Northup led fight to curb impact on businesses:
  Louisvillian says regulations would cost employers billions

  Associated Press

  WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Anne Northup led the fight in the House yesterday to do away with
  regulations aimed at reducing workplace injuries caused by repetitive motion.

  The Louisville Republican spent the day in front of television cameras as well as behind closed doors,
  where she tried to sway undecided colleagues. ''I'm lobbying and whipping,'' Northup said during an
  afternoon break.

  Northup called the Clinton administration's rules a ''sledgehammer approach'' to governing that would
  cost businesses billions.

  The issue is not a new one for the three-term congresswoman.

  Last year, she inserted language into a spending bill to block the government from issuing the rules.
  The provision was later removed under the threat of a presidential veto, and the Clinton administration
  issued the rules in January. Businesses were given until October to comply.

  The entire Kentucky congressional delegation supported the repeal of the rules except for Rep. Ken
  Lucas, the Covington-area lawmaker and the delegation's only Democrat.

  But perhaps no other House member has devoted as much time and energy to the issue as Northup.

  She called the previous administration ''tone deaf'' to the concerns of businesses, and she said the rules
  would make employers responsible for injuries workers sustained or aggravated off the job.

  ''It makes no sense to have a rule that makes only the workplace responsible,'' said Northup, who
  added that she got a repetitive stress injury from chopping vegetables at home.

  Union leaders are critical of Northup's stance.

  ''We deplore her efforts to kill the ergonomics regulations that have been hard fought and worked on
  for years,'' said Bill Londrigan, president of the Kentucky AFL-CIO.

  He said the growth of the auto manufacturing and poultry industries in Kentucky make the need for
  ergonomics regulations especially pressing, because employees at those plants are likely to experience
  repetitive-stress injuries.

  Londrigan said the rules are important, because they would require businesses to take preventive
  measures. ''They're not going to do it unless they're required to,'' he said.

  Not so, says Latondra Newton, manager of government relations for Toyota Motor Manufacturing
  North America Inc. She said the company, which employs about 8,000 people in Kentucky, works to
  prevent repetitive-stress injuries.

  For instance, she says a doctor works at Toyota's Georgetown plant to ensure people are not putting
  themselves at risk.

  Northup says other companies also are taking measures to prevent repetitive-stress injuries. She said
  workers' compensation laws and the need to have a productive work force are incentives behind those
  efforts.

  Nationally, the repetitive-motion rules would cover an estimated 102 million workers at 6.1 million work
  sites.

  the end of the day, the House voted 223-206 for legislation that would overturn the ergonomics rules.
  That happened a day after the Senate voted in favor of repealing them. The measure now goes to
  President Bush, who has signaled his support for it.
 

Copyright 2002 The Courier-Journal.