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Slavery 21st Century
You thought it was over, think again
the corporations of today are just remodeled slave plantations of the past
may 24, 2020
Slavery did not end it was merely outsourced,
reconfigured, and made politically correct
The Global Slavery Index
published on Thursday by Walk Free Foundation, describes modern slavery as a complex and often hidden crime that crosses borders, sectors and jurisdictions. The US number, the study estimates, is almost one hundredth of the estimated 40.3 million global total number of people it defines as being enslaved.
labor history - recommended reading
*THE SILK STRIKE OF 1913
*AMERICAN LABOR VIOLENCE: ITS CAUSES, CHARACTER, AND OUTCOME
headlines and issues
*Strikes erupt as US essential workers demand protection amid pandemic
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Essential Sanitary Workers Strike for Hazard Pay and PPE in New Orleans
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Revealed: Amazon told workers paid sick leave law doesn't cover warehouses
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*California sues Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as contractors
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*These Workers Packed Lip Gloss and Pandora Charm Bracelets. They Were Labeled “Essential” but Didn’t Feel Safe.(excerpt BELOW)
*THEY WERE WARNED NOT TO TAKE SICK DAYS — THEN SIX WORKERS AT THEIR WAREHOUSE DIED OF CORONAVIRUS(ARTICLE BELOW)
*TRUMP USING CORONAVIRUS STIMULUS TO ‘ENRICH CORPORATE EXECUTIVES’ WHILE SHOWING ‘COMPLETE DISREGARD’ FOR WORKERS: TOP UNIONS(ARTICLE BELOW)
*DESPITE COVID-19, TRUMP KEEPS ON GUTTING PROTECTIONS FOR WORKERS
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Trader Joe’s and other US firms suppress unionization efforts during pandemic
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*‘Minority report union-busting’ tactics at Whole Foods decried following reporting on company’s labor activism heat map(ARTICLE BELOW)
*EMPLOYEES SAY SMITHFIELD PLANT IN WISCONSIN CONCEALED COVID-19 INFECTIONS, PRESSURED THEM TO WORK ELBOW-TO-ELBOW WITHOUT PROTECTION(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Workers at Warren Buffett’s furniture rental company were given bad gear and dared to complain about it(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Whole Foods staff to protest working conditions as coronavirus cases rise
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Alabama chicken plant makes employees pay for masks as they work ‘elbow to elbow’ during pandemic: report(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Billionaire CEO Brags About Laying Off 45,000 Employees: 'First To The Unemployment Lines'(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Disney World is furloughing 43,000 more workers due to virus
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Women And Minorities Bear The Brunt Of Trump’s Pandemic Mishandling
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Under cover of pandemic, Trump’s NLRB moves to make unionizing ‘nearly impossible for workers’(ARTICLE BELOW)
*A Major Medical Staffing Company Just Slashed Benefits for Doctors and Nurses Fighting Coronavirus(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Coronavirus forces companies like Uber and Lyft to reckon with workers' rights
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Children as young as eight picked coffee beans for Starbucks
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Trump: At $2.13 An Hour, This Waitress Makes Too Much Money
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*U.S. employment in the 2010s in five charts
(ARTICLE BELOW)
*Robert Reich: Here are the 5 biggest corporate lies about unions
(ARTICLE BELOW)
funnies(at the end)Whole Foods staff to protest working conditions as coronavirus cases rise
Strikes erupt as US essential workers demand protection amid pandemic
Michael Sainato
the guardian
Tue 19 May 2020 07.01 EDT
Working conditions, low pay and lack of safety protections have triggered protests across various industries
Wildcat strikes, walkouts and protests over working conditions have erupted across the US throughout the coronavirus pandemic as “essential” workers have demanded better pay and safer working conditions. Labor leaders are hoping the protests can lead to permanent change.
Norma Kennedy, an employee at an American Apparel clothing plant is one of those people. Kennedy along with dozens of other workers walked off her job in Selma, Alabama, on 23 April after two workers tested positive for coronavirus. The plant has remained open during the pandemic to manufacture face masks for a US army contract.
“We left for our own protection,” said Kennedy. “Beforehand, management said if someone tested positive they would shut down and have the plant cleaned. When workers tested positive, they didn’t want to shut it down. They’re not really concerned about the workers.”
Working conditions, low pay and lack of safety protections have triggered protests throughout the pandemic as workers across various industries, including food service, meat processing, retail, manufacturing, transportation and healthcare have come together to protest about issues, many of which were apparent before the coronavirus.
“There are no federal mandates or requirements to implement the social distancing guidance or anything else. It’s only guidance and employers can choose to implement them or not,” said Deborah Berkowitz, director of worker safety and health for the National Employment Law Project. “And that is why, in an unprecedented way, they are walking out to bring public attention to the fact that their companies are not protecting their safety and health.”
Roberto Echiveste, a truck driver in El Paso, Texas, for 10 years, was one of hundreds of drivers who joined in a protest convoy through El Paso on Friday 1 May. During the pandemic, Echiveste and other drivers have seen their freight rates drop from $2-$2.50 per mile to as low as $0.50 per mile.
“I’m losing money just to work. The last week I worked I paid $200 out of my own pocket just to get home,” said Echiveste. “I have to pay to work and truck brokers are keeping most of the cut. We have to pay on average $500 each time we fuel, insurance is around $1,000 per month, and parts for my truck are three to four times more expensive than a regular car part, and some drivers are still paying for the truck and trailer. On that alone, I pay over $2,300 per month.”
Echiveste said the protest was coordinated on Facebook, and he joined it with his brother, father and neighbor who are all truck drivers.
Similar protests were held by truck drivers in southern California, Arizona, Sacramento, California, Lansing, Michigan, Washington DC and Chicago, Illinois, over decreased freight rates and working conditions during the pandemic.
Fast-food workers with the Fight for $15 and a union campaign have organized one-day strikes and protests in California, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee through the pandemic.
Ieshia Townsend, a McDonald’s worker in Chicago for five years, participated in one of the strikes and walked off the job in protest of lack of hazard pay, proper personal protective equipment, paid sick leave and lack of health insurance benefits.
“Workers like me are going on strike because McDonald’s and other billion-dollar corporations do not care about us as workers. They don’t care if we’re safe on the job, they don’t care if we’re sick on the job,” said Townsend, who has also experienced significant cuts to her work schedule during the pandemic.
McDonald’s dismissed the strikes as “limited activity” and noted they are granting 10% of pay earned in the month of May in bonuses to workers at corporate owned stores, which make up only 5% of McDonald’s restaurants.
On 29 April, Braden Lauder, a shift manager for one year at an Arby’s in Morris, Illinois went on strike with co-workers over the lack of hazard pay, lack of personal protective equipment, and understaffing.
“We’re understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated,” said Lauder. He makes $12 an hour as a shift manager, and noted several of his co-workers make under $10 an hour. “At the same time, I’m a shift manager so I do the paperwork for the sales that we pull each day and I know for a fact that we’re busier now than we have been at any other point since I started almost a year ago.”
Arby’s did not comment on the lack of hazard pay. “The safety of our team members and guests continues to be our top priority. This was an isolated incident that occurred at a franchised location, and we understand from the owner that all parties are engaged in an open dialogue,” said an Arby’s spokesperson.
On 11 May, more than 100 Uber drivers in San Francisco held a caravan protest outside Uber headquarters following the company’s virtual stockholder meeting to demand Uber drop funding for a ballot initiative to repeal Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which took effect on 1 January 2020.
AB5 classifies drivers as employees, granting drivers rights such as minimum wage and access to unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits. Uber has devoted spending at least $30m on the ballot initiative to repeal the law.
“We feel that money could be used to support drivers during this crisis,” said Mekela Edwards, an Uber driver in the San Francisco, California, area for about one year. “This crisis, personally for me, just showed me how vulnerable I am as a driver.”
Edwards has been unable to work due to her doctor directing her to self-isolate during the pandemic. It took several weeks before she began receiving unemployment benefits and has yet to receive a response to her application for paid sick leave from Uber.
“I applied, I submitted the doctor’s note, filled out the application, submitted my paperwork and have still not heard from Uber at all,” Edwards added.
Uber and American Apparel did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sharon Block, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, said it was too early to tell if these worker actions around the US will have a lasting impact.
“These walkouts show that essential workers don’t want to be treated any more as if they were disposable. They are demanding a voice in how their companies respond to the pandemic. Having a voice is a life-and-death matter now more than ever,” said Block. “Success will be a matter of whether consumers and policymakers will be inspired by these workers’ courage.”
Wildcat strikes, walkouts and protests over working conditions have erupted across the US throughout the coronavirus pandemic as “essential” workers have demanded better pay and safer working conditions. Labor leaders are hoping the protests can lead to permanent change.
Norma Kennedy, an employee at an American Apparel clothing plant is one of those people. Kennedy along with dozens of other workers walked off her job in Selma, Alabama, on 23 April after two workers tested positive for coronavirus. The plant has remained open during the pandemic to manufacture face masks for a US army contract.
“We left for our own protection,” said Kennedy. “Beforehand, management said if someone tested positive they would shut down and have the plant cleaned. When workers tested positive, they didn’t want to shut it down. They’re not really concerned about the workers.”
Working conditions, low pay and lack of safety protections have triggered protests throughout the pandemic as workers across various industries, including food service, meat processing, retail, manufacturing, transportation and healthcare have come together to protest about issues, many of which were apparent before the coronavirus.
“There are no federal mandates or requirements to implement the social distancing guidance or anything else. It’s only guidance and employers can choose to implement them or not,” said Deborah Berkowitz, director of worker safety and health for the National Employment Law Project. “And that is why, in an unprecedented way, they are walking out to bring public attention to the fact that their companies are not protecting their safety and health.”
Roberto Echiveste, a truck driver in El Paso, Texas, for 10 years, was one of hundreds of drivers who joined in a protest convoy through El Paso on Friday 1 May. During the pandemic, Echiveste and other drivers have seen their freight rates drop from $2-$2.50 per mile to as low as $0.50 per mile.
“I’m losing money just to work. The last week I worked I paid $200 out of my own pocket just to get home,” said Echiveste. “I have to pay to work and truck brokers are keeping most of the cut. We have to pay on average $500 each time we fuel, insurance is around $1,000 per month, and parts for my truck are three to four times more expensive than a regular car part, and some drivers are still paying for the truck and trailer. On that alone, I pay over $2,300 per month.”
Echiveste said the protest was coordinated on Facebook, and he joined it with his brother, father and neighbor who are all truck drivers.
Similar protests were held by truck drivers in southern California, Arizona, Sacramento, California, Lansing, Michigan, Washington DC and Chicago, Illinois, over decreased freight rates and working conditions during the pandemic.
Fast-food workers with the Fight for $15 and a union campaign have organized one-day strikes and protests in California, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Tennessee through the pandemic.
Ieshia Townsend, a McDonald’s worker in Chicago for five years, participated in one of the strikes and walked off the job in protest of lack of hazard pay, proper personal protective equipment, paid sick leave and lack of health insurance benefits.
“Workers like me are going on strike because McDonald’s and other billion-dollar corporations do not care about us as workers. They don’t care if we’re safe on the job, they don’t care if we’re sick on the job,” said Townsend, who has also experienced significant cuts to her work schedule during the pandemic.
McDonald’s dismissed the strikes as “limited activity” and noted they are granting 10% of pay earned in the month of May in bonuses to workers at corporate owned stores, which make up only 5% of McDonald’s restaurants.
On 29 April, Braden Lauder, a shift manager for one year at an Arby’s in Morris, Illinois went on strike with co-workers over the lack of hazard pay, lack of personal protective equipment, and understaffing.
“We’re understaffed, underpaid and underappreciated,” said Lauder. He makes $12 an hour as a shift manager, and noted several of his co-workers make under $10 an hour. “At the same time, I’m a shift manager so I do the paperwork for the sales that we pull each day and I know for a fact that we’re busier now than we have been at any other point since I started almost a year ago.”
Arby’s did not comment on the lack of hazard pay. “The safety of our team members and guests continues to be our top priority. This was an isolated incident that occurred at a franchised location, and we understand from the owner that all parties are engaged in an open dialogue,” said an Arby’s spokesperson.
On 11 May, more than 100 Uber drivers in San Francisco held a caravan protest outside Uber headquarters following the company’s virtual stockholder meeting to demand Uber drop funding for a ballot initiative to repeal Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), which took effect on 1 January 2020.
AB5 classifies drivers as employees, granting drivers rights such as minimum wage and access to unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits. Uber has devoted spending at least $30m on the ballot initiative to repeal the law.
“We feel that money could be used to support drivers during this crisis,” said Mekela Edwards, an Uber driver in the San Francisco, California, area for about one year. “This crisis, personally for me, just showed me how vulnerable I am as a driver.”
Edwards has been unable to work due to her doctor directing her to self-isolate during the pandemic. It took several weeks before she began receiving unemployment benefits and has yet to receive a response to her application for paid sick leave from Uber.
“I applied, I submitted the doctor’s note, filled out the application, submitted my paperwork and have still not heard from Uber at all,” Edwards added.
Uber and American Apparel did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sharon Block, executive director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School, said it was too early to tell if these worker actions around the US will have a lasting impact.
“These walkouts show that essential workers don’t want to be treated any more as if they were disposable. They are demanding a voice in how their companies respond to the pandemic. Having a voice is a life-and-death matter now more than ever,” said Block. “Success will be a matter of whether consumers and policymakers will be inspired by these workers’ courage.”
years of not voting and now they are striking!!!!
Essential Sanitary Workers Strike for Hazard Pay and PPE in New Orleans
BY Mike Ludwig, Truthout
PUBLISHED May 15, 2020
The severe outbreak of COVID-19 in southern Louisiana was the last straw for a group of sanitation workers who pick up trash in eastern New Orleans. Last week, they walked off the job and went on strike, demanding hazard pay and a $15 living wage.
Without “hoppers,” as the workers are known, garbage would pile up on the streets and contribute to the spread of disease and other public health problems. However, the group of hoppers in New Orleans say their employers did not provide them with hazard pay or sufficient personal protection equipment as COVID-19 shut down the city. Technically employed by a subcontractor and working for a private disposal firm, the hoppers say were paid as little as $10.25 an hour, with no benefits such as paid sick leave, for lifting 250,000 pounds of waste per week — an essential public service.
The hoppers’ protest is a wildcat strike, meaning the hoppers went on strike without approval or support from an established union. The work stoppage entered its second week on Wednesday, highlighting the pitfalls of privatizing public services in cash-strapped cities like New Orleans, where tax revenues are now plummeting due to the COVID-19 outbreak. At one point, prisoners in a work release program were brought in to replace the strikers at extremely low wages, but the private contractor who runs the program with a local sheriff pulled out after learning about the labor dispute.
“In the early ‘90s, this service switched over from public to private, which across the board hurts workers and benefits private companies,” said a striking hopper known as “Big E” who spoke to Truthout on the picket line Thursday.
Big E pointed out that he and his fellow hoppers are all Black men. They hold signs reading “I am a man” inspired by the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis, Tennessee, that was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. Big E said they have taken support from white activists and prominent politicians to get the respect and media attention they deserve. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards recently launched a task force to study why Black COVID-19 patients account for a disproportionate number of the states’ deaths, but that’s no mystery for Big E. Just look at the jobs that Black workers perform.
“Low wages, no benefits, dangerous work,” Big E said. “What is happening here is representative of what is happening across this nation.”
The strikers in New Orleans are far from alone. The labor news site PayDayReport.com has identified 200 wildcat strikes across the country during the pandemic as workers refuse to risk their health by going to work. In some cases, workers protested for a few hours before bosses agreed to their demands; in other cases, workers called out sick in large numbers over longer periods of time. In Pittsburgh, sanitation workers made national headlines when they went on strike in March demanding better protective gear. Many other strikes have likely occurred without receiving media attention.
The striking hoppers work at a shop run by Metro Services, a waste disposal and construction company that operates across the South and has a $10.7 million contract with the City of New Orleans. They say their demands are reasonable: consistent access to protective gear, $150 in weekly hazard pay for working during a pandemic, and a living wage of $15 per hour. They also want Metro Services to fix its trucks, which have leaked toxic hydraulic fluid on workers and into the environment, according to hoppers and activists who support them.
“Every day we do our jobs, we put ourselves and our families in danger,” said Rahman Brooks, a striking hopper who spoke to Truthout on the picket line Thursday. “We deserve hazard pay and proper PPE for our safety and the safety of our families.”
In a statement, Metro Services said the striking hoppers are making “intentionally misleading allegations” about working conditions, and the company has a stockpile of hand sanitizer, N95 masks and protective gear. The company, one of the city’s primary trash collection contractors, said that none of its direct employees joined the strike. The striking hoppers are employed by PeopleReady, a temp agency that has largely stayed out of view since the strike starting making the evening news.
Striking Against Austerity and Privatization
Thanks to right-wing and pro-business politicians in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, the minimum wage in New Orleans is frozen at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Grassroots activists have been clamoring for years to raise the wage floor in a city where rampant inequality is magnified by hurricanes and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, they won a victory when the city passed a “living wage” ordinance that guarantees paid sick leave for city employees and contractors and incrementally raised their minimum wage to $11.19 per hour.
However, city officials extended a number of contracts shortly before the ordinance took effect, according to Alfred Marshall, a former city employee and organizer with Stand With Dignity, a grassroots group of Black workers in New Orleans. This created a loophole allowing some contractors and subcontractors to continue paying wages below the $11.19 minimum. In an email, a spokeswoman for Metro Services said its subcontractors have assured the company that all of its workers are making $11.19 an hour as required by the city ordinance. Marshall said PeopleReady was forced to raise its wages after the strike broke out.
Layers of contractors and subcontractors are a common feature of privatized public services, making it easy for public officials and employers to point fingers when labor disputes erupt or services are interrupted. Big E said hiring hoppers through PeopleReady makes it easier for Metro Service to avoid accountability during the strike, while city officials can claim they are simply honoring a pre-existing contract, rather than enforcing their own labor standards.
“I think this is a really good example of when privatization allows the government to sidestep its accountability and pass the buck to the contractor, and the contractor takes the heat,” said Jeremy Mohler, the communications director at In the Public Interest, a group that advocates for public ownership of public services. “It’s a really good example of how, when the accountability is passed to the private sector, this public good — you can say clean streets and sanitation are public goods — is taken for granted and no longer seen as something everyone should have access to.”
COVID-19 Could Push Public Services Into Private Hands
The privatization of public services has been a nationwide trend for years, but Mohler said the economic crash of 2008 poured fuel on the fire. State and city budgets shrank as tax revenues dropped, and austerity-minded politicians increasingly turned to private contractors promising to save public money while providing more efficient service. It does not always work out that way, and as Truthout has reported, public spending never recovered after the Great Recession, leaving the government ill-prepared for the COVID-19 outbreak and frontline workers at risk.
Mohler said contractors save money by paying low wages and cutting corners, which can result in shoddy services and workers having less money to pump into local economies. Private contractors also funnel tax dollars toward their own overhead costs, such as advertising, executive compensation and legal.
Mohler said there are also political factors driving privatization, since public workers are more likely to belong to unions than those working for private companies. Republicans know that unions representing teachers, firefighters, postal workers and other public employees are major backers of the Democratic Party, and GOP politicians continue to take bold swipes at their influence and bargaining power.
A number of cities have reversed course and “insourced” public services (that is, returned them to public hands) from water treatment to snow plowing in recent years, according to ITPI. A 2012 survey found that 53 percent of city managers cited insufficient cost savings and 51 percent cited unsatisfactory service quality as reasons for insourcing services. Across the world, public services unions are documenting hundreds of cases of “re-municipalization” as local governments bring privatized services back under public control.
“We’re still caught in this ideological framing that is really a right-wing, corporate framing — that the private sector can be more efficient and the public sector is bloated and bureaucratic,” Mohler said. “I think we are still stuck in this framing, even though we have learned some hard lessons after 2008.”
