Federal officials gathered at a public forum in Eugene, Oregon on January 31, 2007 to discuss new efforts to protect the health and safety of contract workers on national forest lands, and hear comments from forest workers and contractors about their experiences with forest working conditions.

Among the eighty people in attendance were Mark Rey, USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, and Alex Passantino, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. They heard approximately thirty workers and contractors speak about some of the challenges and hazards they face working in the woods.

The issue of poor working conditions for forest workers gained national public attention in 2005 after the Sacramento Bee published a series of articles called “The Pineros: Men of the Pines” detailing the dangerous work environments and unfair labor practices experienced by many Latino forest workers. In 2006, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests held a hearing to examine the role of the federal government in protecting the health and welfare of forest workers.

In the last year, the Forest Service modified its contracts to address some of the safety and wage concerns and instructed its contracting officers to report working condition violations and halt a project if working conditions prove unsafe.

The problem of unsafe working conditions for forest workers has not yet been solved and the experiences workers shared at the forum brought this point vividly to life. Accounts of a lack of safety equipment and training, long workdays with few or no breaks, injuries and being paid less than they earned were shared by many of the workers present.

The Forest Service is required to accept the lowest bid for a job and this can give an advantage to unscrupulous contractors who cut costs at the expense of the safety and welfare of their workers. Some contractors spoke about the competitive disadvantage they experience by paying a fair wage and ensuring safe conditions for their workers.

The federal officials pledged to continue to work to eliminate the kinds of abuses detailed during the forum and to take the information shared and incorporate it into their ongoing efforts to improve working conditions for forest workers.

Sustainable Northwest worked together with the University of Oregon-Ecosystem Workforce Program, Watershed Research and Training Center, Communities Committee, Alliance of Forest Workers and Harvesters and the University of Oregon to sponsor the event.