Workers need to register

More than 100,000 rescue workers and volunteers who worked in the vicinity of the World Trade Center after the 9/11 attacks are eligible to register with the Workers Compensation Board, according to the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health. They must register before Aug. 13 to preserve their right to receive medical treatment and wage replacement benefits. Since the law's passage, about 40,000 people have registered.

Last year, the state Workers' Compensation Law was changed to allow workers and volunteers who helped out in the area of the World Trade Center to file a claim for workers' compensation if they have or develop in the future a 9/11-related illness.

NYCOSH, a non-profit organization, is among the groups that have set up a hotline and Web site to provide information at www.nycosh.org/pdfs/911workers.pdf.

Toxic trade worries unionists

Members of the United Steelworkers led a delegation of labor groups that descended on the offices of more than 100 members of Congress in a "Get the Lead Out" Day of Action.

Concerned about the flow of toxic trade in the United States, participants earlier this year urged lawmakers to support the U.S. Food and Product Responsibility Act. The measure would safeguard Americans against toxic foods, medicines, toys, tires and other imported products.