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to bring another wave of privatization as public revenues hit rock bottom once again. Last month, 980,000 public service workers nationwide lost their jobs due to the pandemic — more than were lost in the entire Great Recession, according to AFSCME, a national union for service workers. Municipalities across the country are projected to lose hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue due to the economic fallout caused by COVID-19, according to a new Bloomberg report.
AFSCME and other unions are currently calling on Congress to provide substantial federal funding for state and city governments so essential services survive the crisis and frontline workers can have safety gear and fair wages. However, the latest stimulus package is currently held up by Republican opposition in the Senate.
“Congress must act immediately to fund the front lines so we can protect public services,” said Vincent Variale, a first responder for the New York Fire Department and AFSCME member, in a statement on Wednesday. “We need to keep EMS workers, nurses, child care providers, sanitation workers and so many others on the job, and we need to keep them healthy so that we can fight the coronavirus and reopen the economy so that we’re stronger than before.”
New Orleans began outsourcing waste collection in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, the city’s hoppers had gone from being decently paid city employees to temp workers receiving minimum wage with no benefits. In New Orleans, it’s well-known that waste collection is a lucrative business –- at least for company owners and CEOs. In the 1990s, the hoppers staged a citywide strike with help from unions, bringing garbage collection to a halt and forcing the private contractors to negotiate.
Today, the hoppers picketing Metro Services are organizing a union they call the City Waste Union. Rahman said he hopes other hoppers will join them. After all, hoppers working for other contractors are also paid low wages for grueling but essential labor that benefits every resident. For now, the City Waste Union is demanding a meeting with Metro Services to negotiate working conditions. Rahman said the bosses should be willing to “meet them in the middle.”
Without “hoppers,” as the workers are known, garbage would pile up on the streets and contribute to the spread of disease and other public health problems. However, the group of hoppers in New Orleans say their employers did not provide them with hazard pay or sufficient personal protection equipment as COVID-19 shut down the city. Technically employed by a subcontractor and working for a private disposal firm, the hoppers say were paid as little as $10.25 an hour, with no benefits such as paid sick leave, for lifting 250,000 pounds of waste per week — an essential public service.
The hoppers’ protest is a wildcat strike, meaning the hoppers went on strike without approval or support from an established union. The work stoppage entered its second week on Wednesday, highlighting the pitfalls of privatizing public services in cash-strapped cities like New Orleans, where tax revenues are now plummeting due to the COVID-19 outbreak. At one point, prisoners in a work release program were brought in to replace the strikers at extremely low wages, but the private contractor who runs the program with a local sheriff pulled out after learning about the labor dispute.
“In the early ‘90s, this service switched over from public to private, which across the board hurts workers and benefits private companies,” said a striking hopper known as “Big E” who spoke to Truthout on the picket line Thursday.
Big E pointed out that he and his fellow hoppers are all Black men. They hold signs reading “I am a man” inspired by the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis, Tennessee, that was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. Big E said they have taken support from white activists and prominent politicians to get the respect and media attention they deserve. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards recently launched a task force to study why Black COVID-19 patients account for a disproportionate number of the states’ deaths, but that’s no mystery for Big E. Just look at the jobs that Black workers perform.
“Low wages, no benefits, dangerous work,” Big E said. “What is happening here is representative of what is happening across this nation.”
The strikers in New Orleans are far from alone. The labor news site PayDayReport.com has identified 200 wildcat strikes across the country during the pandemic as workers refuse to risk their health by going to work. In some cases, workers protested for a few hours before bosses agreed to their demands; in other cases, workers called out sick in large numbers over longer periods of time. In Pittsburgh, sanitation workers made national headlines when they went on strike in March demanding better protective gear. Many other strikes have likely occurred without receiving media attention.
The striking hoppers work at a shop run by Metro Services, a waste disposal and construction company that operates across the South and has a $10.7 million contract with the City of New Orleans. They say their demands are reasonable: consistent access to protective gear, $150 in weekly hazard pay for working during a pandemic, and a living wage of $15 per hour. They also want Metro Services to fix its trucks, which have leaked toxic hydraulic fluid on workers and into the environment, according to hoppers and activists who support them.
“Every day we do our jobs, we put ourselves and our families in danger,” said Rahman Brooks, a striking hopper who spoke to Truthout on the picket line Thursday. “We deserve hazard pay and proper PPE for our safety and the safety of our families.”
In a statement, Metro Services said the striking hoppers are making “intentionally misleading allegations” about working conditions, and the company has a stockpile of hand sanitizer, N95 masks and protective gear. The company, one of the city’s primary trash collection contractors, said that none of its direct employees joined the strike. The striking hoppers are employed by PeopleReady, a temp agency that has largely stayed out of view since the strike starting making the evening news.
Striking Against Austerity and Privatization
Thanks to right-wing and pro-business politicians in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, the minimum wage in New Orleans is frozen at the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Grassroots activists have been clamoring for years to raise the wage floor in a city where rampant inequality is magnified by hurricanes and crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2016, they won a victory when the city passed a “living wage” ordinance that guarantees paid sick leave for city employees and contractors and incrementally raised their minimum wage to $11.19 per hour.
However, city officials extended a number of contracts shortly before the ordinance took effect, according to Alfred Marshall, a former city employee and organizer with Stand With Dignity, a grassroots group of Black workers in New Orleans. This created a loophole allowing some contractors and subcontractors to continue paying wages below the $11.19 minimum. In an email, a spokeswoman for Metro Services said its subcontractors have assured the company that all of its workers are making $11.19 an hour as required by the city ordinance. Marshall said PeopleReady was forced to raise its wages after the strike broke out.
Layers of contractors and subcontractors are a common feature of privatized public services, making it easy for public officials and employers to point fingers when labor disputes erupt or services are interrupted. Big E said hiring hoppers through PeopleReady makes it easier for Metro Service to avoid accountability during the strike, while city officials can claim they are simply honoring a pre-existing contract, rather than enforcing their own labor standards.
“I think this is a really good example of when privatization allows the government to sidestep its accountability and pass the buck to the contractor, and the contractor takes the heat,” said Jeremy Mohler, the communications director at In the Public Interest, a group that advocates for public ownership of public services. “It’s a really good example of how, when the accountability is passed to the private sector, this public good — you can say clean streets and sanitation are public goods — is taken for granted and no longer seen as something everyone should have access to.”
COVID-19 Could Push Public Services Into Private Hands
The privatization of public services has been a nationwide trend for years, but Mohler said the economic crash of 2008 poured fuel on the fire. State and city budgets shrank as tax revenues dropped, and austerity-minded politicians increasingly turned to private contractors promising to save public money while providing more efficient service. It does not always work out that way, and as Truthout has reported, public spending never recovered after the Great Recession, leaving the government ill-prepared for the COVID-19 outbreak and frontline workers at risk.
Mohler said contractors save money by paying low wages and cutting corners, which can result in shoddy services and workers having less money to pump into local economies. Private contractors also funnel tax dollars toward their own overhead costs, such as advertising, executive compensation and legal.
Mohler said there are also political factors driving privatization, since public workers are more likely to belong to unions than those working for private companies. Republicans know that unions representing teachers, firefighters, postal workers and other public employees are major backers of the Democratic Party, and GOP politicians continue to take bold swipes at their influence and bargaining power.
A number of cities have reversed course and “insourced” public services (that is, returned them to public hands) from water treatment to snow plowing in recent years, according to ITPI. A 2012 survey found that 53 percent of city managers cited insufficient cost savings and 51 percent cited unsatisfactory service quality as reasons for insourcing services. Across the world, public services unions are documenting hundreds of cases of “re-municipalization” as local governments bring privatized services back under public control.
“We’re still caught in this ideological framing that is really a right-wing, corporate framing — that the private sector can be more efficient and the public sector is bloated and bureaucratic,” Mohler said. “I think we are still stuck in this framing, even though we have learned some hard lessons after 2008.”
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to bring another wave of privatization as public revenues hit rock bottom once again. Last month, 980,000 public service workers nationwide lost their jobs due to the pandemic — more than were lost in the entire Great Recession, according to AFSCME, a national union for service workers. Municipalities across the country are projected to lose hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue due to the economic fallout caused by COVID-19, according to a new Bloomberg report.
AFSCME and other unions are currently calling on Congress to provide substantial federal funding for state and city governments so essential services survive the crisis and frontline workers can have safety gear and fair wages. However, the latest stimulus package is currently held up by Republican opposition in the Senate.
“Congress must act immediately to fund the front lines so we can protect public services,” said Vincent Variale, a first responder for the New York Fire Department and AFSCME member, in a statement on Wednesday. “We need to keep EMS workers, nurses, child care providers, sanitation workers and so many others on the job, and we need to keep them healthy so that we can fight the coronavirus and reopen the economy so that we’re stronger than before.”
New Orleans began outsourcing waste collection in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, the city’s hoppers had gone from being decently paid city employees to temp workers receiving minimum wage with no benefits. In New Orleans, it’s well-known that waste collection is a lucrative business –- at least for company owners and CEOs. In the 1990s, the hoppers staged a citywide strike with help from unions, bringing garbage collection to a halt and forcing the private contractors to negotiate.
Today, the hoppers picketing Metro Services are organizing a union they call the City Waste Union. Rahman said he hopes other hoppers will join them. After all, hoppers working for other contractors are also paid low wages for grueling but essential labor that benefits every resident. For now, the City Waste Union is demanding a meeting with Metro Services to negotiate working conditions. Rahman said the bosses should be willing to “meet them in the middle.”
nothing has changed in 300 years!!!
Revealed: Amazon told workers paid sick leave law doesn't cover warehouses
California workers say the company is pressuring sick employees to show up – and flouting a California law meant to protect them from Covid-19
Sam Levin in Los Angeles
the guardian
Thu 7 May 2020 06.00 EDT
Amazon workers in southern California’s industrial heartland say the company’s policies are forcing sick employees to work and that warehouses are refusing to comply with a state paid sick leave law meant to prevent Covid-19 outbreaks.
In the Inland Empire region outside Los Angeles, Amazon workers told the Guardian they fear losing their jobs if they are ill and stay home. At least four Amazon warehouses in the region have recorded Covid-19 cases.
On 1 May, Amazon ended a policy allowing unlimited unpaid time off, a measure adopted at the start of the coronavirus crisis that allowed workers to take time off for any reason. They would forgo wages, but if they were concerned about their safety or had new childcare responsibilities due to lockdowns, they could stay home without losing their jobs.
Without the policy, workers say they could now be fired if they miss shifts. They worry the reversal will result in sick and vulnerable people showing up for shifts because they can’t risk termination. The health concerns are particularly serious in the Inland Empire, which has some of the worst air quality in the US and disproportionately high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
Employees also shared emails showing that Amazon has dismissed some paid sick leave requests by claiming a California law intended to provide supplemental sick leave during the pandemic does not apply to the warehouses.
“I’m afraid to come to work, but I don’t have a choice,” said Eddie, a 48-year-old San Bernardino worker with diabetes, who asked to go by his middle name and works in one of the facilities that had an outbreak. “I shouldn’t be there. We’re risking our safety for the company … The more I think about it, the more stressed I get.”
“We are a vector of this disease,” said one worker at a warehouse in San Bernardino. The 27-year-old, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, recovered from pneumonia last year and is at high risk of serious complications if they contract Covid. “There shouldn’t even be a debate about this. It’s incredibly nerve-racking.”
The Inland Empire, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was once home to the west coast’s largest steel plant, a major air force base and an agricultural economy. Today, the historically rural area is a hub for distribution centers and the logistics industry, with huge warehouses for Amazon, UPS, Walmart and other retailers. The sector has added more than 50,000 jobs over the last decade as e-commerce has boomed, but a majority of families in the region don’t earn enough to make ends meet.
On 16 April, the California governor, Gavin Newsom, passed an executive order providing food sector workers two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave if they have to isolate due to Covid-19 concerns. The law covers “workers at warehouses where food is stored” and is aimed at protecting consumers from the virus and offering additional support to essential workers whose jobs involve the food supply.
Amazon warehouses in the industrial neighborhoods of San Bernardino and Riverside counties handle a wide range of packages, including food items. But employees say that when they have asked about Newsom’s order in recent weeks, the human resources department has ignored their questions or responded that the facilities are not considered part of the food sector.
The 27-year-old worker with a history of pneumonia works at a sort center and has been responsible for helping package a range of pantry food items. When they asked HR about the paid sick leave law for food workers, the company directed them to steps they could take to request unpaid time off.
A labor spokesperson for the state, however, told the Guardian that the law does apply to warehouses such as Amazon’s centers, noting that the order has a broad definition of “food facility”, which includes any operations that store or package food for human consumption.
Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokeswoman, declined to answer specific questions about Newsom’s order or whether the company has provided this form of paid sick leave, saying in an email: “Amazon has complied with all requirements given by the State.”
The company says in addition to the time off it provided before the coronavirus pandemic, it now gives two weeks of paid time off for infected employees and those presumed to have Covid-19. But in one recent case, a worker who tested positive only received his pay after a BuzzFeed reporter inquired about it, and employees across the country have reported difficulties getting any sick pay during the pandemic.
California’s law also appears to be broader than Amazon’s policy, requiring paid leave for workers who have to isolate due to health concerns, including if they live with someone sick or exposed, and it says they are entitled to “immediately” start leave upon request.
“People are absolutely going to show up sick. They have to,” said a 23-year-old worker at an Amazon fulfillment center in Rialto, a city near San Bernardino. The worker recently stopped going to work out of fear, even though he now risks losing his job and gets no paid time off. “We’re all crammed in there. It’s gonna get bad.”
---
Amazon confirmed that it had ended its unlimited unpaid time off policy, but the company says it continues to allow the option on a case-by-case basis. Workers accrue roughly 80 hours of unpaid time off over the course of a year, and they can now also apply for an unpaid personal leave of absence due to Covid concerns. But it can take weeks for Amazon to respond to these requests, and multiple employees who asked for this said their requests were “pending” and that they were worried they would soon lose their jobs.
Amazon workers across the US have accused the company of not doing enough to protect their health and safety amid the pandemic. Amazon has fired several employee activists after they participated in organizing actions, and a high-profile vice-president resigned this week over the firings. Meanwhile, Amazon has experienced a boom in sales during the pandemic, with revenues of $75.4bn in the first three months of 2020, over $33m an hour. The fortune of CEO Jeff Bezos has grown by $24bn during the crisis.
‘Infections are going to spike indefinitely’
“It’s wild that we’re asking for an [unlimited unpaid time off policy] to be returned, because even that was never enough,” said a San Bernardino employee in their 20s, who works at a sort center and is on an unpaid leave of absence. “It was a bare minimum so people who could afford to could have the chance to stay home without jeopardizing their job.”
The worker said they had another part-time job they could do from home and had some money saved as they worked toward graduate school: “This is going to set me back.”
Amazon has made changes over the last two months to try to enforce distancing within the warehouses, but the worker said the nature of the job made it hard to avoid other people. Another benefit of the unlimited time off was that the facilities became slightly less crowded, they said.
A 25-year-old who lives in Riverside county and has worked for Amazon for more than two years noted that Amazon was continuing to hire new workers as employees quit in fear.
“We don’t know what these people are bringing in. Infections are going to spike indefinitely,” said the worker, who has a baby and lives with his two older parents, who both have a range of health issues. “If I don’t go to work, I die of starvation. If I come home with an infection, I nearly kill half my family.”
Due to the lockdowns, he couldn’t find any other work. “Me and a lot of others have broke our back for Amazon … It’s almost like the virus doesn’t exist around them and all they care about are their numbers.”
Hards, the Amazon spokeswoman, said the company was “encouraging those who are unwell to stay home and taking extreme measures to keep people safe in our buildings”.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams,” she added.
In the Inland Empire region outside Los Angeles, Amazon workers told the Guardian they fear losing their jobs if they are ill and stay home. At least four Amazon warehouses in the region have recorded Covid-19 cases.
On 1 May, Amazon ended a policy allowing unlimited unpaid time off, a measure adopted at the start of the coronavirus crisis that allowed workers to take time off for any reason. They would forgo wages, but if they were concerned about their safety or had new childcare responsibilities due to lockdowns, they could stay home without losing their jobs.
Without the policy, workers say they could now be fired if they miss shifts. They worry the reversal will result in sick and vulnerable people showing up for shifts because they can’t risk termination. The health concerns are particularly serious in the Inland Empire, which has some of the worst air quality in the US and disproportionately high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
Employees also shared emails showing that Amazon has dismissed some paid sick leave requests by claiming a California law intended to provide supplemental sick leave during the pandemic does not apply to the warehouses.
“I’m afraid to come to work, but I don’t have a choice,” said Eddie, a 48-year-old San Bernardino worker with diabetes, who asked to go by his middle name and works in one of the facilities that had an outbreak. “I shouldn’t be there. We’re risking our safety for the company … The more I think about it, the more stressed I get.”
“We are a vector of this disease,” said one worker at a warehouse in San Bernardino. The 27-year-old, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation, recovered from pneumonia last year and is at high risk of serious complications if they contract Covid. “There shouldn’t even be a debate about this. It’s incredibly nerve-racking.”
The Inland Empire, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, was once home to the west coast’s largest steel plant, a major air force base and an agricultural economy. Today, the historically rural area is a hub for distribution centers and the logistics industry, with huge warehouses for Amazon, UPS, Walmart and other retailers. The sector has added more than 50,000 jobs over the last decade as e-commerce has boomed, but a majority of families in the region don’t earn enough to make ends meet.
On 16 April, the California governor, Gavin Newsom, passed an executive order providing food sector workers two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave if they have to isolate due to Covid-19 concerns. The law covers “workers at warehouses where food is stored” and is aimed at protecting consumers from the virus and offering additional support to essential workers whose jobs involve the food supply.
Amazon warehouses in the industrial neighborhoods of San Bernardino and Riverside counties handle a wide range of packages, including food items. But employees say that when they have asked about Newsom’s order in recent weeks, the human resources department has ignored their questions or responded that the facilities are not considered part of the food sector.
The 27-year-old worker with a history of pneumonia works at a sort center and has been responsible for helping package a range of pantry food items. When they asked HR about the paid sick leave law for food workers, the company directed them to steps they could take to request unpaid time off.
A labor spokesperson for the state, however, told the Guardian that the law does apply to warehouses such as Amazon’s centers, noting that the order has a broad definition of “food facility”, which includes any operations that store or package food for human consumption.
Eileen Hards, an Amazon spokeswoman, declined to answer specific questions about Newsom’s order or whether the company has provided this form of paid sick leave, saying in an email: “Amazon has complied with all requirements given by the State.”
The company says in addition to the time off it provided before the coronavirus pandemic, it now gives two weeks of paid time off for infected employees and those presumed to have Covid-19. But in one recent case, a worker who tested positive only received his pay after a BuzzFeed reporter inquired about it, and employees across the country have reported difficulties getting any sick pay during the pandemic.
California’s law also appears to be broader than Amazon’s policy, requiring paid leave for workers who have to isolate due to health concerns, including if they live with someone sick or exposed, and it says they are entitled to “immediately” start leave upon request.
“People are absolutely going to show up sick. They have to,” said a 23-year-old worker at an Amazon fulfillment center in Rialto, a city near San Bernardino. The worker recently stopped going to work out of fear, even though he now risks losing his job and gets no paid time off. “We’re all crammed in there. It’s gonna get bad.”
---
Amazon confirmed that it had ended its unlimited unpaid time off policy, but the company says it continues to allow the option on a case-by-case basis. Workers accrue roughly 80 hours of unpaid time off over the course of a year, and they can now also apply for an unpaid personal leave of absence due to Covid concerns. But it can take weeks for Amazon to respond to these requests, and multiple employees who asked for this said their requests were “pending” and that they were worried they would soon lose their jobs.
Amazon workers across the US have accused the company of not doing enough to protect their health and safety amid the pandemic. Amazon has fired several employee activists after they participated in organizing actions, and a high-profile vice-president resigned this week over the firings. Meanwhile, Amazon has experienced a boom in sales during the pandemic, with revenues of $75.4bn in the first three months of 2020, over $33m an hour. The fortune of CEO Jeff Bezos has grown by $24bn during the crisis.
