.

After inspecting three Amazon warehouse facilities, OSHA issued hazard letters in January related to injury risks from workers lifting packages. An Amazon spokesperson at the time said the company “strongly” disagrees with OSHA’s claims and intends to appeal.

Sanders also cited a report from a group of labor unions that said Amazon’s rate of serious injuries at warehouses was more than double the rate at non-Amazon warehouses, as well as “concerning stories from workers around the country about the toll that working at Amazon warehouses takes on their bodies.” (Amazon said it disputes how the data in the labor unions’ report characterizes serious injury rate.)

Steve Kelly, an Amazon spokesperson, told CNN that the company “reviewed the letter and strongly disagree with Senator Sanders’ assertions.”

“We take the safety and health of our employees very seriously,” Kelly, the Amazon spokesperson, said in a statement. “There will always be ways to improve, but we’re proud of the progress we’ve made which includes a 23% reduction in recordable injuries across our U.S. operations since 2019. We’ve invested more than $1 billion into safety initiatives, projects, and programs in the last four years, and we’ll continue investing and inventing in this area because nothing is more important than our employees’ safety.”

Sanders also has an open invitation to come tour one of its facilities, the company said.

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April 12, 2021

Tag: workplace health and safety

Best standing desk

Other top standing desks we recommend