Labor Department News Releases Update

The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration today announced that a miner fired from his job at a California rare earth minerals operation when he spoke out about unsafe working conditions has been temporarily reinstated. An administrative law judge with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission issued a decision April 17 requiring the immediate reinstatement of the miner at the Mt. Pass Mine and Mill in Mountain Pass, Calif. Initially, the mine operator, C.R. Meyer and Sons Co., did not comply with the judge's order.

In the week ending May 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 360,000, an increase of 32,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 328,000. The 4-week moving average was 339,250, an increase of 1,250 from the previous week's revised average of 338,000.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and the consulate general of Honduras today in New Orleans signed an agreement of understanding to combine resources and coordinate efforts to inform employers about the laws enforced by the department and to educate Honduran nationals working in Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri about their rights under United States law.