‘Infections are going to spike indefinitely’
“It’s wild that we’re asking for an [unlimited unpaid time off policy] to be returned, because even that was never enough,” said a San Bernardino employee in their 20s, who works at a sort center and is on an unpaid leave of absence. “It was a bare minimum so people who could afford to could have the chance to stay home without jeopardizing their job.”
The worker said they had another part-time job they could do from home and had some money saved as they worked toward graduate school: “This is going to set me back.”
Amazon has made changes over the last two months to try to enforce distancing within the warehouses, but the worker said the nature of the job made it hard to avoid other people. Another benefit of the unlimited time off was that the facilities became slightly less crowded, they said.
A 25-year-old who lives in Riverside county and has worked for Amazon for more than two years noted that Amazon was continuing to hire new workers as employees quit in fear.
“We don’t know what these people are bringing in. Infections are going to spike indefinitely,” said the worker, who has a baby and lives with his two older parents, who both have a range of health issues. “If I don’t go to work, I die of starvation. If I come home with an infection, I nearly kill half my family.”
Due to the lockdowns, he couldn’t find any other work. “Me and a lot of others have broke our back for Amazon … It’s almost like the virus doesn’t exist around them and all they care about are their numbers.”
Hards, the Amazon spokeswoman, said the company was “encouraging those who are unwell to stay home and taking extreme measures to keep people safe in our buildings”.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our teams,” she added.
California sues Uber and Lyft for misclassifying drivers as contractors
Attorney general says the state will make the companies ‘play by the rules’ and adhere to the worker rights and protections law
Julia Carrie Wong in Oakland
the guardian
Tue 5 May 2020 16.20 EDT
California is suing Uber and Lyft, alleging they misclassified their drivers as independent contractors under the state’s new labor law, in the most significant challenge to the ride-hailing companies’ employment model to date.
Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general, announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference. The labor law, known as AB5 and considered the nation’s strictest test, took effect on 1 January and makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits such as workers compensation and unemployment benefits – a key exclusion that has come to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Uber and Lyft claim their drivers aren’t engaged in the companies’ core mission and cannot qualify for benefits,” said Becerra. “These companies will take the workers’ labor, but they won’t accept the worker protections. California has ground rules with rights and protections for workers and their employers. We intend to make sure that Uber and Lyft play by the rules.”
The dispute over the employment status of Uber and Lyft drivers is as old as the companies themselves. Over the years, gig economy companies have attracted – and largely fought off or settled – a host of class-action lawsuits over employee classification. But an enforcement lawsuit by the state, which will not have the same incentive to settle as a private plaintiff’s attorney, represents an “unprecedented” escalation that is much more likely to bring about meaningful change, said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California Hastings who researches the gig economy.
“These companies should have never been allowed to proliferate using the business model they were using, and it was the state of California that first legalized and allowed this, so that it’s the state of California that is finally stepping in and saying that these are employees is so gratifying,” Dubal said in an interview.
California represents Uber and Lyft’s largest source of revenue. The companies, as well as Doordash, have invested $30m apiece in a ballot initiative campaign to exclude their drivers from the law while giving new benefits such as health care coverage. The initiative is likely to qualify for the November ballot.
The ballot initiative campaign was the subject of a scathing reference in the legal complaint filed by the state, which lambasted the companies for launching “an aggressive public relations campaign in the hopes of enshrining their ability to mistreat their workers” in the middle of “a once-in-a-century pandemic”.
A federal judge in February denied Uber and Postmates’ request for a preliminary injunction that would have exempted them from the law. But separately, a federal judge in January indefinitely blocked the law from applying to more than 70,000 independent truckers, deciding that it is preempted by federal rules on interstate commerce.
The state legislature is also considering amending the law, though lawmakers are split whether to broaden or narrow it as other groups – such as freelance writers and photographers – contend they have been hurt by it through unintended consequences.
The state’s lawsuit alleges that Uber and Lyft haven’t paid enough payroll taxes as a result of the misclassification. The suit seeks restitution for unpaid wages owed to drivers, civil penalties and a permanent ruling that would prohibit the companies from misclassifying drivers in the future.
“We are looking forward to working with the attorney general and mayors across the state to bring all the benefits of California’s innovation economy to as many workers as possible, especially during this time when the creation of good jobs with access to affordable healthcare and other benefits is more important than ever,” Lyft said in a statement.
“At a time when California’s economy is in crisis with four million people out of work, we need to make it easier, not harder, for people to quickly start earning,” a spokesman for Uber said in a statement. “We will contest this action in court, while at the same time pushing to raise the standard of independent work for drivers in California, including with guaranteed minimum earnings and new benefits.”
RELATED: Uber to cut 3,700 jobs, CEO Khosrowshahi to waive base salary
Uber Technologies Inc will cut about 3,700 full-time jobs and Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi will forgo his base salary for the remainder of the year, the company said on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic decimates ride-hailing businesses.
RELATED: Amazon Company is cracking down on protesters and organizing during pandemic, workers say
Xavier Becerra, the state’s attorney general, announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference. The labor law, known as AB5 and considered the nation’s strictest test, took effect on 1 January and makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees who are entitled to minimum wage and benefits such as workers compensation and unemployment benefits – a key exclusion that has come to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Uber and Lyft claim their drivers aren’t engaged in the companies’ core mission and cannot qualify for benefits,” said Becerra. “These companies will take the workers’ labor, but they won’t accept the worker protections. California has ground rules with rights and protections for workers and their employers. We intend to make sure that Uber and Lyft play by the rules.”
The dispute over the employment status of Uber and Lyft drivers is as old as the companies themselves. Over the years, gig economy companies have attracted – and largely fought off or settled – a host of class-action lawsuits over employee classification. But an enforcement lawsuit by the state, which will not have the same incentive to settle as a private plaintiff’s attorney, represents an “unprecedented” escalation that is much more likely to bring about meaningful change, said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California Hastings who researches the gig economy.
“These companies should have never been allowed to proliferate using the business model they were using, and it was the state of California that first legalized and allowed this, so that it’s the state of California that is finally stepping in and saying that these are employees is so gratifying,” Dubal said in an interview.
California represents Uber and Lyft’s largest source of revenue. The companies, as well as Doordash, have invested $30m apiece in a ballot initiative campaign to exclude their drivers from the law while giving new benefits such as health care coverage. The initiative is likely to qualify for the November ballot.
The ballot initiative campaign was the subject of a scathing reference in the legal complaint filed by the state, which lambasted the companies for launching “an aggressive public relations campaign in the hopes of enshrining their ability to mistreat their workers” in the middle of “a once-in-a-century pandemic”.
A federal judge in February denied Uber and Postmates’ request for a preliminary injunction that would have exempted them from the law. But separately, a federal judge in January indefinitely blocked the law from applying to more than 70,000 independent truckers, deciding that it is preempted by federal rules on interstate commerce.
The state legislature is also considering amending the law, though lawmakers are split whether to broaden or narrow it as other groups – such as freelance writers and photographers – contend they have been hurt by it through unintended consequences.
The state’s lawsuit alleges that Uber and Lyft haven’t paid enough payroll taxes as a result of the misclassification. The suit seeks restitution for unpaid wages owed to drivers, civil penalties and a permanent ruling that would prohibit the companies from misclassifying drivers in the future.
“We are looking forward to working with the attorney general and mayors across the state to bring all the benefits of California’s innovation economy to as many workers as possible, especially during this time when the creation of good jobs with access to affordable healthcare and other benefits is more important than ever,” Lyft said in a statement.
“At a time when California’s economy is in crisis with four million people out of work, we need to make it easier, not harder, for people to quickly start earning,” a spokesman for Uber said in a statement. “We will contest this action in court, while at the same time pushing to raise the standard of independent work for drivers in California, including with guaranteed minimum earnings and new benefits.”
RELATED: Uber to cut 3,700 jobs, CEO Khosrowshahi to waive base salary
Uber Technologies Inc will cut about 3,700 full-time jobs and Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi will forgo his base salary for the remainder of the year, the company said on Wednesday, as the COVID-19 pandemic decimates ride-hailing businesses.
RELATED: Amazon Company is cracking down on protesters and organizing during pandemic, workers say
These Workers Packed Lip Gloss and Pandora Charm Bracelets. They Were Labeled “Essential” but Didn’t Feel Safe.
PFS, which packs and ships jewelry and cosmetics, stayed open even as employees have tested positive for coronavirus. Some temporary workers say they quit over a lack of workplace protections, but agencies keep sending people to $9 an hour jobs.
by Wendi C. Thomas, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism - propublica
May 2, 9 a.m. EDT
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On her first day at her new warehouse job, Daria Meeks assumed the business would provide face coverings. It didn’t.
She assumed her fellow workers would be spread out to account for the new coronavirus. They weren’t.
There wasn’t even soap in the bathroom.
Instead, on March 28, her first day at PFS, which packages and ships makeup and jewelry, Meeks found herself standing alongside four other new workers at a station the size of a card table as a trainer showed them how to properly tuck tissue paper into gift boxes.
The following day, Meeks, 29, was just two hours into her shift when she heard that a worker had thrown up.
“They said her blood pressure had went up and she was just nauseated, but when we turned around, everybody who was permanent that worked for PFS had on gloves and masks,” Meeks said.
Temporary workers like her weren’t offered either.
Since then, workers have been told twice that coworkers have tested positive for the coronavirus. The first time was April 10 at a warehouse just across the state line in Southaven, Mississippi. The next was April 16 at the warehouse in southeast Memphis where Meeks worked, several temporary and permanent workers told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and ProPublica.
In interviews, the workers complained of a crowded environment where they shared devices and weren’t provided personal protective equipment. The company has about 500 employees at its four Memphis-area locations, according to the Memphis Business Journal.
In right-to-work states such as Tennessee and Mississippi, where union membership is low, manual laborers have long said they are vulnerable, and workers’ rights advocates say the global pandemic has underscored just how few protections they have.
A spokesman for Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed that the department received an anonymous complaint about PFS in April.
“A few of (sic) people have tested positive for Covid-19 and the company has not taken precaution to prevent employees from contracting the coronavirus,” the complainant wrote. “As of today (04/13/2020) no one have (sic) come to clean or sanitize the building.”
In response, the spokesman said TOSHA sent the company a letter “informing them of measures they may take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
PFS did not answer specific questions about the number of workers infected at its facilities or about specific precautions it takes. Instead the company released a short statement that said PFS “is committed to the safety and well-being of its employees.” It also said it performs temperature checks at the door and supplies workers with masks, gloves and face shields.
But workers said none of these measures were in effect as late as the middle of April, when Shelby County, Tennessee, and DeSoto County, Mississippi, each home to two PFS facilities, were reporting more than 1,600 coronavirus infections and 30 deaths. (As of Friday, there are more than 2,750 infections and 50 deaths in the two counties.) A current employee said the company now provides gloves and masks, but they’re optional, as are the temperature checks.
When Meeks started at PFS, cases in the county were still at a trickle. But she didn’t stick around long.
On her third day at work, workers were split into two groups for lunch, but the break room was still full. “You could barely pull out a chair, that’s how crowded it was,” she said. “Everybody was shoulder to shoulder.”
Meeks said she asked the security guard at the front desk if she could eat her lunch in the empty lobby but was told no.
“I said, this is just not going to work,” said Meeks, who was paid $9 an hour. “You got different people coughing, sneezing, allergies — you never know what’s going on with a person.”
She left during her break and didn’t come back.
Economy Dominated by Low-Wage Industry, Jobs
In cities across the country, workers at Amazon facilities and other warehouses have been infected with COVID-19, as have workers at meatpacking plants nationwide.
What makes Memphis different is the outsized share of the workforce in the logistics industry, which includes warehouses and distribution centers.
The Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce boasts on its website that the logistics industry employs 1 in 6 workers in the Memphis metro area, a higher share than anywhere else in the country.
The high concentration of these low-wage jobs is a testament to the city’s decades-old campaign to brand itself as “America’s Distribution Center.” Memphis is home to FedEx’s headquarters and its world distribution hub, which is undergoing a $1.5 billion expansion, as well as to Nike’s largest global distribution center, a sprawling 2.8 million-square-foot facility.
According to 2019 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 58,000 workers in the Memphis metro area fill and stock orders, package materials and move materials by hand.
In Memphis, workers at distribution centers for FedEx, Nike and Kroger have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Shelby County Health Department received 64 complaints about businesses between April 1 and April 29, but could not say how many were about warehouses.
Interim guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls for employers to notify workers of positive cases. But it is voluntary. The federal OSHA has no such requirement, and neither does Tennessee’s OSHA.
Although Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides two weeks paid sick leave for coronavirus-affected or infected workers, it doesn’t apply to many warehouse and temporary employees, said Laura Padin, senior staff attorney at the Washington-based National Employment Law Project, which advocates for better public policy for workers, particularly low-wage workers.
“The big issue is that it exempts so many employers, especially employers with over 500 employees,” Padin said. “And the vast majority of temp workers and many warehouse workers work for employers with more than 500 employees.”
The coronavirus has disproportionately affected people of color, the very group that makes up the bulk of the warehouse and temporary workforce.
“Black workers make up 12% of the workforce but 26% of temp workers, and Latino workers make up 16% of the workforce but 25% of temp workers,” said Padin, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in 2018.
Add to that the yawning racial wealth gap and low-wage workers like Meeks are in an untenable situation, Padin said.
“They either stay home and they risk their financial security,” Padin said, “or they go to work and risk their lives.”
“You Can Always Go Back”
With 1.45 million square feet of warehouse space among its four area locations, PFS is the ninth-largest third-party distribution operation in the metro area, according to the Memphis Business Journal’s 2020 Book of Lists. PFS doesn’t sell products under its own name but rather fulfills orders for better-known companies.
Pandora, which is perhaps best known for its charm bracelets, is one of PFS’s clients. “Each item shipped for PANDORA is wrapped in customized, branded, and sometimes seasonal packing materials, making every purchase a gift,” PFS’s website says.
Meeks’ favorite part of her job was taking each customer’s personal message, tucking it into a tiny envelope and then into the gift package.
“When we were sending out these Pandora bracelets and these Chanel gifts, I sat there and read all my cards,” said Meeks, who like all of the workers interviewed for this story, is black. “They were so cute.”
One Pandora customer sent a note to “beloved mother,” Meeks said, and another seemed to be from someone in a long-distance relationship.
“He was like: Even though I’m miles and miles away, I always think about you,” Meeks said. He wrote that he hoped the jewelry would “glitter in your eyes, or something like that.”
The day Meeks quit PFS, she said she called Prestigious Placement, the temporary agency that sent her there, asking for another job.
The temporary agency representative “was like, ‘Well, you can always go back to PFS until we get something else,’ and I was like, ‘No.’”
“She said, ‘Well, we haven’t had anyone to get sick,’” Meeks recalled.
Meeks said she tried to explain that regardless of whether some workers had tested positive, the company wasn’t taking enough steps, in her opinion, to keep current workers safe.
The representative said she’d ask the agency’s on-site manager about Meeks’ concerns, but Meeks said that there was no on-site manager present on her second or third day.
Prestigious Placement did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.
A local labor leader said Meeks’ experience illustrates the tough situation for temporary workers at warehouses.
“They tend not to have benefits, sick time and insurance and all the things that allow us to keep our whole community safe during a pandemic,” said Jeffrey Lichtenstein, executive secretary of the Memphis Labor Council, a federation of around 40 union locals.
Unlike companies such as Nike and FedEx, which have reputations to protect, the general public doesn’t know who PFS is or what it does, he said. “They have no brand vulnerability,” he said.
With little leverage to exert on businesses, these workers are up against a regional business model that mires them in dead-end, low-wage jobs, Lichtenstein said.
The city’s power brokers, he said, “have a couple of main tenets of their economic philosophy. One, logistics is really, really important, and two, cheap labor is very, very important.”
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A Perfect Combination: Higher Pay and Less Risk
Just days after Meeks quit PFS, she turned to a different agency and was sent to a Memphis warehouse that labels and ships cleaning products.
Her first day was April 17, and she was impressed by the precautions the employer takes.
Before workers enter the building, Meeks said, their temperatures are taken in a white tent outside. If they don’t have a fever, they get a wristband that is a different color each day.
The company provides masks, gloves and goggles, she said, and there are even kickstands on the bathroom doors, so they can be opened by foot.
Working the third shift means fewer people, Meeks said. “We’re not working close to each other.”
Meeks said she wouldn’t put a price on her health, but at her new job, the risks are lower and the pay higher — up from $9 to $11.50 an hour.
She assumed her fellow workers would be spread out to account for the new coronavirus. They weren’t.
There wasn’t even soap in the bathroom.
Instead, on March 28, her first day at PFS, which packages and ships makeup and jewelry, Meeks found herself standing alongside four other new workers at a station the size of a card table as a trainer showed them how to properly tuck tissue paper into gift boxes.
The following day, Meeks, 29, was just two hours into her shift when she heard that a worker had thrown up.
“They said her blood pressure had went up and she was just nauseated, but when we turned around, everybody who was permanent that worked for PFS had on gloves and masks,” Meeks said.
Temporary workers like her weren’t offered either.
Since then, workers have been told twice that coworkers have tested positive for the coronavirus. The first time was April 10 at a warehouse just across the state line in Southaven, Mississippi. The next was April 16 at the warehouse in southeast Memphis where Meeks worked, several temporary and permanent workers told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism and ProPublica.
In interviews, the workers complained of a crowded environment where they shared devices and weren’t provided personal protective equipment. The company has about 500 employees at its four Memphis-area locations, according to the Memphis Business Journal.
In right-to-work states such as Tennessee and Mississippi, where union membership is low, manual laborers have long said they are vulnerable, and workers’ rights advocates say the global pandemic has underscored just how few protections they have.
A spokesman for Tennessee’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration confirmed that the department received an anonymous complaint about PFS in April.
“A few of (sic) people have tested positive for Covid-19 and the company has not taken precaution to prevent employees from contracting the coronavirus,” the complainant wrote. “As of today (04/13/2020) no one have (sic) come to clean or sanitize the building.”
In response, the spokesman said TOSHA sent the company a letter “informing them of measures they may take to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”
PFS did not answer specific questions about the number of workers infected at its facilities or about specific precautions it takes. Instead the company released a short statement that said PFS “is committed to the safety and well-being of its employees.” It also said it performs temperature checks at the door and supplies workers with masks, gloves and face shields.
But workers said none of these measures were in effect as late as the middle of April, when Shelby County, Tennessee, and DeSoto County, Mississippi, each home to two PFS facilities, were reporting more than 1,600 coronavirus infections and 30 deaths. (As of Friday, there are more than 2,750 infections and 50 deaths in the two counties.) A current employee said the company now provides gloves and masks, but they’re optional, as are the temperature checks.
When Meeks started at PFS, cases in the county were still at a trickle. But she didn’t stick around long.
On her third day at work, workers were split into two groups for lunch, but the break room was still full. “You could barely pull out a chair, that’s how crowded it was,” she said. “Everybody was shoulder to shoulder.”
Meeks said she asked the security guard at the front desk if she could eat her lunch in the empty lobby but was told no.
“I said, this is just not going to work,” said Meeks, who was paid $9 an hour. “You got different people coughing, sneezing, allergies — you never know what’s going on with a person.”
She left during her break and didn’t come back.
Economy Dominated by Low-Wage Industry, Jobs
In cities across the country, workers at Amazon facilities and other warehouses have been infected with COVID-19, as have workers at meatpacking plants nationwide.
What makes Memphis different is the outsized share of the workforce in the logistics industry, which includes warehouses and distribution centers.
The Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce boasts on its website that the logistics industry employs 1 in 6 workers in the Memphis metro area, a higher share than anywhere else in the country.
The high concentration of these low-wage jobs is a testament to the city’s decades-old campaign to brand itself as “America’s Distribution Center.” Memphis is home to FedEx’s headquarters and its world distribution hub, which is undergoing a $1.5 billion expansion, as well as to Nike’s largest global distribution center, a sprawling 2.8 million-square-foot facility.
According to 2019 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 58,000 workers in the Memphis metro area fill and stock orders, package materials and move materials by hand.
