When I visited the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO in Los Angeles last month, I had a cordial visit with Doug Dority, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. In that meeting we discussed meeting with the members of his union to listen to their concerns about ergonomic injuries at the workplace.

As I have always emphasized, my intent is to listen to all sides on this issue: unions, Congress, business and safety and science professionals.

In the wake of Congress' action last week, it is critical that we revisit the concerns of each stakeholder as we attempt to identify areas of common ground.

I am looking forward to my meeting today. The information we gain, I hope, will be helpful in addressing the very complex issue of ergonomic injuries through a comprehensive approach which could be accomplished by a new rule, guidelines or legislative solution. As you know, OSHA already has the power to ensure ergonomic protections for the workforce through current statute and that is one possible solution among many that I will be hearing about.