FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
May 20, 2019

For more information, contact:
Contact: David Rosen,  [email protected] , (202) 588-7742
Angela Bradbery,  [email protected] , (202) 588-7741
Janette Fennell, president & founder, [email protected] , 484-278-4641
Amber Rollins, director, [email protected] , 913-732-2792
Stronger Summertime Safeguards Are Needed

Report Features Health, Safety, Transportation and Worker Protections Needed to Check Corporate Greed, Safeguard Summer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Stronger public protections are needed to keep summertime safe, healthy and affordable, according to a  report  from the Coalition for Sensible Safeguards released today. “Safeguarding Summer” features 10 worker, health, safety and transportation standards needed to check corporate greed and ensure that summertime is a relaxing, fun time of year for families across the country.

“Summer is supposed to be when we take time off from work to spend with family and friends, enjoy picnics, barbeques and cookouts, lay out by the pool, head to the beach, take road trips across the country or fly to far-flung places,” the report reads. “But what happens if you’ve been deprived of the wages needed to take time off or travel, if road trips, flights and tour boats are potentially dangerous, if it’s way too hot to work or play outside, and there’s a good chance the food and water may be hazardous to your health? Suddenly, summertime looks less like a dreamy vacation and more like a scorching hot nightmare.”

This frightening version of summer is far closer to reality than it should be. That the standards called for in the report aren’t already in place is the result of a decades-long war on public protections that has escalated in recent years – led by regulated industries and their deep-pocketed astroturf organizations, the Trump administration and conservatives in Congress. As the report shows, this war on regulation has an extremely high cost – one borne by workers, families, businesses and local communities across the country.

“Safeguarding Summer”  was authored by leading groups in the  Coalition for Sensible Safeguards  – an alliance of more than 160 labor, scientific, research, good government, faith, community, women’s, public health, consumer, civil rights, environmental and public interest organizations committed to defending and advancing our system of public protections. Experts on each safeguard are listed in the report and are available to speak with journalists.
 
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KidsAndCars.org is a national nonprofit dedicated to saving the lives of young children and pets in and around vehicles. The organization is devoted to eliminating vehicle-related risks that were previously unrecognized through data collection, research and analysis, public education and awareness programs, policy change, product redesign and supporting families to channel their grief into positive change. These everyday incidents include being run over, hot car deaths, carbon monoxide poisoning, car theft with children/animals inside, falls, knocking cars into gear, drowning inside vehicle, underage drivers, power window strangulation, trunk entrapment, etc.

The  Coalition for Sensible Safeguards  is an alliance of more than 160 consumer, small business, labor, scientific, research, good government, faith, community, public health, education, consumer, women, civil rights, environmental and public interest groups — representing millions of Americans. We are joined in the belief that our nation's system of regulatory safeguards should secure our quality of life, pave the way for a sound economy and benefit us all.  View all releases from the coalition.