In Memphis, workers at distribution centers for FedEx, Nike and Kroger have tested positive for the coronavirus. The Shelby County Health Department received 64 complaints about businesses between April 1 and April 29, but could not say how many were about warehouses.
Interim guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls for employers to notify workers of positive cases. But it is voluntary. The federal OSHA has no such requirement, and neither does Tennessee’s OSHA.
Although Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides two weeks paid sick leave for coronavirus-affected or infected workers, it doesn’t apply to many warehouse and temporary employees, said Laura Padin, senior staff attorney at the Washington-based National Employment Law Project, which advocates for better public policy for workers, particularly low-wage workers.
“The big issue is that it exempts so many employers, especially employers with over 500 employees,” Padin said. “And the vast majority of temp workers and many warehouse workers work for employers with more than 500 employees.”
The coronavirus has disproportionately affected people of color, the very group that makes up the bulk of the warehouse and temporary workforce.
“Black workers make up 12% of the workforce but 26% of temp workers, and Latino workers make up 16% of the workforce but 25% of temp workers,” said Padin, citing Bureau of Labor Statistics data released in 2018.
Add to that the yawning racial wealth gap and low-wage workers like Meeks are in an untenable situation, Padin said.
“They either stay home and they risk their financial security,” Padin said, “or they go to work and risk their lives.”
“You Can Always Go Back”
With 1.45 million square feet of warehouse space among its four area locations, PFS is the ninth-largest third-party distribution operation in the metro area, according to the Memphis Business Journal’s 2020 Book of Lists. PFS doesn’t sell products under its own name but rather fulfills orders for better-known companies.
Pandora, which is perhaps best known for its charm bracelets, is one of PFS’s clients. “Each item shipped for PANDORA is wrapped in customized, branded, and sometimes seasonal packing materials, making every purchase a gift,” PFS’s website says.
Meeks’ favorite part of her job was taking each customer’s personal message, tucking it into a tiny envelope and then into the gift package.
“When we were sending out these Pandora bracelets and these Chanel gifts, I sat there and read all my cards,” said Meeks, who like all of the workers interviewed for this story, is black. “They were so cute.”
One Pandora customer sent a note to “beloved mother,” Meeks said, and another seemed to be from someone in a long-distance relationship.
“He was like: Even though I’m miles and miles away, I always think about you,” Meeks said. He wrote that he hoped the jewelry would “glitter in your eyes, or something like that.”
The day Meeks quit PFS, she said she called Prestigious Placement, the temporary agency that sent her there, asking for another job.
The temporary agency representative “was like, ‘Well, you can always go back to PFS until we get something else,’ and I was like, ‘No.’”
“She said, ‘Well, we haven’t had anyone to get sick,’” Meeks recalled.
Meeks said she tried to explain that regardless of whether some workers had tested positive, the company wasn’t taking enough steps, in her opinion, to keep current workers safe.
The representative said she’d ask the agency’s on-site manager about Meeks’ concerns, but Meeks said that there was no on-site manager present on her second or third day.
Prestigious Placement did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story.
A local labor leader said Meeks’ experience illustrates the tough situation for temporary workers at warehouses.
“They tend not to have benefits, sick time and insurance and all the things that allow us to keep our whole community safe during a pandemic,” said Jeffrey Lichtenstein, executive secretary of the Memphis Labor Council, a federation of around 40 union locals.
Unlike companies such as Nike and FedEx, which have reputations to protect, the general public doesn’t know who PFS is or what it does, he said. “They have no brand vulnerability,” he said.
With little leverage to exert on businesses, these workers are up against a regional business model that mires them in dead-end, low-wage jobs, Lichtenstein said.
The city’s power brokers, he said, “have a couple of main tenets of their economic philosophy. One, logistics is really, really important, and two, cheap labor is very, very important.”
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A Perfect Combination: Higher Pay and Less Risk
Just days after Meeks quit PFS, she turned to a different agency and was sent to a Memphis warehouse that labels and ships cleaning products.
Her first day was April 17, and she was impressed by the precautions the employer takes.
Before workers enter the building, Meeks said, their temperatures are taken in a white tent outside. If they don’t have a fever, they get a wristband that is a different color each day.
The company provides masks, gloves and goggles, she said, and there are even kickstands on the bathroom doors, so they can be opened by foot.
Working the third shift means fewer people, Meeks said. “We’re not working close to each other.”
Meeks said she wouldn’t put a price on her health, but at her new job, the risks are lower and the pay higher — up from $9 to $11.50 an hour.
CIRCA 1870: A CARTOON SATIRISING THE SWEATSHOPS OF THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY. ORIGINAL ARTIST: BY JOHN LEECH FROM PUNCH MAGAZINE. (PHOTO BY RISCHGITZ/GETTY IMAGES)
THEY WERE WARNED NOT TO TAKE SICK DAYS — THEN SIX WORKERS AT THEIR WAREHOUSE DIED OF CORONAVIRUS
Gabriel Thompson - the intercept
April 30 2020, 4:00 a.m.
AT LEAST SIX people who worked in a Long Island, New York, warehouse leased by Broadridge Financial Solutions have died of Covid-19, according to their family members and news reports.
Earlier this month, The Intercept and Type Investigations reported that employees of TMG Mail Solutions, a Broadridge contractor that prints and mails financial documents, had been pressured to work during the Covid-19 pandemic even as some of their co-workers tested positive for the virus. The workers also expressed concerns that delays in the provision of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves made an outbreak inevitable.
Broadridge Financial Solutions is a global financial services company that made nearly $4.4 billion in revenue last year. The production floor of the warehouse is staffed by Broadridge employees and TMG employees, along with employees of Randstad, a multinational staffing firm that has an office inside the building.
Four of the deceased workers were Broadridge employees, according to their families, and two were employees of Randstad.
Randstad declined to answer questions, noting that “personal employee information is considered confidential.” Broadridge declined to provide the number of employees who have contracted Covid-19 or the number who have died from the virus, citing privacy concerns.
“Our thoughts are with the families and co-workers at this difficult time,” Broadridge spokesperson Gregg Rosenberg wrote in an email. “This is a terrible loss for the Broadridge community. The health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community are our highest priority, and we have implemented extraordinary safety measures to keep workers safe in advance of public health guidelines.”
A representative of TMG said that fewer than 10 of its employees at the Broadridge warehouse had tested positive for the virus and that none had died.
ONE OF THE Randstad employees, Jose Bonilla Flores, had worked at the company for more than a decade, according to his wife, Ana Menjivar, who works for TMG. She described him as a diligent and tireless worker, someone who didn’t mind the 12-hour shifts, seven days a week that they both worked during the busy spring season when proxy statements were printed and shipped. The couple, from El Salvador, had met at the warehouse four years ago and have a 3-year-old son, Jonathan.
Like many warehouse workers, Flores and Menjivar were anxious about the coronavirus and had heard rumors that it was spreading among workers. “We were scared — that’s all we talked about,” Menjivar said. “At the same time, we didn’t want to lose work.”
Menjivar said she had been among the TMG workers to receive a flyer on the warehouse floor. As The Intercept and Type Investigations previously reported, the flyer warned, “If you don’t show up for work you will not be paid and after two days you will be considered to have abandoned your job.” The flyer also discouraged TMG employees from wearing masks or gloves unless they were sick or had compromised immune systems.
Flores, 53, had a slight cough and lost his sense of smell and taste but continued to work until April 2, when he developed a fever. The following day, he visited Brentwood Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with suspected Covid-19. A test determined he was positive. By then, Menjivar had also come down with symptoms of Covid-19 and was instructed by the same doctor to quarantine at home.
Over the next two weeks, Menjivar, whose symptoms were less severe, cared for her husband. He was weak and bedridden, she said, but his condition appeared to be stable until April 17, when he was suddenly unable to speak. She immediately called 911, but by the time the paramedics arrived, he had already died from a heart attack caused by the virus, a trend among Covid-19 patients that is alarming cardiac experts.
Menjivar said that neither she nor Flores had been provided masks or gloves to wear at work. She said that Flores’s final day at work was April 2 and hers was April 3. “The only thing that the companies care about is production,” she said over the phone between sobs. “They didn’t start giving people masks until he was already sick.”
Another Randstad employee, Lucio Acosta, 64, also died in April of Covid-19. His daughter, Mayra Acosta, said that her father had worked for Randstad for many years and that he had tested positive for Covid-19 at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. A close friend and co-worker, Luis Flores, also confirmed that Acosta worked for Randstad.
A Randstad spokesperson, Madison Southall, declined to say if or when employees were provided personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, stating that the company was “following applicable state and local orders as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health authorities with respect to providing employees with protective equipment.”
Rosenberg, the Broadridge spokesperson, previously told The Intercept and Type Investigations that, in early April, the company provided gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer to its own employees and, a week later, offered the protective gear to all workers in the warehouse. In response to a recent inquiry, however, Rosenberg said that this had been a miscommunication. He said that Broadridge managers had handed out masks on March 26 to all workers on the production floor — including workers for TMG, Randstad, and Broadridge — and strongly encouraged them to wear them.
Menjivar and three other current TMG employees, all of whom work on the production floor, contradicted Rosenberg’s account. Menjivar, who worked until April 3, said she never received a mask nor was encouraged to wear one. Three other current TMG employees also reported that they were not provided protective equipment until April, after The Intercept and Type Investigations first contacted Broadridge. Menjivar also said that she saw one TMG worker wearing a mask brought from home. A supervisor confronted the worker and made them remove it, she said, saying that masks were prohibited unless the worker had a doctor’s note saying it was necessary.
An attorney representing TMG, James Prusinowski, did not respond to Menjivar’s account, stating that the company cannot discuss specific employee matters. He also declined to state if or when TMG employees were provided masks and gloves. “TMG is following and has followed all applicable CDC guidelines and NY requirements regarding social distancing, use of PPEs and other protocols to ensure employees remain safe during this period,” he wrote in an email.
IN ADDITION TO the Randstad employees, four employees of Broadridge have died from Covid-19, according to family members. Among the deceased is Juan Gonzalez, a broad-shouldered 49-year-old who worked in the quality control department, his sister said. Gonzalez had served in the Navy, she said, and worked at Broadridge more than a dozen years. He died on the same date as Flores, April 17, after being on a ventilator in the hospital for two weeks.[...]
Earlier this month, The Intercept and Type Investigations reported that employees of TMG Mail Solutions, a Broadridge contractor that prints and mails financial documents, had been pressured to work during the Covid-19 pandemic even as some of their co-workers tested positive for the virus. The workers also expressed concerns that delays in the provision of personal protective equipment like masks and gloves made an outbreak inevitable.
Broadridge Financial Solutions is a global financial services company that made nearly $4.4 billion in revenue last year. The production floor of the warehouse is staffed by Broadridge employees and TMG employees, along with employees of Randstad, a multinational staffing firm that has an office inside the building.
Four of the deceased workers were Broadridge employees, according to their families, and two were employees of Randstad.
Randstad declined to answer questions, noting that “personal employee information is considered confidential.” Broadridge declined to provide the number of employees who have contracted Covid-19 or the number who have died from the virus, citing privacy concerns.
“Our thoughts are with the families and co-workers at this difficult time,” Broadridge spokesperson Gregg Rosenberg wrote in an email. “This is a terrible loss for the Broadridge community. The health and safety of our employees, their families, and our community are our highest priority, and we have implemented extraordinary safety measures to keep workers safe in advance of public health guidelines.”
A representative of TMG said that fewer than 10 of its employees at the Broadridge warehouse had tested positive for the virus and that none had died.
ONE OF THE Randstad employees, Jose Bonilla Flores, had worked at the company for more than a decade, according to his wife, Ana Menjivar, who works for TMG. She described him as a diligent and tireless worker, someone who didn’t mind the 12-hour shifts, seven days a week that they both worked during the busy spring season when proxy statements were printed and shipped. The couple, from El Salvador, had met at the warehouse four years ago and have a 3-year-old son, Jonathan.
Like many warehouse workers, Flores and Menjivar were anxious about the coronavirus and had heard rumors that it was spreading among workers. “We were scared — that’s all we talked about,” Menjivar said. “At the same time, we didn’t want to lose work.”
Menjivar said she had been among the TMG workers to receive a flyer on the warehouse floor. As The Intercept and Type Investigations previously reported, the flyer warned, “If you don’t show up for work you will not be paid and after two days you will be considered to have abandoned your job.” The flyer also discouraged TMG employees from wearing masks or gloves unless they were sick or had compromised immune systems.
Flores, 53, had a slight cough and lost his sense of smell and taste but continued to work until April 2, when he developed a fever. The following day, he visited Brentwood Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with suspected Covid-19. A test determined he was positive. By then, Menjivar had also come down with symptoms of Covid-19 and was instructed by the same doctor to quarantine at home.
Over the next two weeks, Menjivar, whose symptoms were less severe, cared for her husband. He was weak and bedridden, she said, but his condition appeared to be stable until April 17, when he was suddenly unable to speak. She immediately called 911, but by the time the paramedics arrived, he had already died from a heart attack caused by the virus, a trend among Covid-19 patients that is alarming cardiac experts.
Menjivar said that neither she nor Flores had been provided masks or gloves to wear at work. She said that Flores’s final day at work was April 2 and hers was April 3. “The only thing that the companies care about is production,” she said over the phone between sobs. “They didn’t start giving people masks until he was already sick.”
Another Randstad employee, Lucio Acosta, 64, also died in April of Covid-19. His daughter, Mayra Acosta, said that her father had worked for Randstad for many years and that he had tested positive for Covid-19 at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. A close friend and co-worker, Luis Flores, also confirmed that Acosta worked for Randstad.
A Randstad spokesperson, Madison Southall, declined to say if or when employees were provided personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, stating that the company was “following applicable state and local orders as well as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health authorities with respect to providing employees with protective equipment.”
Rosenberg, the Broadridge spokesperson, previously told The Intercept and Type Investigations that, in early April, the company provided gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer to its own employees and, a week later, offered the protective gear to all workers in the warehouse. In response to a recent inquiry, however, Rosenberg said that this had been a miscommunication. He said that Broadridge managers had handed out masks on March 26 to all workers on the production floor — including workers for TMG, Randstad, and Broadridge — and strongly encouraged them to wear them.
Menjivar and three other current TMG employees, all of whom work on the production floor, contradicted Rosenberg’s account. Menjivar, who worked until April 3, said she never received a mask nor was encouraged to wear one. Three other current TMG employees also reported that they were not provided protective equipment until April, after The Intercept and Type Investigations first contacted Broadridge. Menjivar also said that she saw one TMG worker wearing a mask brought from home. A supervisor confronted the worker and made them remove it, she said, saying that masks were prohibited unless the worker had a doctor’s note saying it was necessary.
An attorney representing TMG, James Prusinowski, did not respond to Menjivar’s account, stating that the company cannot discuss specific employee matters. He also declined to state if or when TMG employees were provided masks and gloves. “TMG is following and has followed all applicable CDC guidelines and NY requirements regarding social distancing, use of PPEs and other protocols to ensure employees remain safe during this period,” he wrote in an email.
IN ADDITION TO the Randstad employees, four employees of Broadridge have died from Covid-19, according to family members. Among the deceased is Juan Gonzalez, a broad-shouldered 49-year-old who worked in the quality control department, his sister said. Gonzalez had served in the Navy, she said, and worked at Broadridge more than a dozen years. He died on the same date as Flores, April 17, after being on a ventilator in the hospital for two weeks.[...]
Trump using coronavirus stimulus to ‘enrich corporate executives’ while showing ‘complete disregard’ for workers: top unions
April 28, 2020
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams
Leaders of some of the largest labor unions in the United States are warning that the Trump administration is brushing aside the interests of workers in its distribution of trillions of dollars in coronavirus bailout funds and instead using the taxpayer money to further enrich wealthy corporate executives.
As funds authorized by the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act begin to fly out the door, the unions wrote in letters (pdf) to Democratic leaders Monday that they “are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients.”
“Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve’s lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers’ right to organize,” the unions wrote. “This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers.”
The unions sent the letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letters’ signatories include Dan Mauer of the Communications Workers of America, Tor Cowan of the American Federation of Teachers, and John Gray of the Service Employees International Union.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, contains some restrictions on corporate recipients of federal bailout funds—including limits on layoffs, stock buybacks, and executive compensation—but the law also empowers Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to waive those restrictions, effectively rendering them meaningless.
“We were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll,” the unions wrote Monday. “Unfortunately the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid.”
“The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well,” the unions said.
The unions’ warnings came as progressives continue to raise alarm about how the trillions of dollars in corporate bailout funds are being utilized, particularly given that the limited oversight mechanisms established by the CARES Act are not yet fully functional.
The Federal Reserve has committed to making public the names of companies that receive bailout money, but the central bank has not said it will release the terms and conditions of the taxpayer loans.
The unions demanded Monday that Democratic lawmakers work to guarantee that any future stimulus package contains enforceable restrictions to protect workers and prevent profiteering by corporate executives.
“We urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump administration has exploited to undermine them already,” the labor leaders wrote.
“We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections,” they added.[...]
As funds authorized by the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act begin to fly out the door, the unions wrote in letters (pdf) to Democratic leaders Monday that they “are troubled that important worker protections are not being required of recipients.”
“Specifically, we are alarmed that the Federal Reserve’s lending facility for large businesses does not require those companies to maintain workers on payroll, while the program for mid-sized businesses fails to include anti-outsourcing provisions or any provisions protecting workers’ right to organize,” the unions wrote. “This means that, rather than protect good, family-supporting jobs as you intended, the funds can be used to enrich corporate executives and shareholders without regard for workers.”
The unions sent the letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.). The letters’ signatories include Dan Mauer of the Communications Workers of America, Tor Cowan of the American Federation of Teachers, and John Gray of the Service Employees International Union.
The CARES Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last month, contains some restrictions on corporate recipients of federal bailout funds—including limits on layoffs, stock buybacks, and executive compensation—but the law also empowers Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to waive those restrictions, effectively rendering them meaningless.
“We were happy to see that one of the provisions of the CARES Act required that most employers receiving taxpayer funds would be required to keep 90% of their employees on payroll,” the unions wrote Monday. “Unfortunately the Trump administration and the Federal Reserve effectively waived any requirement to maintain workforces at companies receiving aid.”
“The Treasury Department, meanwhile, has failed to follow guidance under the CARES Act protections for airline payrolls, potentially risking good jobs in those sectors, as well,” the unions said.
The unions’ warnings came as progressives continue to raise alarm about how the trillions of dollars in corporate bailout funds are being utilized, particularly given that the limited oversight mechanisms established by the CARES Act are not yet fully functional.
The Federal Reserve has committed to making public the names of companies that receive bailout money, but the central bank has not said it will release the terms and conditions of the taxpayer loans.
The unions demanded Monday that Democratic lawmakers work to guarantee that any future stimulus package contains enforceable restrictions to protect workers and prevent profiteering by corporate executives.
“We urge you to ensure that any future legislation responding to the pandemic and the economic fallout includes not only robust worker protection provisions, but that those provisions are binding and enforceable on recipients of federal taxpayer assistance, without the loopholes in the CARES Act that the Trump administration has exploited to undermine them already,” the labor leaders wrote.
“We cannot yet again have the federal government bailing out corporations and major employers and leaving workers with no meaningful protections,” they added.[...]
Despite COVID-19, Trump Keeps on Gutting Protections for Workers
BY Mike Ludwig, Truthout
PUBLISHED April 25, 2020
Last year, the Trump administration finalized the rollback of a 2016 rule requiring employers to electronically file detailed logs of injuries and illness in the workplace with federal safety regulators. Employers were already supposed to keep the logs on hand, and the rule was designed to help safety inspectors, unions and employers identify workplace hazards across industries and individual companies — including hazards that contribute to the spread of diseases like COVID-19.
However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed the transparency requirement, and President Trump added the rule to the long list of federal regulations he has loosened or tossed out since taking office. Now, the Trump administration is reportedly poised to further gut federal rules for businesses as lobbyists for wealthy employers push back against calls for paid sick leave and enhanced workplace protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates says enforcement of labor standards has plummeted under Trump, and previous deregulatory moves have already put essential and front line workers in danger of taking unnecessary risks and falling ill.
