North Dakota has not managed to substantially reverse its rate of workplace fatalities. An annual report puts the state in the top five in the category.

The findings, from the national arm of the AFL-CIO, show more than 5,000 people were killed on the job in the U.S. in 2022, and it ranks North Dakota second in the nation for the highest worker death rate.

Landis Larson, president of the North Dakota AFL-CIO, feels the state is not seeing much improvement compared to past reports. The authors said the Biden administration has stepped up safety enforcement but Occupational Safety and Health Administration resources are still low.

Larson emphasized the lack of help is felt locally.

"North Dakota does not have its own state OSHA program, so they rely on the federal government," Larson pointed out. "We only have seven inspectors in the state. "

In addition to boosting federal resources, Larson would like to see North Dakota overhaul policy to the way for more legal action against employers failing to prioritize safety. In a statement, the state's labor commissioner said worker deaths are lower than a decade ago and his team is committed to working with partner agencies to safeguard workers.

Larson also called on workers themselves to take action if they observe dangerous conditions on the job.

"If you have a safety issue, then you call OSHA," Larson urged. "If you give them your name, you will be protected by OSHA and that will actually spur an investigation into your workplace."

Meanwhile, agriculture and mining, oil and gas extraction topped the national list for industries with the highest fatality rates, as well as being the major drivers of North Dakota's economy.


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Half of Americans go to work every day in the service industry, doing clerical work or in construction and other manual labor jobs but fewer than 2% of state lawmakers have any experience in working-class jobs, according to a new report.

Nicholas Carnes, political scientist at Duke University and co-author of the report, said when a broad section of the workforce is not represented, their concerns can be missed in critical policy decisions. He pointed to the old political saying: "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."

"If there's a problem facing most lawyers, you can be darn sure the state legislature's going to care about it," Carnes asserted. "But if there's a problem facing working class people, our institutions can miss it when we have so few in office."

Just 1% of Republicans, and 2% of Democrats in state legislatures came from working class occupations in 2023. The report echoed warnings by Northwestern and Princeton University researchers American democracy has become a plutocracy. While ordinary voters have virtually zero impact on national policies, the decisions are dominated by wealthy individuals and business interests.

Carnes emphasized state legislatures make decisions with significant consequences and if an entire economic class of people are not in the room when policy decisions are being made, it can have a huge effect on the kinds of problems getting addressed, as well as proposed solutions.

"If no one in the room has been on what we used to call food stamps, is the $15 a month reduction a big deal?" Carnes asked. "No, it's not a big deal ... well yeah, it actually is a big deal for some people."

Very few Coloradans can support a family on $44,000 a year, the current salary for state legislators, or take time off work and raise the amount of money needed to run an effective campaign. Carnes believes getting state legislatures to better reflect the population they represent will take some work.

"Democracy's a good thing," Carnes noted. "But this is an unintended side effect of just how burdensome it is to run for office in any setting. And so, we need to think about targeted interventions that will make running for office more accessible to working-class people."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.


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Help is available for people looking to break out of a low-wage, "go-nowhere" job because the nonprofit Merit America is expanding its training courses, thanks to a huge new grant.

Crankstart, a family foundation based in San Francisco, is giving more than $15 million over the next few years.

Connor Diemand-Youman co-founder and co-CEO of Merit America, said they have trained 10,000 learners across the U.S. since 2018.

"At Merit America, we believe that low-wage work should be a launching pad, not a life sentence," Diemand-Youman explained. "If we can provide the right coaching and support, everyone anywhere should be able to access family-sustaining wages and a career that they love, not just a job that they have to show up to. And this is the American dream."

He pointed out Merit America facilitates online courses on tech skills with intensive career coaching and peer support on a flexible schedule to accommodate learners currently in the workforce. The programs average about 25 hours a week for 20 weeks, and cover topics like data analytics, project management and cybersecurity.

A study by the University of Virginia found alumni of the program see their average salaries jump from $26,000 a year to $50,000, three months or more after graduation.

Diemand-Yauman noted the program costs a maximum of $5,700, which learners pay off over five years once they graduate and get a job making at least $40,000 dollars a year.

"We designed the programs to be fast, flexible and affordable," Diemand-Yauman emphasized. "Which we find are the main barriers for folks who are stuck in low-wage work and want to get into a new career."

Merit America estimated the new partnership will allow the program to serve 2,000 more learners, driving about $200 million in wage gains. Anyone over 18 can apply.

It is the first full week of contract negotiations for janitors who clean the buildings of some of the region's biggest employers.

The janitors, represented by SEIU Local 49, work at places like the Oregon Health and Science University Hospital and the U.S. Bancorp Tower. Their current contract expires the end of this month.

Janitors were on the front lines during the COVID-19 pandemic and the union said it wants to make sure the essential quality of their work is recognized. Another focus is the rising cost of living.

Elena Jimenez, a janitor at Adidas, said the health benefits are helpful but she hopes the new contract will lower the cost.

"They can help us get our pay a little bit less than what we are paying right now because the cost of living is really hard right now," Jimenez explained.

The cost of living in Portland increased 22% between 2010 and 2020, with the cost of housing peaking 30% higher than the national average, according to a 2021 report. Last week, about 100 people rallied outside the Oregon Convention Center in Portland on Friday to show support for the janitors.

Renato Quintero, vice president of property services on the SEIU Local 49 executive board and a janitor at Intel, wants the companies employing union workers to understand retaining them benefits both the workers and their employers.

"To offer good jobs with good benefits will be better for the retention of the workers," Quintero contended. "Instead of spending all the amount of resources looking for new people that don't want to stay there for a long time."

For the first time, bargaining for SEIU Local 49 janitors and security officers is happening at the same time. Both contracts combined will affect nearly 2,000 workers.