The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "government workers" ...
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Model Workplaces, Imperiled Workers
The Center's series exposed serious problems with an ever-expanding government program that promises results through cooperative regulation but often has failed to protect the nation's working men and women. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Programs, known as VPP, recognize "model workplaces" and offer them an exemption from regular inspections. But in many cases, this government stamp of approval was a hollow trophy, allowing companies to avoid scrutiny and to attract employees. Even after preventable tragedies at these sites, OSHA rarely cracked down.
Tags: OSHA; occupational safety and health administration voluntary protection program; model workplace
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2010 Public Salaries
Using the California Public Records Act, the Bay Area News compiled a database with the salary information of nearly one million public employees.
Tags: salary; public employee; pay; government worker; public records
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Profiting from Fallen Soldiers
Bloomberg finds that more than 130 life insurance companies have been profiting from the death benefits owed to family service members and government workers.
Tags: soldiers; death benefits; life insurance; Prudential; Met Life
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Profiting From Fallen Soldiers
In this series, reporter David Evans exposed how "more than 130 life insurance companies" devised a system that allowed them to profit from death benefits that were "owed to families of service members, government workers and millions of other Americans." MetLife and Prudential led the scheme. Evans revealed that the companies withheld $28 billion owed to the families of deceased soldiers. The story prompted "almost immediate changes in U.S. government policies."
Tags: life insurance; MetLife; Prudential; Robert Gates; Veterans; taxpayer; American Legion; military
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Could Sandy Hill Have Been Saved?
This series looked at why fire-and-rescue workers were unable to save a woman trapped inside her home even though she was on the phone with a dispatcher giving directions to her upstairs bedroom. The reporting found that volunteers who responded that night did not use thermal imaging equipment that could have helped them find the victim, Sandy Hill; that they did not place a ladder at either of the windows in her bedroom; that they were slow to ventilate the house and remove the smoke that killed her; and that they did not question people who had escaped the house about her location. Additional reporting exposed systemic weaknesses in Spotsylvania's fire-and-rescue services, which rely on self-governing volunteer departments and a smaller number of career personnel hired and directed by the county. These weaknesses include a poorly structured chain of command, lack of communication, insufficient training for man volunteers, and a failure to enforce existing regulations due in large part to friction between the career and volunteer units.
Tags: Firefighters; Fire Department; asphyxiation; volunteer; equipment; protocol; Spotsylvania; fire-and-rescue; training; regulation
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Pension Bonanza
The state of Illinois is in a large amount of debt due to its pension plan, which is causing services to be eliminated. The pension plan has allowed some government retirees to become millionaires and others earning “at least $100,000 a year”. This is one of the reasons the state is in large debt and the fact the pension plan is costing “more than $800 million a month”.
Tags: workers; taxes; taxpayers; economy; expense; burden; retirement; benefits; money; Quinn
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Ohio Corrections Connections
This series found “one of the largest state agencies involved in a pattern of apparent abuse of state tax dollars and power”. This series revealed a number of things, including expensive parties at the taxpayers’ expense while employees were being laid off, friends of officials buying state-made furniture for less than state agencies were paying for it, and firing workers for a number of violations and then hiring them back within weeks or months.
Tags: corrections officials; Capital; governor; Governor Strickland; corruption; funds; state; economy; government; Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections
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Dysfunctional government
This series describes a state government employee having jobs where he has zero tasks and often his position is referred to as “no-show jobs”. This worker has gone a number of years without doing any work, even after a number of requests for duties and tasks. Furthermore, the series looks at the inflated compensation for state officials.
Tags: State Insurance Fund; state government; Randall Hinton; native american
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China in Africa: Young Workers, Deadly Mines
Reporters found a Chinese-directed mining industry in Congo that exploited teenagers to risk their lives mining ore. China promised the Congo government a $9 billion loan for access to the mines, but the payment never arrived.
Tags: lung disease; dust; false medical report; raw materials; Peru; Zimbabwe; mining inspection;
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Retiree' benefits under fire; Car perks add up for taxpayers; Were city workers' nest eggs too generous?
The series examined lash perks of government workers in Broward and Palm Beach counties. The stories found that even as local governments cried poverty because of state-mandated tax cuts, they continued to heap generous benefits to public employees - even if it meant imposing tax hikes down the road.
Tags: benefits; city workers; taxes; pension; municipalities; retiree