“Without universal health insurance, without universal sick leave, with a growing gig economy, and without our federal safety agency taking action … we’re all at greater risk for the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), during a virtual press conference on Thursday. “Worker health is public health. The coronavirus and other hazards don’t stay put in any one workplace.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace safety standards and protecting workers, established the injury and illness reporting rule under President Obama before suspending and gutting the rule under Trump. An ongoing lawsuit filed by public health groups claims the agency jammed the rollback through the regulatory process without clear supporting evidence. Meanwhile, labor advocates say OSHA has sat on the sidelines despite the escalating threat COVID-19 poses to front line workers nationwide. Instead of implementing temporary, emergency standards and investigating a massive backlog of complaints from workers, OSHA has issued a series of “alerts” and voluntary “guidance” for employers.
For example, OSHA and the Labor Department has so far refused to issue emergency safety standards for nurses and health care workers, despite petitions from unions and public health groups. Goldstein-Gelb pointed to slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants linked to hundreds of COVID-19 cases and several deaths that have yet to be seriously penalized by the government. Last week OSHA cut employers some slack and announced that inspectors will take their “good faith” efforts to comply with health and safety standards into “strong consideration” when deciding whether to issue a citation during the COVID-19 outbreak. An employer may fail to protect workers from the coronavirus, but an honest attempt may be enough to avoid a fine. Eugene Scalia, Trump’s labor secretary, previously defended corporate bosses in court and is facing blowback over apparent attempts to trim paid sick leave and unemployment rolls. A spokeswoman for OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It is absolutely a disaster that, at the federal level, OHSA has taken a big back seat in protecting workings in this crisis,” Goldstein-Gelb said. “They have every tool possible to be able to initiate an emergency standard, to take action in terms of investigations and enforcement using both existing tools and new tools, and have failed to do so.”
OSHA enforcement actions and workplace inspections continue to fall under Trump despite an uptick in deaths on the job, according to a new report from National COSH. In 2018, 5,520 U.S. workers died from workplace trauma, a nearly 9 percent increase since 2014. The number of OSHA workplace inspections fell by 10.5 percent over the same time period. Fatality rates are rising even faster among workers of color, who are more likely to work under dangerous conditions. From 2014 to 2018, the number of deaths among Latinx and Black workers increased by nearly 20 and 30 percent respectively. Today, OSHA has just 875 inspectors covering about 9 million workplaces.
“Tragically, the higher rates of illness and death from COVID-19 we are seeing in Latinx and African American communities track the higher rates of workplace injuries and fatalities we see in the same populations in the workplace,” said National COSH co-director Jessica Martinez.
Trump’s deregulatory blitz began shortly after he took office with an executive order that requires federal agencies to eliminate two rules for every new rule they implement, making it difficult for regulators to adapt to new challenges posed by the outbreak. By the time the pandemic hit, Trump had already blocked the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, which would have helped ensure that federal contracts only go to employers who follow basic labor and employment laws, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Now, the administration says further deregulation is necessary to blunt the outbreaks damage to the economy and hopes to grant liability waivers that would clear businesses of legal responsibility if their employees get sick or die from COVID-19. Meanwhile, business groups successfully lobbied the White House to exempt large employers from paid sick leave requirements in Congress’s initial COVID-19 stimulus package.
With a friend in the White House, powerful industry groups have pushed back against state and local attempts to establish paid sick leave requirements and raise the minimum wage, forcing low-paid workers to choose between showing up sick and losing much-needed income. Horacio Ruiz, a server at the Capital Grille in Pittsburgh, told reporters on Thursday that he’s seen co-workers and even managers come into work when they are sick and should be at home. Ruiz worked with Restaurant Opportunity Centers (ROC) United to pass a paid sick leave law in Pittsburgh five years ago, but a legal challenge filed by an affiliate of the powerful National Restaurant Association held the law up in court.
“Our city council passed a paid sick leave law five years ago, but the state affiliate of the National Restaurant Association fought us in court, so it didn’t go into effect until March of this year,” Ruiz said. “If the restaurant owners didn’t fight us for so long, workers in Pittsburgh would have had more paid sick leave credit when this pandemic began.”
As the pandemic continues, Goldstein-Gelb said her organization receives “frequent” reports from workers who face retaliation for refusing to work in unsafe conditions or stay home due to a weakened immune system or a sick loved one. Teófilo L. Reyes, the deputy research director at ROC United, said some employers are doing the right thing despite the deregulatory atmosphere created by Trump. For example, the corporation behind restaurant chains such as Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse agreed to provide accrued paid sick leave to hourly employees after facing public pressure. However, other large employers are enjoying the federal exemption, and Reyes said that makes any workplace that remains open more dangerous.
“If someone is sick, their incentive is to keep quiet about it as long as possible, because they are not allowed to take time off to take care of themselves,” Reyes said in an interview.
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Ruiz said he and other restaurant employees have already spent their federal stimulus checks and what sick pay they had on rent and groceries. Restaurants in the city remain closed due to the outbreak.
“I do not know what will happen to us if this pandemic continues for a longer period of time,” Ruiz said.
However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed the transparency requirement, and President Trump added the rule to the long list of federal regulations he has loosened or tossed out since taking office. Now, the Trump administration is reportedly poised to further gut federal rules for businesses as lobbyists for wealthy employers push back against calls for paid sick leave and enhanced workplace protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates says enforcement of labor standards has plummeted under Trump, and previous deregulatory moves have already put essential and front line workers in danger of taking unnecessary risks and falling ill.
“Without universal health insurance, without universal sick leave, with a growing gig economy, and without our federal safety agency taking action … we’re all at greater risk for the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), during a virtual press conference on Thursday. “Worker health is public health. The coronavirus and other hazards don’t stay put in any one workplace.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace safety standards and protecting workers, established the injury and illness reporting rule under President Obama before suspending and gutting the rule under Trump. An ongoing lawsuit filed by public health groups claims the agency jammed the rollback through the regulatory process without clear supporting evidence. Meanwhile, labor advocates say OSHA has sat on the sidelines despite the escalating threat COVID-19 poses to front line workers nationwide. Instead of implementing temporary, emergency standards and investigating a massive backlog of complaints from workers, OSHA has issued a series of “alerts” and voluntary “guidance” for employers.
For example, OSHA and the Labor Department has so far refused to issue emergency safety standards for nurses and health care workers, despite petitions from unions and public health groups. Goldstein-Gelb pointed to slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants linked to hundreds of COVID-19 cases and several deaths that have yet to be seriously penalized by the government. Last week OSHA cut employers some slack and announced that inspectors will take their “good faith” efforts to comply with health and safety standards into “strong consideration” when deciding whether to issue a citation during the COVID-19 outbreak. An employer may fail to protect workers from the coronavirus, but an honest attempt may be enough to avoid a fine. Eugene Scalia, Trump’s labor secretary, previously defended corporate bosses in court and is facing blowback over apparent attempts to trim paid sick leave and unemployment rolls. A spokeswoman for OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It is absolutely a disaster that, at the federal level, OHSA has taken a big back seat in protecting workings in this crisis,” Goldstein-Gelb said. “They have every tool possible to be able to initiate an emergency standard, to take action in terms of investigations and enforcement using both existing tools and new tools, and have failed to do so.”
OSHA enforcement actions and workplace inspections continue to fall under Trump despite an uptick in deaths on the job, according to a new report from National COSH. In 2018, 5,520 U.S. workers died from workplace trauma, a nearly 9 percent increase since 2014. The number of OSHA workplace inspections fell by 10.5 percent over the same time period. Fatality rates are rising even faster among workers of color, who are more likely to work under dangerous conditions. From 2014 to 2018, the number of deaths among Latinx and Black workers increased by nearly 20 and 30 percent respectively. Today, OSHA has just 875 inspectors covering about 9 million workplaces.
“Tragically, the higher rates of illness and death from COVID-19 we are seeing in Latinx and African American communities track the higher rates of workplace injuries and fatalities we see in the same populations in the workplace,” said National COSH co-director Jessica Martinez.
Trump’s deregulatory blitz began shortly after he took office with an executive order that requires federal agencies to eliminate two rules for every new rule they implement, making it difficult for regulators to adapt to new challenges posed by the outbreak. By the time the pandemic hit, Trump had already blocked the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, which would have helped ensure that federal contracts only go to employers who follow basic labor and employment laws, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Now, the administration says further deregulation is necessary to blunt the outbreaks damage to the economy and hopes to grant liability waivers that would clear businesses of legal responsibility if their employees get sick or die from COVID-19. Meanwhile, business groups successfully lobbied the White House to exempt large employers from paid sick leave requirements in Congress’s initial COVID-19 stimulus package.
With a friend in the White House, powerful industry groups have pushed back against state and local attempts to establish paid sick leave requirements and raise the minimum wage, forcing low-paid workers to choose between showing up sick and losing much-needed income. Horacio Ruiz, a server at the Capital Grille in Pittsburgh, told reporters on Thursday that he’s seen co-workers and even managers come into work when they are sick and should be at home. Ruiz worked with Restaurant Opportunity Centers (ROC) United to pass a paid sick leave law in Pittsburgh five years ago, but a legal challenge filed by an affiliate of the powerful National Restaurant Association held the law up in court.
“Our city council passed a paid sick leave law five years ago, but the state affiliate of the National Restaurant Association fought us in court, so it didn’t go into effect until March of this year,” Ruiz said. “If the restaurant owners didn’t fight us for so long, workers in Pittsburgh would have had more paid sick leave credit when this pandemic began.”
As the pandemic continues, Goldstein-Gelb said her organization receives “frequent” reports from workers who face retaliation for refusing to work in unsafe conditions or stay home due to a weakened immune system or a sick loved one. Teófilo L. Reyes, the deputy research director at ROC United, said some employers are doing the right thing despite the deregulatory atmosphere created by Trump. For example, the corporation behind restaurant chains such as Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse agreed to provide accrued paid sick leave to hourly employees after facing public pressure. However, other large employers are enjoying the federal exemption, and Reyes said that makes any workplace that remains open more dangerous.
“If someone is sick, their incentive is to keep quiet about it as long as possible, because they are not allowed to take time off to take care of themselves,” Reyes said in an interview.
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Ruiz said he and other restaurant employees have already spent their federal stimulus checks and what sick pay they had on rent and groceries. Restaurants in the city remain closed due to the outbreak.
“I do not know what will happen to us if this pandemic continues for a longer period of time,” Ruiz said.
Coronavirus outbreak
Trader Joe’s and other US firms suppress unionization efforts during pandemic
As workers become increasingly concerned about workplace safety, employers have been suppressing organizing efforts
Michael Sainato
the guardian
Thu 23 Apr 2020 05.00 EDT
US corporations are cracking down on unionization efforts as workers try to organize under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
Companies, including grocery chains Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, airport concession operators, local authorities and even a furniture company owned by the billionaire Warren Buffett have moved to control efforts to unionize as workers become increasingly concerned about workplace safety during the emergency.
The Trader Joe’s chairman and CEO, Dan Bane, sent a letter to all employees on 31 March opposing labor unions, and calling attempts to recruit staff “a distraction”, the latest in a series of memos and actions taken by the company to suppress union organizing efforts calling for hazard pay and adequate protections for grocery store workers during the pandemic.
“It’s a blatant anti-union letter,” said a Trader Joe’s employee in New Jersey who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “It’s in bad taste and shows the greed this company has instead of taking proactive measures to keep the crew and customers safe.”
A Trader Joe’s spokesperson told the Guardian in an email, “Because a union has chosen to inject itself into the lives of our crew members during this time of crisis – even as we follow and lead in best practices in compensation, benefits, safety and sanitation – we have no alternative but to remind and share the facts with our crew members.”
As workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic have organized protests and strikes, several employers have responded by stepping up attempts to oppose unionization, repeal workers’ rights won in bargaining, and fire workers en masse who had recently publicized intent to organize a union in their workplace.
Concession workers at Orlando international airport have filed official complaints against their employer, HMSHost, over the lack of coronavirus safety protections, which included continuing to hold anti-union captive audience meetings during the pandemic. A union election for workers to join Unite Here scheduled for late March was delayed and is currently being rescheduled due to the pandemic.
“I tried to refuse to go because we were short-staffed,” said Rosanny Tejeda, a Starbucks barista at Orlando international airport for about one year before recently being furloughed. Tejeda claimed the meeting did not adhere to social distancing or take into account any coronavirus safety precautions, and she was targeted throughout the meeting for wearing a union pin.
“They didn’t care about our health when they sent us to those meetings,” said Tejeda. “To them, the union was a more important issue than the coronavirus. They made sure to give us papers about the union, but didn’t give us training or protective equipment for us in the stores.”
A spokesperson for HMSHost said in an email: “During these difficult times, we continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our teams and travelers. As we try to serve the few passengers that are still traveling, we are educating our associates daily with updated guidance according to the CDC recommendations.”
Citing the pandemic, the manager of Clark county, Nevada, unilaterally suspended all union contracts with the county. The decision affects about 9,000 workers, including hospital workers at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas.
A spokesperson for University Medical Center told the Guardian “due to the rapidly evolving nature of this global pandemic, we simply do not have time to delay urgent decisions”.
The Teamsters union has filed federal unfair labor practice charges of unlawful termination against CORT furniture, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, accusing the furniture rental company of retaliating against workers for supporting unionization just as the pandemic broke in the US.
Anthony Salcedo, a driver at the warehouse for nearly four years who was laid off, said: “They’re telling us the reason why they terminated us is because of work reduction, but how is there work reduction if you are hiring contractors to do our work? It’s obvious why we were terminated. It wasn’t because of work reduction, it was because we were supporting a union.”
CORT furniture declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Several other companies have been accused of opposing union organizing efforts among workers during the pandemic. Amazon-owned Whole Foods is using a data-powered heat mapping tool to monitor unionization risks among its over 500 stores throughout the US, as workers have held sick-out protests in response to a lack of protections for workers during the pandemic. Workers at the online clothing retailer Everlane and the art logistics company Uovo have filed federal labor charges accusing the companies of firing workers during the pandemic for union organizing.
“It’s an absolute disgrace they would take advantage of a pandemic to frustrate workers’ ability to organize and get better representation for themselves so they’re not risking their lives to perform essential services,” said Celine McNicholas, government affairs director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
According to a December 2019 EPI study, in over 40% of union organizing campaigns an employer violates the law.
“This is an extreme moment we’re in, but unfortunately this is the traditional employer playbook in opposing workers’ efforts to organize and collectively bargain for better pay and better health and safety provisions,” added McNicholas.
Companies, including grocery chains Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, airport concession operators, local authorities and even a furniture company owned by the billionaire Warren Buffett have moved to control efforts to unionize as workers become increasingly concerned about workplace safety during the emergency.
The Trader Joe’s chairman and CEO, Dan Bane, sent a letter to all employees on 31 March opposing labor unions, and calling attempts to recruit staff “a distraction”, the latest in a series of memos and actions taken by the company to suppress union organizing efforts calling for hazard pay and adequate protections for grocery store workers during the pandemic.
“It’s a blatant anti-union letter,” said a Trader Joe’s employee in New Jersey who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. “It’s in bad taste and shows the greed this company has instead of taking proactive measures to keep the crew and customers safe.”
A Trader Joe’s spokesperson told the Guardian in an email, “Because a union has chosen to inject itself into the lives of our crew members during this time of crisis – even as we follow and lead in best practices in compensation, benefits, safety and sanitation – we have no alternative but to remind and share the facts with our crew members.”
As workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic have organized protests and strikes, several employers have responded by stepping up attempts to oppose unionization, repeal workers’ rights won in bargaining, and fire workers en masse who had recently publicized intent to organize a union in their workplace.
Concession workers at Orlando international airport have filed official complaints against their employer, HMSHost, over the lack of coronavirus safety protections, which included continuing to hold anti-union captive audience meetings during the pandemic. A union election for workers to join Unite Here scheduled for late March was delayed and is currently being rescheduled due to the pandemic.
“I tried to refuse to go because we were short-staffed,” said Rosanny Tejeda, a Starbucks barista at Orlando international airport for about one year before recently being furloughed. Tejeda claimed the meeting did not adhere to social distancing or take into account any coronavirus safety precautions, and she was targeted throughout the meeting for wearing a union pin.
“They didn’t care about our health when they sent us to those meetings,” said Tejeda. “To them, the union was a more important issue than the coronavirus. They made sure to give us papers about the union, but didn’t give us training or protective equipment for us in the stores.”
A spokesperson for HMSHost said in an email: “During these difficult times, we continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our teams and travelers. As we try to serve the few passengers that are still traveling, we are educating our associates daily with updated guidance according to the CDC recommendations.”
Citing the pandemic, the manager of Clark county, Nevada, unilaterally suspended all union contracts with the county. The decision affects about 9,000 workers, including hospital workers at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas.
A spokesperson for University Medical Center told the Guardian “due to the rapidly evolving nature of this global pandemic, we simply do not have time to delay urgent decisions”.
The Teamsters union has filed federal unfair labor practice charges of unlawful termination against CORT furniture, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, accusing the furniture rental company of retaliating against workers for supporting unionization just as the pandemic broke in the US.
Anthony Salcedo, a driver at the warehouse for nearly four years who was laid off, said: “They’re telling us the reason why they terminated us is because of work reduction, but how is there work reduction if you are hiring contractors to do our work? It’s obvious why we were terminated. It wasn’t because of work reduction, it was because we were supporting a union.”
CORT furniture declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Several other companies have been accused of opposing union organizing efforts among workers during the pandemic. Amazon-owned Whole Foods is using a data-powered heat mapping tool to monitor unionization risks among its over 500 stores throughout the US, as workers have held sick-out protests in response to a lack of protections for workers during the pandemic. Workers at the online clothing retailer Everlane and the art logistics company Uovo have filed federal labor charges accusing the companies of firing workers during the pandemic for union organizing.
“It’s an absolute disgrace they would take advantage of a pandemic to frustrate workers’ ability to organize and get better representation for themselves so they’re not risking their lives to perform essential services,” said Celine McNicholas, government affairs director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
According to a December 2019 EPI study, in over 40% of union organizing campaigns an employer violates the law.
“This is an extreme moment we’re in, but unfortunately this is the traditional employer playbook in opposing workers’ efforts to organize and collectively bargain for better pay and better health and safety provisions,” added McNicholas.
‘Minority report union-busting’ tactics at Whole Foods decried following reporting on company’s labor activism heat map
April 20, 2020
By Common Dreams - raw story
The company, which is owned by Amazon, uses factors like race, turnover, and “loyalty” to determine each store’s score.
Progressives on Monday criticized Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, for using a heat map to track potential union activity at its stores across the U.S.—relying on data around racial diversity, “loyalty,” and labor complaints as indicators that affect how the corporation scores the sites.
“This is infuriating but it’s also a testament to the urgency and importance of essential workers unionizing,” tweeted The Atlantic‘s Adam Serwer.
Business Insider‘s Hayley Peterson on Monday broke the “legitimately explosive news” of the heat map and scoring system being used at the company’s 510 stores nationwide.
According to Peterson’s reporting:
The stores’ individual risk scores are calculated from more than two dozen metrics, including employee “loyalty,” turnover, and racial diversity; “tipline” calls to human resources; proximity to a union office; and violations recorded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The map also tracks local economic and demographic factors such as the unemployment rate in a store’s location and the percentage of families in the area living below the poverty line.
Whole Foods and Amazon have resisted unionization efforts even as the coronavirus pandemic has amped up worker frustrations and led to strikes and actions around the country. Workers are increasingly fed up with inadequate safety standards and access to protective equipment at the essential grocery stores and retail distribution centers.
As Common Dreams reported on April 15, Whole Foods and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, has already made $24 billion in 2020 as the pandemic rages around the country and the world.
Progressives reacted to the news of the heat map with outrage, with Vice reporter Ashwin Rodrigues referring to the tactic as “minority report union busting.”
Journalist Ben Norton on Twitter echoed the apocalyptic fiction theme.
