In today’s news and commentary, OSHA fines Taylor Foods, Santa Fe raises their living wage, and a date is set for a Senate committee to consider Trump’s NLRB nominee.

OSHA has issued an approximately $1.1 million dollar fine to Taylor Farms New Jersey, a subsidiary of Taylor Fresh Foods, after identifying repeated and serious safety violations. The agency’s investigation began in May following the fatal injury of a worker who was cleaning and sanitizing a machine. OSHA determined that the company failed to implement adequate lockout/tagout procedures, which are intended to prevent machinery from unexpectedly starting during maintenance or sanitation. As a result, Taylor Farms was cited for 16 violations related to safety protocols and employee training. OSHA also cited the on-site temporary staffing agency People Logistics for three serious violations and proposed more than $33,000 in additional penalties for failing to establish or train workers on proper lockout/tagout procedures. Taylor Farms did not respond to requests for comment regarding the citations.

Santa Fe, New Mexico, has approved an increase in its hourly living wage to $17.50 dollars for private-sector workers beginning January 1^st, 2027. City employees will see the same rate take effect one year earlier, on January 1^st, 2026, under Ordinance 2025-21. The current living wage is $15 dollars per hour. Beginning in 2028, the living wage will adjust annually in March, based on the average of two factors: the annual changes in the consumer price index and the annual changes in fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit in the city. If one factor does not increase, the adjustment will be based on half of the increase in the other factor. If neither factor increases, the rate will remain the same. The living wage applies to full-time city employees, businesses licensed or registered with the city, nonprofit organizations, certain contractors and subcontractors, and businesses receiving city grants or subsidies. Tips and commissions may count toward the wage if they exceed 100 dollars per month.

A Senate committee will review Boeing lawyer Scott Mayer’s nomination to the National Labor Relations Board on Dec. 3, the third scheduled vote after earlier delays on Oct. 9 and Nov. 19, as reported on by Ajayan. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee also previously advanced former NLRB attorney James Murphy to the board and attorney Crystal Carey to lead the agency’s legal division. Confirming Mayer and Murphy would restore the NLRB’s quorum, enabling it to resume issuing rulings and addressing pending labor matters.