Government Resources
IWLA Government Affairs Resources
There are several issues impacting members of the International Warehouse Logistics Association. IWLA’s Legislative Agenda is continuously evolving based on the latest legislations and decisions by lawmakers and regulators. Please check back to this resource page as we continue to update it.
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Through and OSHA Cooperative Program known as Alliance, OSHA and IWLA provide members and others, including owners and operators of public warehouses and other third-party warehouses, with information, guidance, and access to training resources. OSHA and IWLA will help to protect employees safety and health, including hard-to-reach and youth workers, by addressing material handling, forklift safety and Hazard Communication (HAZCOM).
Helpful Links
OSHA Global Harmonization Standards
In 2003, the United Nations (UN) adopted the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (GHS). The GHS includes criteria for the classification of health, physical and environmental hazards, as well as specifying what information should be included on labels of hazardous chemicals as well as safety data sheets. OSHA published a proposed rulemaking on September 30, 2009 to align OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard (HCS) with the GHS.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulate two important product categories that move through the supply chain.
1. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act is the most sweeping reform of U.S. food safety laws in more than 70 years, was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011. It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it.
- Operational Strategy for Implementing the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
- Food Safety Legislation Key Facts
- IWLA Food Council
2. The ”Drug Quality and Security Act (DQSA)”:, was signed into law by President Obama on November 27, 2013. Title II of DQSA, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act, outlines critical steps to build an electronic, interoperable system to identify and trace certain prescription drugs as they are distributed in the United States.
U.S.National Labor Relations Board
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regulates employers unfair labor practice provisions place certain restrictions on employers and labor organizations in their relations with employees and each other. For example, employers may not interfere with employees in the exercise of their rights or resort to discrimination to discourage them from unionizing. Employers are also protected, however, from union unfair labor practices, such as secondary boycotts. Employers should also consult the information addressed to employees and unions.
- Employers Protecting Your Legal Rights
- Interfering with or Dominating a Union
- Employer Interference with Employee Rights
- Discriminating Against Employees Because of Their Union Activities or Sympathies
- Discriminating Against Employees for NLRB Activity
- Election-related Content
- NLRB Protection on Employees Social Media Activities
- The NLRB Rules and Regulations
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or an employee because of the person’s race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information. It is also illegal to discriminate against a person because the person complained about discrimination, filed a charge of discrimination, or participated in an employment discrimination investigation or lawsuit. The laws apply to all types of work situations, including hiring, firing, promotions, harassment, training, wages, and benefits.
- Background Checks: What Employers Need to Know
- Employment Rights of Immigrants Under Federal Anti-Discrimination Laws
- The American Disabilities Act: Your Responsibilities as an Employer
- Recordkeeping Requirements
- Enforcement Guidance: Application of the ADA to Contingent Workers Placed by Temporary Agencies and Other Staffing Firms
- Coalition for a Democratic Workplace
U.S. Surface Transportation Board
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) was created in the ICC Termination Act of 1995 and is the successor agency to the Interstate Commerce Commission. The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers. The STB is autonomous in decision-making although it is administratively affiliated with the Department of Transportation.
The STB serves as both an adjudicatory and a regulatory body. The agency has jurisdiction over railroad rate and service issues and rail restructuring transactions (mergers, line sales, line construction, and line abandonments); certain trucking company, moving van, and non-contiguous ocean shipping company rate matters; certain intercity passenger bus company structure, financial, and operational matters; and rates and services of certain pipelines not regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.