“We are living in a real-life dystopia,” said Norton, adding, “This is some evil science fiction shit.”
Progressives on Monday criticized Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, for using a heat map to track potential union activity at its stores across the U.S.—relying on data around racial diversity, “loyalty,” and labor complaints as indicators that affect how the corporation scores the sites.
“This is infuriating but it’s also a testament to the urgency and importance of essential workers unionizing,” tweeted The Atlantic‘s Adam Serwer.
Business Insider‘s Hayley Peterson on Monday broke the “legitimately explosive news” of the heat map and scoring system being used at the company’s 510 stores nationwide.
According to Peterson’s reporting:
The stores’ individual risk scores are calculated from more than two dozen metrics, including employee “loyalty,” turnover, and racial diversity; “tipline” calls to human resources; proximity to a union office; and violations recorded by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The map also tracks local economic and demographic factors such as the unemployment rate in a store’s location and the percentage of families in the area living below the poverty line.
Whole Foods and Amazon have resisted unionization efforts even as the coronavirus pandemic has amped up worker frustrations and led to strikes and actions around the country. Workers are increasingly fed up with inadequate safety standards and access to protective equipment at the essential grocery stores and retail distribution centers.
As Common Dreams reported on April 15, Whole Foods and Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, has already made $24 billion in 2020 as the pandemic rages around the country and the world.
Progressives reacted to the news of the heat map with outrage, with Vice reporter Ashwin Rodrigues referring to the tactic as “minority report union busting.”
Journalist Ben Norton on Twitter echoed the apocalyptic fiction theme.
“We are living in a real-life dystopia,” said Norton, adding, “This is some evil science fiction shit.”
stupidity and greed!!!
EMPLOYEES SAY SMITHFIELD PLANT IN WISCONSIN CONCEALED COVID-19 INFECTIONS, PRESSURED THEM TO WORK ELBOW-TO-ELBOW WITHOUT PROTECTION
Lee Fang - the intercept
April 19 2020, 3:30 a.m.
SMITHFIELD FOODS, the meat industry giant facing mounting questions over its handling of the coronavirus crisis, repeatedly failed to protect its workforce at a Wisconsin plant, according to workers who spoke to The Intercept.
The workers at the Patrick Cudahy factory, in Cudahy, Wisconsin, faced a Covid-19 outbreak weeks ago, but say managers initially concealed the number of infected, pressured employees to avoid quarantine measures, and failed to provide any face masks or dividers.
A recent outbreak at Smithfield’s pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., is now one of the largest Covid-19 hotspots in the U.S., with 644 confirmed cases tied to the facility. The Smithfield outbreak represents nearly half of all confirmed cases in that state.
Now, the Wisconsin plant, which employs more than 1,000 workers, has more than two dozen confirmed cases and closed down on Wednesday for cleaning and sanitation. Workers at the plant, who spoke to The Intercept under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, say much more should have been done.
One plant worker with asthma said that when he asked for a mask last month, an official at the company declined his request because if he was provided one, Smithfield would “have to do it for everyone else.”
He said that one of his coworkers had brought his own mask and was reprimanded to Smithfield’s human resources department, which told him that wearing his own mask would result in a suspension.
After days of back and forth between the plant managers and workers, the Cudahy plant allowed its workforce to bring its own masks. Some appeared at work with homemade cloth masks, but most continued to work without basic safety equipment, such as N95 masks.
“Eventually they tried to do some social distancing in the cafeteria, but actually, they’re working elbow-to-elbow on the line, so there’s no social distancing there,” said the sister of another plant worker. There are currently no plexiglass dividers between workers, though UFCW Local 1473, which represents workers at the plant, has called for such safeguards to be installed.
“There’s been people sick at the plant. I know at least three people I know at work are sick,” said another worker, who explained that the company first refused to release information about infections at the plant and those who have been in contact with them.
Last week, Fox6 News, a local news affiliate, reported on rising tensions within the Cudahy plant, with many workers expressing fear that the company was not doing enough to prevent an outbreak. Fox6 News obtained records from the Cudahy Health Department showing at least 28 cases at the facility. William Garron, a former union rep, also told Fox, “They really trying to hide the number.” Following the report, Smithfield announced plans to close the plant for cleaning, and said only partial crews would work intermittently.
Wisconsin currently has over 3,555 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Gov. Tony Evers has promoted telework and stay-at-home policies for non-essential businesses. The state’s response to the crisis has been the focus of national attention in recent weeks after Republicans on the state Supreme Court ruled that the state must proceed with April 7 in-person voting over protests from public health advocates and the governor.
Smithfield, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate WH Group, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Cudahy plant and the town in which it is located is named after Patrick Cudahy, an industrialist who pioneered mass pork production across Wisconsin in the late 19th century. The company, which became a subsidiary of Smithfield in 1984, produces branded bacon and dry sausage at the plant, which is near the Milwaukee airport.
Smithfield, which owns meat plants across the country, has a long history of worker injuries and fatalities. The company often uses foreign guest workers, many of whom have reported abusive treatment. In 2007, a number of guest workers from Thailand working in Smithfield plants reported slave-like conditions. The workers later reached a confidential settlement with Smithfield and a recruiting company called Global Horizons.
In response to national attention to the spread of the disease at the South Dakota plant, Smithfield announced last week that it would temporarily close some plants in Missouri and North Carolina.
In a statement published on the Smithfield Foods website, Chief Executive Kenneth Sullivan struck a defiant tone.
“We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of COVID-19,” wrote Sullivan. The current push to temporarily close plants for cleaning, he added, “is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply.”
The workers at the Patrick Cudahy factory, in Cudahy, Wisconsin, faced a Covid-19 outbreak weeks ago, but say managers initially concealed the number of infected, pressured employees to avoid quarantine measures, and failed to provide any face masks or dividers.
A recent outbreak at Smithfield’s pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., is now one of the largest Covid-19 hotspots in the U.S., with 644 confirmed cases tied to the facility. The Smithfield outbreak represents nearly half of all confirmed cases in that state.
Now, the Wisconsin plant, which employs more than 1,000 workers, has more than two dozen confirmed cases and closed down on Wednesday for cleaning and sanitation. Workers at the plant, who spoke to The Intercept under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, say much more should have been done.
One plant worker with asthma said that when he asked for a mask last month, an official at the company declined his request because if he was provided one, Smithfield would “have to do it for everyone else.”
He said that one of his coworkers had brought his own mask and was reprimanded to Smithfield’s human resources department, which told him that wearing his own mask would result in a suspension.
After days of back and forth between the plant managers and workers, the Cudahy plant allowed its workforce to bring its own masks. Some appeared at work with homemade cloth masks, but most continued to work without basic safety equipment, such as N95 masks.
“Eventually they tried to do some social distancing in the cafeteria, but actually, they’re working elbow-to-elbow on the line, so there’s no social distancing there,” said the sister of another plant worker. There are currently no plexiglass dividers between workers, though UFCW Local 1473, which represents workers at the plant, has called for such safeguards to be installed.
“There’s been people sick at the plant. I know at least three people I know at work are sick,” said another worker, who explained that the company first refused to release information about infections at the plant and those who have been in contact with them.
Last week, Fox6 News, a local news affiliate, reported on rising tensions within the Cudahy plant, with many workers expressing fear that the company was not doing enough to prevent an outbreak. Fox6 News obtained records from the Cudahy Health Department showing at least 28 cases at the facility. William Garron, a former union rep, also told Fox, “They really trying to hide the number.” Following the report, Smithfield announced plans to close the plant for cleaning, and said only partial crews would work intermittently.
Wisconsin currently has over 3,555 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Gov. Tony Evers has promoted telework and stay-at-home policies for non-essential businesses. The state’s response to the crisis has been the focus of national attention in recent weeks after Republicans on the state Supreme Court ruled that the state must proceed with April 7 in-person voting over protests from public health advocates and the governor.
Smithfield, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate WH Group, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Cudahy plant and the town in which it is located is named after Patrick Cudahy, an industrialist who pioneered mass pork production across Wisconsin in the late 19th century. The company, which became a subsidiary of Smithfield in 1984, produces branded bacon and dry sausage at the plant, which is near the Milwaukee airport.
Smithfield, which owns meat plants across the country, has a long history of worker injuries and fatalities. The company often uses foreign guest workers, many of whom have reported abusive treatment. In 2007, a number of guest workers from Thailand working in Smithfield plants reported slave-like conditions. The workers later reached a confidential settlement with Smithfield and a recruiting company called Global Horizons.
In response to national attention to the spread of the disease at the South Dakota plant, Smithfield announced last week that it would temporarily close some plants in Missouri and North Carolina.
In a statement published on the Smithfield Foods website, Chief Executive Kenneth Sullivan struck a defiant tone.
“We have a stark choice as a nation: we are either going to produce food or not, even in the face of COVID-19,” wrote Sullivan. The current push to temporarily close plants for cleaning, he added, “is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply.”
Workers at Warren Buffett’s furniture rental company were given bad gear and dared to complain about it
By Joe Maniscalco, DC Report @ Raw Story
April 15, 2020
Walter Infante drove into the coronavirus “containment zone” in New Rochelle, N.Y., last month to make a delivery for Cort Furniture Rental, a Warren Buffett company.
Infante’s bosses back in North Bergen, N.J., insisted he had to make they delivery. They didn’t care about the National Guard-enforced quarantine or Infante’s lack of personal protection equipment.
But that’s not surprising, given the standard of care for workers and customers that has made Buffett the third richest American with a fortune of at least $75 billion.
“I was told, ‘Just go—just do the job. It’s just eight people sick in the country,’” Infante told me. “I had no choice [but to make the delivery].”
Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway conglomerate employs more than 370,000 people, few of whom are represented by unions who could negotiate for safety conditions as well as pay and benefits.
Miserly Wages
Buffett is known for paying his senior managers well, the rank-and-file not so much, a common practice among big firms with few if any union workers including Wal-Mart, FedEx and most infamously Boeing which ruined its reputation for safety by hiring $9-an-hour coders for the grounded 737 Max.
Of course, the companies and those who control them insist their policies in no way are contrary to the interests of their workers.
“We have no anti-union agenda whatsoever, and we think we have sensational pilots.” Buffett said last year after reaching a new contract with 2,500 pilots of his NetJets private air service.
Buffett also buys services from companies that pay miserly wages, including the $9-an-hour wages paid by the firm running the Chicago rail yard for his BNSF railroad.
At Cort Furniture Rental barn in New Jersey, Infante and the rest of the guys moved to unionize. They also protested the continued lack of safety masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. Buffet’s managers fired them all even though that’s blatantly illegal.
No Labor Board
On April 2, the Professional Movers Union, as Teamsters Local 814 is also known, filed unfair labor practice charges against Cort Rental Furniture with the NLRB. The union says Infante and at least 18 other workers at the North Bergen warehouse were sacked in retaliation for unionizing and speaking out against poor safety practices that put them all at risk of contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The NLRB cannot act on the complaint because it lacks a quorum. That’s because Trump has failed to appoint replacements for those who left the board, just as he has done with some other federal boards and commissions.
Julian Tysh, a Teamsters organizer, points to the coronavirus combined with the lack of an NLRB quorum as evidence that Trump is acting in bad faith. The result is “unprecedented action against workers and COVID-19 whistleblowers.”
“This is just a naked and brazen attempt to squash the rights of workers,” Tysh told me. “This is the same thing that just happened at Amazon, where workers on the front lines keeping us safe and healthy and fed as much as possible, are the workers [companies are] trying to exploit.”
From Amazon to Tipsy
Cort Furniture Rental is among a growing list of companies being accused of terminating workers who speak out against unsafe working conditions and a lack of proper protective equipment during the pandemic. They run the gamut from retail giant Amazon to Tipsy, a tiny wine shop in Brooklyn.
“It’s very difficult to stand six feet away from somebody when delivering to their home,” Anthony Salcedo told me. Salcedo, 28, is a Cort delivery man. “The majority of our pickups and deliveries come from [New York City]—the epicenter [of Trump’s COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S]. I have a family—my biggest fear was coming into contact with someone with coronavirus and passing it onto my wife and kids.”
During Manhattan delivery runs Cort drivers sometimes got a heads-up from a friendly doorman warning them that certain people in the building had tested positive for COVID-19. Still, protective masks and gloves weren’t forthcoming from Cort management.
When workers approached management about getting proper equipment, Salcedo says employees were told they had the option of taking a leave of absence, using their vacation days, if they felt unsafe or just staying home without pay.
Salcedo said one manager told him, “Unless you plan on living the rest of your life in a bubble—keep on working.”
When the Gloves Won’t Fit
Much later, when the company did provide gloves. The workers say the gloves were often so small they tore when slipping them on.
Julio Perez, a Cort Furniture Rental team leader, was well-versed in federal job safety rules, protocols and potentially dangerous hazmat situations. Perez has spent the better part of two decades in the moving business, working around dangerous and volatile substances like ammonia and hydrochloric acid.
“I never had an issue” with safety at previous employers,” Perez, 50, said. “I took those qualities to Cort—when they hired me, they knew what they were getting. The whole time I was there I was afraid for the workers.”
A Smelly Cafeteria
Working inside the Cort Rental Furniture warehouse, where the pungent odor of cleaning fluid and touch-up solution hung thick in the air, wasn’t any safer, according to workers. Many opted to eat lunch in their cars rather that cram into the building’s smelly cafeteria.
An unused conference room was available to allow for better social distancing—but workers say that management wouldn’t open it up so they could eat lunch safely.
Infante drove for Cort Rental Furniture for more than 10 years before he was sacked for exercising his rights.
After he began speaking out about the lack of proper safety attire and other workplace issues, the married father of two from Richfield, N.J., found himself relegated to the warehouse most of the time. When Infante asked why, he says management told him, “We’re trying to protect you from coronavirus.”
Neither Cort Rental Furniture nor Berkshire Hathaway has responded to repeated requests for comment.
Exploiting the Pandemic
The fired workers insist that management is attempting to blame their terminations on a lack of business during Trump’s pandemic. That’s easily proven to be false.
“If that were true — why were you hiring subcontractors for the last three weeks?” Salcedo asked.
Indeed, workers say that a few days before they filed a petition seeking a March 10 vote on unionizing Cort managers began bringing in subcontracted drivers to do their work.
Cort management’s true aim, the fired workers insist, is union-busting, plain and simple. And Buffett’s managers employed a number of strategies to harass workers.
Back in January, just prior to the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the U.S.—Cort Furniture Rental introduced a new app ostensibly designed to increase delivery crew productivity.
But Infante says drivers couldn’t stop for a two-minute bathroom break without the boss calling them up and demanding to know why their truck had stopped. Drivers who balked at having to alert managers anytime they had to relieve themselves were ultimately called into the office and chewed out, he said.
“Answer with an attitude, and the next day, you’re in the warehouse,” Infante told me.
The company also started varying the time when drivers had to begin their delivery runs. As a result, workers were unable to fulfill familial obligations because they were never knew for sure when they might get off work.
“They would keep our drivers in the dark and not let us know what the [daily] routes were or where they were going,” Perez told me. “Not letting drivers see where they are going is a blind way to work—you don’t know where you’re going or how long you will be out. [Management] said drivers were not ‘entitled’ to know.”
Local 814 successfully organized the Uovo Fine Art shop in Queens, N.Y., last fall. But its workers, too, soon suffered from the toxic mix of coronavirus, union-busting management and Trump’s neglect of his constitutional duty to faithfully fulfill his office by appointing NLRB members.
Not long after Cort Rental Furniture fired its pro-union workers in New Jersey, Uovo Fine announced it was putting its Local 814 movers on “stand-by” due to the pandemic. Uovo also fired seven unionized employees outright.
“This is clear retaliation,” permanently laid-off union supporter Peter Mackay said in a statement. “Just because you wait six months and do it under the cover of a global pandemic, doesn’t make it any less obvious. It just makes it more heinous.”
Silver Lining, Maybe
Tysh, the Teamsters organizer, said if there is a silver lining in Trump’s pandemic, it is that the entire country is coming to realize the “profound disconnect between the value workers produce and what they get in return.”
At the same time, Tysh believes it’s time for trade unionists to invoke their militant history, eschew the politics of the least worst option, and once again realize the power of withholding their labor.
Tysh calls the pandemic and the crushing economic realities it has exposed a “definite wakeup call” for the working class.
“We definitely have to push the envelope,” Tysh said. “Organized labor and workers not formally organized need to come together to put a real plan into action. The power of the strike is something a lot of people have forgotten about.”
At Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods and other companies without unions “all these workers see the injustices in society and they’re willing to do something about it,” Tysh told me. “Maybe [workers are] going to be back in the street the way it was done in the old days.”
Infante’s bosses back in North Bergen, N.J., insisted he had to make they delivery. They didn’t care about the National Guard-enforced quarantine or Infante’s lack of personal protection equipment.
But that’s not surprising, given the standard of care for workers and customers that has made Buffett the third richest American with a fortune of at least $75 billion.
“I was told, ‘Just go—just do the job. It’s just eight people sick in the country,’” Infante told me. “I had no choice [but to make the delivery].”
Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway conglomerate employs more than 370,000 people, few of whom are represented by unions who could negotiate for safety conditions as well as pay and benefits.
Miserly Wages
Buffett is known for paying his senior managers well, the rank-and-file not so much, a common practice among big firms with few if any union workers including Wal-Mart, FedEx and most infamously Boeing which ruined its reputation for safety by hiring $9-an-hour coders for the grounded 737 Max.
Of course, the companies and those who control them insist their policies in no way are contrary to the interests of their workers.
“We have no anti-union agenda whatsoever, and we think we have sensational pilots.” Buffett said last year after reaching a new contract with 2,500 pilots of his NetJets private air service.
Buffett also buys services from companies that pay miserly wages, including the $9-an-hour wages paid by the firm running the Chicago rail yard for his BNSF railroad.
At Cort Furniture Rental barn in New Jersey, Infante and the rest of the guys moved to unionize. They also protested the continued lack of safety masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. Buffet’s managers fired them all even though that’s blatantly illegal.
No Labor Board
On April 2, the Professional Movers Union, as Teamsters Local 814 is also known, filed unfair labor practice charges against Cort Rental Furniture with the NLRB. The union says Infante and at least 18 other workers at the North Bergen warehouse were sacked in retaliation for unionizing and speaking out against poor safety practices that put them all at risk of contracting the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The NLRB cannot act on the complaint because it lacks a quorum. That’s because Trump has failed to appoint replacements for those who left the board, just as he has done with some other federal boards and commissions.
Julian Tysh, a Teamsters organizer, points to the coronavirus combined with the lack of an NLRB quorum as evidence that Trump is acting in bad faith. The result is “unprecedented action against workers and COVID-19 whistleblowers.”
“This is just a naked and brazen attempt to squash the rights of workers,” Tysh told me. “This is the same thing that just happened at Amazon, where workers on the front lines keeping us safe and healthy and fed as much as possible, are the workers [companies are] trying to exploit.”
From Amazon to Tipsy
Cort Furniture Rental is among a growing list of companies being accused of terminating workers who speak out against unsafe working conditions and a lack of proper protective equipment during the pandemic. They run the gamut from retail giant Amazon to Tipsy, a tiny wine shop in Brooklyn.
“It’s very difficult to stand six feet away from somebody when delivering to their home,” Anthony Salcedo told me. Salcedo, 28, is a Cort delivery man. “The majority of our pickups and deliveries come from [New York City]—the epicenter [of Trump’s COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S]. I have a family—my biggest fear was coming into contact with someone with coronavirus and passing it onto my wife and kids.”
During Manhattan delivery runs Cort drivers sometimes got a heads-up from a friendly doorman warning them that certain people in the building had tested positive for COVID-19. Still, protective masks and gloves weren’t forthcoming from Cort management.
When workers approached management about getting proper equipment, Salcedo says employees were told they had the option of taking a leave of absence, using their vacation days, if they felt unsafe or just staying home without pay.
Salcedo said one manager told him, “Unless you plan on living the rest of your life in a bubble—keep on working.”
