To: Metra Board of Directors
Tell Metra: Ensure Workers Who Build Rail Cars Are Safe on the Job
I want to thank you for your leadership on the issue of safety in Metra trains. However, I am writing to express our outrage with your client, rail car manufacturer Nippon Sharyo USA.
Nippon Sharyo has been cited for more than 11 safety and health violations by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and recently fired an employee after she reported safety concerns.
Metra’s rail cars should be built by a responsible manufacturer that provides its workers a safe place to work and good jobs. Workers should not feel like their safety is compromised at work and must be able to exercise their legal right to report safety and health problems in their workplace without fear of retaliation.
I am writing to urge Metra to call on its rail car manufacturer Nippon Sharyo to reinstate fired whistle-blower Jenn Svenkerud and demand that Nippon Sharyo immediately address all of the hazards raised in the OSHA investigations to ensure the safety of the workers who build Metra rail cars!
Why is this important?
Metra, the commuter rail system in northeast Illinois, needs to take a stand for workers who build the rail cars they use every day—and there’s one simple thing it can do right now.
Nippon Sharyo, Metra’s rail car manufacturer, recently fired Chicago worker Jenn Svenkerud after she complained about fall hazards on the job.
Jenn’s complaints should not have been ignored by Nippon Sharyo, especially since Occupational Health and Safety Administration has conducted six different investigations and slapped Nippon Sharyo with more than $34,000 in fines for 11 different safety violations, including, you guessed it, employees exposed to fall hazards. We need Metra to hold contractors accountable when they don’t put workers’ safety first.
Sign the petition now to tell members of the Metra Board of Directors to demand Nippon Sharyo reinstate Jenn Svenkerud and make the safety of workers who build Metra rail cars a priority.