Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Legislation of the Day

Introduced by State Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), California Senate Bill 432 would add a new Section 6714 to California's labor code covering hotels, mandating:
The use of a fitted sheet, instead of a flat sheet, as the bottom sheet on all beds within the lodging establishment. For the purpose of this section, a "fitted sheet" means a bed sheet containing elastic or similar material sewn into each of the four corners that allows the sheet to stay in place over the mattress.
A violation of the provision would be a misdemeanor. The bill passed the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee in May.

Business groups oppose the proposed law. But, for the hotel workers union, it's not just about protecting the public from the horrors of ill-fitting sheets. Rather, the union has a creative reason for supporting the bill--they say housekeeping staffers can throw out their backs lifting heavy mattresses. According to a union rep quoted in the Daily Caller:
[Workplace injuries for housekeeping staffers] isn’t just necessarily from changing sheets. We’ve seen high instances of repetitive motion injury and that comes from the bending and the lifting. That stuff’s been documented by OSHA, it’s been documented by us, by ergonomics experts, by loads of people. This isn’t stuff that we just, like, pulled out of our ass.
More proof that California is the ne plus ultra of the Nanny State.

(via reader Warren)

3 comments:

A_Nonny_Mouse said...

It's waaa-aa-ay obvious that California legislators have too much time on their hands, and they're digging around for make-work stuff to convince themselves they're useful.

Send them home before they can screw up anything else.

OBloodyHell said...

>> This isn’t stuff that we just, like, pulled out of our ass.

No, that could quite possibly cause a repetitive strain injury.

OBloodyHell said...

>> Send them home before they can screw up anything else.

Too late, Cali is clearly filled, border to border, with loose screws.


New State Motto:

Loose Screws: It's not just for San Francisco any more!