When the Gloves Won’t Fit
Much later, when the company did provide gloves. The workers say the gloves were often so small they tore when slipping them on.
Julio Perez, a Cort Furniture Rental team leader, was well-versed in federal job safety rules, protocols and potentially dangerous hazmat situations. Perez has spent the better part of two decades in the moving business, working around dangerous and volatile substances like ammonia and hydrochloric acid.
“I never had an issue” with safety at previous employers,” Perez, 50, said. “I took those qualities to Cort—when they hired me, they knew what they were getting. The whole time I was there I was afraid for the workers.”
A Smelly Cafeteria
Working inside the Cort Rental Furniture warehouse, where the pungent odor of cleaning fluid and touch-up solution hung thick in the air, wasn’t any safer, according to workers. Many opted to eat lunch in their cars rather that cram into the building’s smelly cafeteria.
An unused conference room was available to allow for better social distancing—but workers say that management wouldn’t open it up so they could eat lunch safely.
Infante drove for Cort Rental Furniture for more than 10 years before he was sacked for exercising his rights.
After he began speaking out about the lack of proper safety attire and other workplace issues, the married father of two from Richfield, N.J., found himself relegated to the warehouse most of the time. When Infante asked why, he says management told him, “We’re trying to protect you from coronavirus.”
Neither Cort Rental Furniture nor Berkshire Hathaway has responded to repeated requests for comment.
Exploiting the Pandemic
The fired workers insist that management is attempting to blame their terminations on a lack of business during Trump’s pandemic. That’s easily proven to be false.
“If that were true — why were you hiring subcontractors for the last three weeks?” Salcedo asked.
Indeed, workers say that a few days before they filed a petition seeking a March 10 vote on unionizing Cort managers began bringing in subcontracted drivers to do their work.
Cort management’s true aim, the fired workers insist, is union-busting, plain and simple. And Buffett’s managers employed a number of strategies to harass workers.
Back in January, just prior to the widespread outbreak of coronavirus in the U.S.—Cort Furniture Rental introduced a new app ostensibly designed to increase delivery crew productivity.
But Infante says drivers couldn’t stop for a two-minute bathroom break without the boss calling them up and demanding to know why their truck had stopped. Drivers who balked at having to alert managers anytime they had to relieve themselves were ultimately called into the office and chewed out, he said.
“Answer with an attitude, and the next day, you’re in the warehouse,” Infante told me.
The company also started varying the time when drivers had to begin their delivery runs. As a result, workers were unable to fulfill familial obligations because they were never knew for sure when they might get off work.
“They would keep our drivers in the dark and not let us know what the [daily] routes were or where they were going,” Perez told me. “Not letting drivers see where they are going is a blind way to work—you don’t know where you’re going or how long you will be out. [Management] said drivers were not ‘entitled’ to know.”
Local 814 successfully organized the Uovo Fine Art shop in Queens, N.Y., last fall. But its workers, too, soon suffered from the toxic mix of coronavirus, union-busting management and Trump’s neglect of his constitutional duty to faithfully fulfill his office by appointing NLRB members.
Not long after Cort Rental Furniture fired its pro-union workers in New Jersey, Uovo Fine announced it was putting its Local 814 movers on “stand-by” due to the pandemic. Uovo also fired seven unionized employees outright.
“This is clear retaliation,” permanently laid-off union supporter Peter Mackay said in a statement. “Just because you wait six months and do it under the cover of a global pandemic, doesn’t make it any less obvious. It just makes it more heinous.”
Silver Lining, Maybe
Tysh, the Teamsters organizer, said if there is a silver lining in Trump’s pandemic, it is that the entire country is coming to realize the “profound disconnect between the value workers produce and what they get in return.”
At the same time, Tysh believes it’s time for trade unionists to invoke their militant history, eschew the politics of the least worst option, and once again realize the power of withholding their labor.
Tysh calls the pandemic and the crushing economic realities it has exposed a “definite wakeup call” for the working class.
“We definitely have to push the envelope,” Tysh said. “Organized labor and workers not formally organized need to come together to put a real plan into action. The power of the strike is something a lot of people have forgotten about.”
At Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods and other companies without unions “all these workers see the injustices in society and they’re willing to do something about it,” Tysh told me. “Maybe [workers are] going to be back in the street the way it was done in the old days.”
Whole Foods
Whole Foods staff to protest working conditions as coronavirus cases rise
Workers say too little is being done to enforce social distancing in stores, and some are not given masks or training on cleaning
Michael Sainato
the guardian
Wed 15 Apr 2020 04.01 EDT
Whole Foods workers across the US are planning to hold another sickout protest on 1 May as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus infections at the supermarket chain continue to rise and workers charge the Amazon-owned company is doing too little to help them.
Workers complain too little is being done to enforce social distancing in stores, it is difficult and sometimes impossible, to qualify for sick pay and some are not given masks or training on cleaning. In the meantime Whole Foods are reportedly recording record sales.
Dan Steinbrook, an employee at Whole Foods in Boston, Massachusetts, said: “The bottom line is we don’t think Whole Foods or Amazon is doing nearly enough as they could be to protect both employees and customers at the store in terms of personal safety and public health.”
Steinbrook, who also participated in a sickout protest on 31 March organized by Whole Worker, a worker activism group said. “Grocery stores are one of the only places open to the public so they’ve become a significant public health concern in terms of stopping the spread of this disease. Any transmission we can stop at the grocery stores is extremely important for saving a lot of lives. The ‘deep cleaning’ is not enough, because when an employee tests positive, many other employees could be infected.”
Whole Foods workers have become increasingly concerned over the confirmed cases of coronavirus at Whole Foods stores. Employees have tested positive for coronavirus at Whole Foods locations across the country including West Orange, New Jersey, Sudbury, Massachusetts, Brookline, Massachusetts, Arlington, Massachusetts, Hingham, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, San Francisco, California, New York City, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The Guardian spoke to several Whole Foods workers across the US about working conditions and Whole Foods’ policies during the pandemic. The workers requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
“I haven’t felt safe going into work because Whole Foods hasn’t really done anything to combat the amount of Amazon shoppers in the stores,” said a Whole Foods employee at Bowery Place in New York City, the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the US. “The store has been closing earlier, but they still want us to stay until 11pm to clean, and we aren’t trained to clean or given masks or anything.”
Whole Foods workers have noted some stores where a worker has tested positive for coronavirus have yet to be publicly reported in the media.
“Team members are being told there was a deep clean overnight and not to worry,” said a Whole Foods worker in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “I’m scared to work. I have three immune sensitive people living in my house and I don’t want to get them sick, but I can’t lose my only income.”
A worker at Whole Foods in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said there have been two positive cases at their store. “It has been almost impossible to maintain basic social distancing practices. We’ve seen huge sales ever since the outbreak and it’s been all hands on deck. As of 1 April, there were no limits on the number of customers allowed in at a given time,” said the employee.
In Minnesota, a Whole Foods employee is currently on unpaid leave after experiencing coronavirus symptoms when their roommate was advised by their doctor to self-quarantine.
“When I talked to my HR department they told me I would need to take a two week leave as well, but unless I test positive for Covid-19, I do not qualify for the ‘guaranteed two weeks paid time off’ corporate is saying they are offering,” said the worker. “Everyone knows tests are limited and unavailable to most people unless they are showing severe symptoms, and as retail workers, many of us cannot afford to go to the doctor unless we’re in desperate need of medical attention.”
A Whole Foods employee in Massachusetts is also currently taking unpaid leave after experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
“I’m in a situation where I can’t get tested or afford a doctor. At first I was told I wouldn’t be eligible for sick pay without a positive test. Later I was told that I might qualify, that pay was being disbursed on a case by case basis. My case has been pending for over a week with no response and I ran out of paid time off,” said the worker. “My parents lent me money, so I’ll be able to finish quarantine and still afford groceries. Money was tight before bills were due, and those fears kept me from reaching out to a doctor. My symptoms were mild, but I don’t know what I would have done if they got serious.”
A Whole Foods spokesperson told the Guardian: “The safety of our team members and customers is our top priority and we are diligently following all guidance from local health and food safety authorities. We’ve been working closely with our store Team Members, and are supporting the diagnosed Team Members, who are in quarantine. Out of an abundance of caution, each of these stores performed an additional deep cleaning and disinfection, on top of our current enhanced sanitation measures. As we prioritize the health and safety of our customers and Team Members, we will continue to do the following to help contain the spread of Covid-19:”
Workers complain too little is being done to enforce social distancing in stores, it is difficult and sometimes impossible, to qualify for sick pay and some are not given masks or training on cleaning. In the meantime Whole Foods are reportedly recording record sales.
Dan Steinbrook, an employee at Whole Foods in Boston, Massachusetts, said: “The bottom line is we don’t think Whole Foods or Amazon is doing nearly enough as they could be to protect both employees and customers at the store in terms of personal safety and public health.”
Steinbrook, who also participated in a sickout protest on 31 March organized by Whole Worker, a worker activism group said. “Grocery stores are one of the only places open to the public so they’ve become a significant public health concern in terms of stopping the spread of this disease. Any transmission we can stop at the grocery stores is extremely important for saving a lot of lives. The ‘deep cleaning’ is not enough, because when an employee tests positive, many other employees could be infected.”
Whole Foods workers have become increasingly concerned over the confirmed cases of coronavirus at Whole Foods stores. Employees have tested positive for coronavirus at Whole Foods locations across the country including West Orange, New Jersey, Sudbury, Massachusetts, Brookline, Massachusetts, Arlington, Massachusetts, Hingham, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, San Francisco, California, New York City, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, New Orleans, Louisiana and Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The Guardian spoke to several Whole Foods workers across the US about working conditions and Whole Foods’ policies during the pandemic. The workers requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
“I haven’t felt safe going into work because Whole Foods hasn’t really done anything to combat the amount of Amazon shoppers in the stores,” said a Whole Foods employee at Bowery Place in New York City, the center of the coronavirus pandemic in the US. “The store has been closing earlier, but they still want us to stay until 11pm to clean, and we aren’t trained to clean or given masks or anything.”
Whole Foods workers have noted some stores where a worker has tested positive for coronavirus have yet to be publicly reported in the media.
“Team members are being told there was a deep clean overnight and not to worry,” said a Whole Foods worker in West Bloomfield, Michigan. “I’m scared to work. I have three immune sensitive people living in my house and I don’t want to get them sick, but I can’t lose my only income.”
A worker at Whole Foods in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said there have been two positive cases at their store. “It has been almost impossible to maintain basic social distancing practices. We’ve seen huge sales ever since the outbreak and it’s been all hands on deck. As of 1 April, there were no limits on the number of customers allowed in at a given time,” said the employee.
In Minnesota, a Whole Foods employee is currently on unpaid leave after experiencing coronavirus symptoms when their roommate was advised by their doctor to self-quarantine.
“When I talked to my HR department they told me I would need to take a two week leave as well, but unless I test positive for Covid-19, I do not qualify for the ‘guaranteed two weeks paid time off’ corporate is saying they are offering,” said the worker. “Everyone knows tests are limited and unavailable to most people unless they are showing severe symptoms, and as retail workers, many of us cannot afford to go to the doctor unless we’re in desperate need of medical attention.”
A Whole Foods employee in Massachusetts is also currently taking unpaid leave after experiencing coronavirus symptoms.
“I’m in a situation where I can’t get tested or afford a doctor. At first I was told I wouldn’t be eligible for sick pay without a positive test. Later I was told that I might qualify, that pay was being disbursed on a case by case basis. My case has been pending for over a week with no response and I ran out of paid time off,” said the worker. “My parents lent me money, so I’ll be able to finish quarantine and still afford groceries. Money was tight before bills were due, and those fears kept me from reaching out to a doctor. My symptoms were mild, but I don’t know what I would have done if they got serious.”
A Whole Foods spokesperson told the Guardian: “The safety of our team members and customers is our top priority and we are diligently following all guidance from local health and food safety authorities. We’ve been working closely with our store Team Members, and are supporting the diagnosed Team Members, who are in quarantine. Out of an abundance of caution, each of these stores performed an additional deep cleaning and disinfection, on top of our current enhanced sanitation measures. As we prioritize the health and safety of our customers and Team Members, we will continue to do the following to help contain the spread of Covid-19:”
Alabama chicken plant makes employees pay for masks as they work ‘elbow to elbow’ during pandemic: report
April 13, 2020
By Brad Reed - raw story
A Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama is taking heavy criticism from some of its employees who say they’re being forced to work in unsafe conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.
Reuters reports that workers at the Wayne Farms plant “recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And even workers who do wear masks aren’t safe, plant meat inspector Mona Darby tells Reuters, because everyone is forced to work in tight quarters.
“My life is in jeopardy because we’re working elbow to elbow,” she says.
Wayne Farms spokesman Frank Singleton tells Reuters that the company is working to provide more protective equipment for its employees, and says that he hasn’t personally heard about any workers being charged extra for masks.
Marc Perrone, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, tells Reuters that many of the workers he represents feel torn between doing their jobs to put food on American families’ tables and looking out for their own personal health during a deadly pandemic.
“If we don’t take care of the food supply, the American people are going to panic,” he says.
Reuters reports that workers at the Wayne Farms plant “recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And even workers who do wear masks aren’t safe, plant meat inspector Mona Darby tells Reuters, because everyone is forced to work in tight quarters.
“My life is in jeopardy because we’re working elbow to elbow,” she says.
Wayne Farms spokesman Frank Singleton tells Reuters that the company is working to provide more protective equipment for its employees, and says that he hasn’t personally heard about any workers being charged extra for masks.
Marc Perrone, international president of the United Food and Commercial Workers, tells Reuters that many of the workers he represents feel torn between doing their jobs to put food on American families’ tables and looking out for their own personal health during a deadly pandemic.
“If we don’t take care of the food supply, the American people are going to panic,” he says.
Billionaire CEO Brags About Laying Off 45,000 Employees: 'First To The Unemployment Lines'
Billionaire restaurant magnate and NBA team owner Tillman Fertitta bragged to Brian Kilmeade that he furloughed 45,000 employees to game the unemployment system.
By Karoli Kuns - crooks & liars
4/12/20 10:24am
Tilman Fertitta owns the Houston Rockets, Landry's restaurant chain, Golden Nugget casinos and more. He's estimated to be worth $4.8 billion by Forbes. In short, he's got more money than any one person should have, and 45,000 workers depending upon him for their paycheck.
Or, at least he DID have 45,000 workers until he laid them off and then went on Laura Ingraham's show to brag about it.
Brian Kilmeade, acting as Ingraham's substitute, offered him some sympathy for having all those employees to worry about. He needn't have bothered.
“I’m holding up, I’m holding up pretty damn good,” Fertitta said cheerfully. “But I’ve got 45,000 employees out there that we’ve had to furlough that is so tremendously unfortunate, that we have to get back to work as soon as we can. These unemployment numbers of 16 million, and there’s no telling what it’s going to be next week. That’s what’s so sad about this whole crisis.”
Lobbing a softball, Kilmeade asked, “How hard was that decision to lay off your employees?”
SPOILER: Not at all. It wasn't hard at all, as Fertitta explains.
“You know, Brian, I went through the ’87 crisis, the 2000, the 2008 [recession],” Fertitta noted. “And it’s kind of something you realize is, you are doing your people a favor if you get them furloughed first, because they they’re the first to the unemployment line after the severance that you give them, and it’s a trick that I learned many years ago.”
OH. I mean, why just pay them in a national emergency when you can save your billionaire bucks for yourself and put them on the national unemployment rolls, right?
I think there should be a 1-for-1 tax increase for these guys. For every dollar taxpayers pay in unemployment benefits so they can keep their Billionaire bucks, they should get a tax increase equal to that amount. That UI raise of $600/week is only $2.7 million for 45,000 employees, which is pocket money to this guy.
If they keep this nonsense up, there will be pitchforks and torches. No question.
Or, at least he DID have 45,000 workers until he laid them off and then went on Laura Ingraham's show to brag about it.
Brian Kilmeade, acting as Ingraham's substitute, offered him some sympathy for having all those employees to worry about. He needn't have bothered.
“I’m holding up, I’m holding up pretty damn good,” Fertitta said cheerfully. “But I’ve got 45,000 employees out there that we’ve had to furlough that is so tremendously unfortunate, that we have to get back to work as soon as we can. These unemployment numbers of 16 million, and there’s no telling what it’s going to be next week. That’s what’s so sad about this whole crisis.”
Lobbing a softball, Kilmeade asked, “How hard was that decision to lay off your employees?”
SPOILER: Not at all. It wasn't hard at all, as Fertitta explains.
“You know, Brian, I went through the ’87 crisis, the 2000, the 2008 [recession],” Fertitta noted. “And it’s kind of something you realize is, you are doing your people a favor if you get them furloughed first, because they they’re the first to the unemployment line after the severance that you give them, and it’s a trick that I learned many years ago.”
OH. I mean, why just pay them in a national emergency when you can save your billionaire bucks for yourself and put them on the national unemployment rolls, right?
I think there should be a 1-for-1 tax increase for these guys. For every dollar taxpayers pay in unemployment benefits so they can keep their Billionaire bucks, they should get a tax increase equal to that amount. That UI raise of $600/week is only $2.7 million for 45,000 employees, which is pocket money to this guy.
If they keep this nonsense up, there will be pitchforks and torches. No question.
Disney World is furloughing 43,000 more workers due to virus
By MIKE SCHNEIDER - ap
4/11/2020
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World plans to stop paying wages to 43,000 workers in about a week while allowing them to keep their benefits for up to a year in what is the largest wave of furloughs since the theme park resort closed in mid-March because of the new coronavirus spread.
Workers will be able to keep their medical, dental and life insurance benefits for the length of the furlough period, or up to a year. Seniority and wage rates will remain unchanged for the workers whose furloughs start April 19, according to a statement from the Service Trades Council, the coalition of unions representing the Disney World workers.
“The union agreement provides stronger protections and benefits for 43,000 union workers at Disney than virtually any other furloughed or laid-off workers in the United States,” the union said in a statement to members.
About 200 workers will remain on the job performing “essential duties” during the closure, and they will be offered positions based on seniority, the union said.
The agreement with the Service Trades Council marked the largest group of workers at Disney World to come to terms on furloughs with the company during the new coronavirus outbreak. With 77,000 workers, Disney World is the largest single-site group of workers in the nation.
Disney World’s theme parks, entertainment district and hotels closed in mid-March, and Disney has been paying its workers while they stay at home. That is scheduled to end April 19, Disney officials have said, because they don’t know when the theme park resort will reopen.
On Friday, unions representing security guards and workers involved in facilities and operations reached agreements under similar terms.
Earlier this week, Disney World and a union representing musicians who perform at its theme parks reached a similar agreement.
Disney also said it would furlough executive, salaried and hourly nonunion employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.
Disney’s cross-town rivals, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando, and their sister parks across the country, also closed their gates last month because of the coronavirus. SeaWorld said it had furloughed 90% of its workers.
Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood said this week that they would stay closed through May 31. Full-time employees will be paid at 100% through April 19, but pay and workload for most workers will be reduced to 80% after that, and part-time hourly workers will be furloughed beginning May 3, Universal said. The company said it would continue to provide benefits for employees who already had them.
Workers will be able to keep their medical, dental and life insurance benefits for the length of the furlough period, or up to a year. Seniority and wage rates will remain unchanged for the workers whose furloughs start April 19, according to a statement from the Service Trades Council, the coalition of unions representing the Disney World workers.
“The union agreement provides stronger protections and benefits for 43,000 union workers at Disney than virtually any other furloughed or laid-off workers in the United States,” the union said in a statement to members.
About 200 workers will remain on the job performing “essential duties” during the closure, and they will be offered positions based on seniority, the union said.
The agreement with the Service Trades Council marked the largest group of workers at Disney World to come to terms on furloughs with the company during the new coronavirus outbreak. With 77,000 workers, Disney World is the largest single-site group of workers in the nation.
Disney World’s theme parks, entertainment district and hotels closed in mid-March, and Disney has been paying its workers while they stay at home. That is scheduled to end April 19, Disney officials have said, because they don’t know when the theme park resort will reopen.
