Manufacturers fight ergonomics rule on two fronts

WASHINGTON (Jan. 9)—U.S. manufacturers will fight the Clinton administration´s final rule on ergonomics in both Congress and the courts, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. The NAM has consolidated its lawsuit against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the District of Columbia federal appeals court with that of the National Coalition on Ergonomics, whose members include the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the Tire Association of North America. Also, the NAM is trying to get a joint resolution of Congress striking down the ergonomics rule via the Congressional Review Act, a still-untested 1996 law that allows Congress to annul any government regulation which costs U.S. business more than $100 million. "This is a killer for us," Patrick J. Cleary, NAM vice president-human resources policy, said of the ergonomics standard. "This was not a regulatory process, this was a political process."