Now is the time for us to become the leaders we have been waiting for

The budget crisis in California threatens to cut even more resources from the state workplace health and safety agency, Cal/OSHA. This crisis is completely artificial as there are tremendous resources in the state-if the corporations, and the rich who own them, paid taxes. But even with adequate funding, the goal of reducing worker injuries, illnesses, and fatalities can be achieved only by a grassroots occupational safety and health movement that empowers informed workers to be active in protecting their own health at work, and ensures that employers and government mobilize the resources required for safe and healthy workplaces. This is the text of a speech given at the Worksafe Mini-Summit for a Revitalized State Occupational Safety and Health Program, Emeryville, CA, March 25, 2011.