Just when you thought the Department of Labor & Industries couldn’t possibly become more anti-business, Director Judy Schurke announced that former WISHA Director Michael Silverstein, would be returning next month to his former position at L&I. Silverstein, who drafted our state’s costly ergonomics regulation, comes from an organized labor background and spent 15 years working for the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union.More recently, he has been working at the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental Occupational Health Sciences, which is funded by workers’ compensation taxes.

Silverstein’s biggest claim to fame during his previous tenure at the Department was the adoption of one of the nation’s first ergonomics regulations.Although Silverstein and other organized labor supporters argued that the rule wouldn’t be difficult to administer, it was clear to employers that the rule was a job-killer that could cost up to $725 million per year. The rule was overturned by voters via Initiative 841.

Will Silverstein attempt to foist another ergonomics debacle on the businesses of Washington state? Is there another pet-project he plans to implement at L&I to cause distress among our state’s employers? And how far will he go to advance the agenda of his pals in organized labor?

Time will tell...