SEMCOSH Staff


SEMCOSH Board of Directors s

Odillia Avellaneda, LaSed

Jim Burton

Larry Fox

Mark Kaufmann

John Martinez, UAW 22

Francisco Salano

Glenn Shelton, NPMHU 307

Southeast Michigan Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health

SEMCOSH was founded in 1981 out of a state Right to Know campaign. One early supporter was Bernie Firestone of ILGWU who gave the new group space in a union hall.

In 1999 SEMCOSH became bilingual - English & Spanish through work with a successful UAW organizing drive at an auto parts supplier which employed a large number of Spanish speaking immigrant workers. SEMCOSH has remained engaged in assisting organizers to use safety and health as an issue in unionization drives.

SEMCOSH staff are members of UAW 2200, amalgamated with Detroit Public Library workers and City of Detroit doctors. UAW 2200 is in Region 1.

Immigrant Workers

SEMCOSH's work with Spanish speaking immigrant workers is one of the strongest such programs in the Michigan labor movement.

Our services for Spanish speaking immigrant workers include trainings on safety & health, general workers rights in the US, orientation to US unions, and direct service on wage & hours, OSHA complaints, and other issues that confront workers. This work is supported by an independent OSHA grant for workers in the landscaping industry, and an OSHA grant shared with other members of National COSH. To learn more contact at .

Hazardous Materials Handling Training

SEMCOSH has provided quality Hazmat Training for over fifteen years. To schedule a training contact at .

Publications

We publish a bilingual newsletter Advocate in English and Defensor in Spanish. This publication is available for Local Union use. To view them click here.

To subscribe as an individual simply join SEMCOSH for $20 a year. To order bulk quantities for your Local Union worker to worker or member mobilization program, or to contribute articles, contact or at .

Workshops

SEMCOSH speakers are available for workshops and Local Union meetings. To schedule a presentation on occupational safety or other workers rights (or just to jazz up your monthly meeting, we are willing to be entertaining in our presentation of pro-union topics) contact or at .