Early returns have indicated that Washington voters have said no to a state-mandated ergonomics rule.
Leading by a slim margin, estimated to be between 52 and 53 percent of the vote, the controversial citizen’s initiative, I-841, appears to be ready to pass into law.
I-841, sponsored by the Building Industry Association of Washington president Randy Gold as a private citizen, sought to overturn the existing state ergonomics rule and prevent the state from enacting any future ergonomics rules. The passage of I-841 means that the ergonomics rule, criticized by business groups for being costly and vague, will be null and void before enforcement was scheduled to begin next July.
In a report in The Olympian, State Labor Council president Rick Bender stated that the citizens’ passage of I-841 could probably be credited to the proponents’ television ads that warned citizens of job and health benefit losses that could come as a result of the ergonomics rule. “They probably did three or four times the TV we were able to afford to do,” Bender told The Olympian. “The economy is tough right now. People are scared about losing their jobs.”
Source: The Olympian