On Friday, unions representing security guards and workers involved in facilities and operations reached agreements under similar terms.
Earlier this week, Disney World and a union representing musicians who perform at its theme parks reached a similar agreement.
Disney also said it would furlough executive, salaried and hourly nonunion employees whose jobs aren’t necessary at this time.
Disney’s cross-town rivals, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando, and their sister parks across the country, also closed their gates last month because of the coronavirus. SeaWorld said it had furloughed 90% of its workers.
Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood said this week that they would stay closed through May 31. Full-time employees will be paid at 100% through April 19, but pay and workload for most workers will be reduced to 80% after that, and part-time hourly workers will be furloughed beginning May 3, Universal said. The company said it would continue to provide benefits for employees who already had them.
Women And Minorities Bear The Brunt Of Trump’s Pandemic Mishandling
Overworked, Falling Ill and Going Broke—Healthcare Workers to Supermarket Clerks Are Being Pushed Beyond Their Limits
By Joe Maniscalco - dc report
4/6/2020
Low-paid women and people of color across the country, who were in dire economic straits long before the coronavirus crisis, are being pushed to the absolute brink. These marginalized workers are now essential foot soldiers on the front lines of the global pandemic, taking great risks for little reward.
For the last couple of weeks, Candice Martinez, who cleans and sterilizes rooms at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, has been working 12- and 16-hour days, taking on extra shifts to make up for the medical center’s short staffing.
HIPPA regulations prevent workers whose job is to sterilize rooms workers from knowing much about the people they’re cleaning up after. Only haphazardly are signs placed on doors meant to indicate what kinds of Personal Protection Equipment [PPE] are required upon entering. Martinez never really knows what she’s walking into.
Now Martinez is isolated at home after falling ill and testing positive for COVID-19.
“Every morning is waking up and realizing I still have symptoms and wondering if it’s going to get worse,” Martinez recently told reporters during a telephone press conference arranged by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
No Equipment
Those scarce N95 masks — the ones that block 95% of tiny airborne particles as small 0.3 microns — are supposed to be essential pieces of PPE for hospital staffers and other frontline workers confronting COVID-19 head-on.
Martinez says she never got one on the job.
She said personal protection equipment or PPE “is not always offered to us —[administrators] hold onto those masks if they have them,” she added.
Hospitals are now quickly turning into “death traps,” according to Kim Smith, a Northwestern patient care technician.
Smith said fellow personal care technicians “are being told to return to work even though they were possibly exposed,” Smith told reporters during the same teleconference. “Nurses are paid three- to four-times the hourly rate. You have offered us nothing. Our lives are just as important. Nobody chose this field to lose their life — they chose it to improve life.”
Hospitals Evil?
Are hospitals evil?” Smith said. “I think they forgot what they were made for. I think they forgot about the people whom they service. I think they forgot about the communities that help them thrive. So, when we go back and say we want a union – we need a union. It’s the only way to get our voices heard!”
Wellington Thomas, an emergency room tech at Chicago’s Loretto Hospital, said his is among the first faces seen by people seeking emergency room care. Colleagues are afraid to come into work now because PPE is not available or hard to come by — and communication between administrators and staff is poor.
“Workers are in the dark about sick patients,” Thomas said, adding that the virus “is spreading like a wildfire through the hospital. It’s moving around everywhere. It’s not isolated. Leaders are not communicating.”
Fear of Job Loss
Connecticut rest stop workers along I-95 are afraid of contracting COVID-19, too — but many are also too afraid to stay home even if they have symptoms for fear of losing their jobs. Some have already been terminated after speaking out against poor training, reduced shifts, lack of paid sick days and insufficient PPE.
Until last week, Mario Franco was the night manager at a northbound McDonald’s rest stop in Darien. He’d been on the job for more than 25 years, 20 of those years working alongside his late wife who died four years ago, after passing out and hitting her head in the backroom of the store on a “busy, hot summer day.”
“McDonald’s only paid for the headstone on her grave — nothing more,” Franco said during another teleconference with frontline workers.
Fast-Food Firings
The latest stimulus package, which extends a one-time payment of up to $1,200 to those earning under $75,000 payment, gifted Corporate America with hundreds of billions of dollars to ride out the coronavirus crisis. The windfall hasn’t stopped fast food chains along I-95 from terminating low-wage earners in the midst of a global pandemic, however.
Franco was abruptly fired along with the entire night crew.
“Management did not give us an opportunity to move shifts or giving us at least a day of work — they did not respect our dedication and experience,” he added.
Andrea Hernandez worked at the Darien rest stop for three years — a period of time where she said she never saw a sick day or medical leave. When she gave birth last fall, Hernandez said she had to use her vacation days just to have some paid time off with her newborn. According to Hernandez, the only PPE she and her co-workers have received during the pandemic are “the same gloves we always used in the kitchen.”
“The coronavirus is causing a tremendous crisis around the world, but the problems it’s causing at McDonald’s isn’t new — just more dangerous,” she said via teleconference.
Ascha Porter is a mother of two. She lost her job at a southbound Subway rest stop in Fairfield last week.
Financial Worries
“These corporations are getting government relief and they can support us through this time — but they’re not,” she recently told reporters via teleconference. “I’m worried about the next time I have to go grocery shopping or pay a bill. I understand our nation didn’t have a plan [to confront the pandemic], but something should be done. Give us our basic rights — [corporations] have the money — they can afford it.”
“Where is the relief” for ordinary workers, she asked. “We’re stuck in a loop right now.”
Arcadio Mejia, a certified nursing assistant at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, is one of the 400,000 Temporary Protected Status [TPS] holders, the majority of them living in the US for more than 20 years. They could face deportation in January should the Trump administration succeed in terminating that program.
Mejia emigrated from El Salvador and has been on the job for 12 years. He worries about what will happen should he lose his Temporary Protected Status. He also fears his job caring for patients has exposed him to COVID-19, yet he can’t get tested.
Exposed But Still Working
“I was exposed to a COVID-19 patient and I’m still working,” he told me this week. “I asked my clinical coordinator and they told me if I don’t have any symptoms, they’re not going to do a test.”
That means that if Mejia is infected, he could be passing the virus on to others in the hospital, both patients being treated for other ailments, their visitors and health care professionals
After working extra hours at the hospital during the coronavirus outbreak, Mejia wonders why he also has to fear being deported in January.
“I have given so much to this country and the government makes me feel like a criminal,” he added. “Why is Trump continuing to take away my rights despite being a good citizen?”
Rena Rodriquez was a physician in her home country of El Salvador and now works as a health educator in North Carolina to support herself and two children. She, too, is experiencing the incredible stress of working without proper PPE and possibly being deported.
“I’m here to serve, I’m here to help the United States,” Rodriquez recently told reporters during an emergency teleconference with TPS holders. “We are exposing ourselves in this situation, we know about the risk — but we are still helping.”
Greg Kelley is the first African American to lead SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri & Kansas, — the largest local union in the Midwest. Indeed, he told me, COVID-19 is disproportionately pushing Black and Latino workers “to the brink.”
“Lower-wage workers historically have not been considered,” Kelley added. “[They have been] disregarded in a way that we, as a society, cannot allow to continue.”
But continue it does, with no shortage of elected officials wagging their finger at Corporate America and urging them to do the right thing for workers.
Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey sent a stern missive to VP Mike Pence and FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor, imploring the federal government to “ensure that all frontline workers are valued and protected.”
For the last couple of weeks, Candice Martinez, who cleans and sterilizes rooms at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, has been working 12- and 16-hour days, taking on extra shifts to make up for the medical center’s short staffing.
HIPPA regulations prevent workers whose job is to sterilize rooms workers from knowing much about the people they’re cleaning up after. Only haphazardly are signs placed on doors meant to indicate what kinds of Personal Protection Equipment [PPE] are required upon entering. Martinez never really knows what she’s walking into.
Now Martinez is isolated at home after falling ill and testing positive for COVID-19.
“Every morning is waking up and realizing I still have symptoms and wondering if it’s going to get worse,” Martinez recently told reporters during a telephone press conference arranged by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
No Equipment
Those scarce N95 masks — the ones that block 95% of tiny airborne particles as small 0.3 microns — are supposed to be essential pieces of PPE for hospital staffers and other frontline workers confronting COVID-19 head-on.
Martinez says she never got one on the job.
She said personal protection equipment or PPE “is not always offered to us —[administrators] hold onto those masks if they have them,” she added.
Hospitals are now quickly turning into “death traps,” according to Kim Smith, a Northwestern patient care technician.
Smith said fellow personal care technicians “are being told to return to work even though they were possibly exposed,” Smith told reporters during the same teleconference. “Nurses are paid three- to four-times the hourly rate. You have offered us nothing. Our lives are just as important. Nobody chose this field to lose their life — they chose it to improve life.”
Hospitals Evil?
Are hospitals evil?” Smith said. “I think they forgot what they were made for. I think they forgot about the people whom they service. I think they forgot about the communities that help them thrive. So, when we go back and say we want a union – we need a union. It’s the only way to get our voices heard!”
Wellington Thomas, an emergency room tech at Chicago’s Loretto Hospital, said his is among the first faces seen by people seeking emergency room care. Colleagues are afraid to come into work now because PPE is not available or hard to come by — and communication between administrators and staff is poor.
“Workers are in the dark about sick patients,” Thomas said, adding that the virus “is spreading like a wildfire through the hospital. It’s moving around everywhere. It’s not isolated. Leaders are not communicating.”
Fear of Job Loss
Connecticut rest stop workers along I-95 are afraid of contracting COVID-19, too — but many are also too afraid to stay home even if they have symptoms for fear of losing their jobs. Some have already been terminated after speaking out against poor training, reduced shifts, lack of paid sick days and insufficient PPE.
Until last week, Mario Franco was the night manager at a northbound McDonald’s rest stop in Darien. He’d been on the job for more than 25 years, 20 of those years working alongside his late wife who died four years ago, after passing out and hitting her head in the backroom of the store on a “busy, hot summer day.”
“McDonald’s only paid for the headstone on her grave — nothing more,” Franco said during another teleconference with frontline workers.
Fast-Food Firings
The latest stimulus package, which extends a one-time payment of up to $1,200 to those earning under $75,000 payment, gifted Corporate America with hundreds of billions of dollars to ride out the coronavirus crisis. The windfall hasn’t stopped fast food chains along I-95 from terminating low-wage earners in the midst of a global pandemic, however.
Franco was abruptly fired along with the entire night crew.
“Management did not give us an opportunity to move shifts or giving us at least a day of work — they did not respect our dedication and experience,” he added.
Andrea Hernandez worked at the Darien rest stop for three years — a period of time where she said she never saw a sick day or medical leave. When she gave birth last fall, Hernandez said she had to use her vacation days just to have some paid time off with her newborn. According to Hernandez, the only PPE she and her co-workers have received during the pandemic are “the same gloves we always used in the kitchen.”
“The coronavirus is causing a tremendous crisis around the world, but the problems it’s causing at McDonald’s isn’t new — just more dangerous,” she said via teleconference.
Ascha Porter is a mother of two. She lost her job at a southbound Subway rest stop in Fairfield last week.
Financial Worries
“These corporations are getting government relief and they can support us through this time — but they’re not,” she recently told reporters via teleconference. “I’m worried about the next time I have to go grocery shopping or pay a bill. I understand our nation didn’t have a plan [to confront the pandemic], but something should be done. Give us our basic rights — [corporations] have the money — they can afford it.”
“Where is the relief” for ordinary workers, she asked. “We’re stuck in a loop right now.”
Arcadio Mejia, a certified nursing assistant at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles, is one of the 400,000 Temporary Protected Status [TPS] holders, the majority of them living in the US for more than 20 years. They could face deportation in January should the Trump administration succeed in terminating that program.
Mejia emigrated from El Salvador and has been on the job for 12 years. He worries about what will happen should he lose his Temporary Protected Status. He also fears his job caring for patients has exposed him to COVID-19, yet he can’t get tested.
Exposed But Still Working
“I was exposed to a COVID-19 patient and I’m still working,” he told me this week. “I asked my clinical coordinator and they told me if I don’t have any symptoms, they’re not going to do a test.”
That means that if Mejia is infected, he could be passing the virus on to others in the hospital, both patients being treated for other ailments, their visitors and health care professionals
After working extra hours at the hospital during the coronavirus outbreak, Mejia wonders why he also has to fear being deported in January.
“I have given so much to this country and the government makes me feel like a criminal,” he added. “Why is Trump continuing to take away my rights despite being a good citizen?”
Rena Rodriquez was a physician in her home country of El Salvador and now works as a health educator in North Carolina to support herself and two children. She, too, is experiencing the incredible stress of working without proper PPE and possibly being deported.
“I’m here to serve, I’m here to help the United States,” Rodriquez recently told reporters during an emergency teleconference with TPS holders. “We are exposing ourselves in this situation, we know about the risk — but we are still helping.”
Greg Kelley is the first African American to lead SEIU Healthcare Illinois, Indiana, Missouri & Kansas, — the largest local union in the Midwest. Indeed, he told me, COVID-19 is disproportionately pushing Black and Latino workers “to the brink.”
“Lower-wage workers historically have not been considered,” Kelley added. “[They have been] disregarded in a way that we, as a society, cannot allow to continue.”
But continue it does, with no shortage of elected officials wagging their finger at Corporate America and urging them to do the right thing for workers.
Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey sent a stern missive to VP Mike Pence and FEMA Administrator Peter Gaynor, imploring the federal government to “ensure that all frontline workers are valued and protected.”
congrats to pro-trump union members, suckers!!!
Under cover of pandemic, Trump’s NLRB moves to make unionizing ‘nearly impossible for workers’
April 3, 2020
By Jake Johnson, Common Dreams - raw story
“The Trump NLRB takes this moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have. Shameful does not even begin to describe this.”
The National Labor Relations Board finalized a rule this week that critics warn could make unionizing “nearly impossible for workers” at a moment when employees across the nation are fighting for stronger protections against the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposed rule change from the board—which is controlled by three appointees of President Donald Trump—was published in the Federal Register on April 1. The new rule would eliminate the NLRB’s “blocking charge policy,” which permits the delay of union election results if the employer is accused of unlawful coercion or other unfair labor practices.
“The board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”
—Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO
The proposal would also allow employees to file for decertification of a union in as few as 45 days after the union is voluntarily recognized by an employer. Under the new rule, a petition for decertification could be filed if just 30% of employees in a bargaining unit support the move.
Opponents of the new rule said the changes could empower employees to illegally manipulate union election results and allow a minority of workers to decertify a union that a majority of workers voted to form.
The rule is set to take effect on May 31 after a 60-day public comment period.
Heidi Shierholz, labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), called the rule change “unbelievable.”
“The Trump NLRB takes this moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have,” tweeted Shierholz. “Shameful does not even begin to describe this.”
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement that “the board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”
“Donald Trump’s caustic hostility to collective bargaining has manifested itself in the most anti-worker NLRB in America’s history,” said Trumka. “The labor movement will fight these actions with everything we have.”
The proposed rule comes as grocery store employees and other workers deemed essential amid the coronavirus outbreak are walking off the job and holding “sick outs” to protest unsanitary workplaces and lack of protective gear.
The new rule marks the second time in less than a month that the Trump administration has advanced a union-busting proposal.
Last month, as Common Dreams reported, unions accused Trump of exploiting the coronavirus crisis to attack organized labor after the Federal Labor Relations Authority issued a rule proposal that would allow federal employees to cancel union dues at any time after a year of membership, rather than in the annual 15-day window established under current law.
In a blog post on Tuesday responding to the NLRB proposal, EPI government affairs director Celine McNicholas wrote that “it is unconscionable that the agency responsible for ensuring workers have the right to a voice in the workplace has denied them the ability to exercise these rights.”
“Today and in the coming weeks, many workers will walk off the job over concerns for their health and safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” McNicholas wrote. “These workers are risking their lives to deliver services that have been deemed essential to our nation.”
“At the very least,” said McNicholas, “we should demand that the federal agency responsible for ensuring these workers have the rights to a union and collective bargaining use our taxpayer dollars to conduct union elections for workers who want representation, as opposed to issuing rules that make it harder for workers to have a voice on the job.”
The National Labor Relations Board finalized a rule this week that critics warn could make unionizing “nearly impossible for workers” at a moment when employees across the nation are fighting for stronger protections against the coronavirus pandemic.
The proposed rule change from the board—which is controlled by three appointees of President Donald Trump—was published in the Federal Register on April 1. The new rule would eliminate the NLRB’s “blocking charge policy,” which permits the delay of union election results if the employer is accused of unlawful coercion or other unfair labor practices.
“The board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”
—Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO
The proposal would also allow employees to file for decertification of a union in as few as 45 days after the union is voluntarily recognized by an employer. Under the new rule, a petition for decertification could be filed if just 30% of employees in a bargaining unit support the move.
Opponents of the new rule said the changes could empower employees to illegally manipulate union election results and allow a minority of workers to decertify a union that a majority of workers voted to form.
The rule is set to take effect on May 31 after a 60-day public comment period.
Heidi Shierholz, labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), called the rule change “unbelievable.”
“The Trump NLRB takes this moment to publish a rule that will make it harder both for workers to unionize and to keep unions they have,” tweeted Shierholz. “Shameful does not even begin to describe this.”
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement that “the board is effectively sealing off any viable path to unionization at a time when workers need a voice on the job more than ever.”
“Donald Trump’s caustic hostility to collective bargaining has manifested itself in the most anti-worker NLRB in America’s history,” said Trumka. “The labor movement will fight these actions with everything we have.”
The proposed rule comes as grocery store employees and other workers deemed essential amid the coronavirus outbreak are walking off the job and holding “sick outs” to protest unsanitary workplaces and lack of protective gear.
The new rule marks the second time in less than a month that the Trump administration has advanced a union-busting proposal.
Last month, as Common Dreams reported, unions accused Trump of exploiting the coronavirus crisis to attack organized labor after the Federal Labor Relations Authority issued a rule proposal that would allow federal employees to cancel union dues at any time after a year of membership, rather than in the annual 15-day window established under current law.
In a blog post on Tuesday responding to the NLRB proposal, EPI government affairs director Celine McNicholas wrote that “it is unconscionable that the agency responsible for ensuring workers have the right to a voice in the workplace has denied them the ability to exercise these rights.”
“Today and in the coming weeks, many workers will walk off the job over concerns for their health and safety in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic,” McNicholas wrote. “These workers are risking their lives to deliver services that have been deemed essential to our nation.”
“At the very least,” said McNicholas, “we should demand that the federal agency responsible for ensuring these workers have the rights to a union and collective bargaining use our taxpayer dollars to conduct union elections for workers who want representation, as opposed to issuing rules that make it harder for workers to have a voice on the job.”
Children as young as eight picked coffee beans for Starbucks
Nespresso also named in TV exposé of labour scandal in Guatemala
Jamie Doward - the guardian
Sun 1 Mar 2020 02.05 EST
High street coffee shop giant Starbucks has been caught up in a child labour row after an investigation revealed that children under 13 were working on farms in Guatemala that supply the chain with its beans.
Channel 4’s Dispatches filmed the children working 40-hour weeks in gruelling conditions, picking coffee for a daily wage little more than the price of a latte. The beans are also supplied to Nespresso, owned by Nestlé. Last week, actor George Clooney, the advertising face of Nespresso, praised the investigation and said he was saddened by its findings.
The Dispatches team said some of the children, who worked around eight hours a day, six days a week, looked as young as eight. They, were paid depending on the weight of beans they picked, with sacks weighing up to 45kg.
Typically, a child would earn less than £5 a day, although sometimes it could be as low as 31p an hour.
Over the course of the investigation, Dispatches visited seven farms linked to Nespresso and five linked to Starbucks. Child labour was found on all the farms.
A human rights lawyer who viewed some of the programme’s evidence suggested both companies were in breach of international labour regulations laid down by the UN’s International Labour Organization.
“The conventions are very clear in that they don’t want children’s education to be compromised,” said Oliver Holland of solicitors Leigh Day. “If children are working 40 hours a week, there is no way they can also be having a proper education.
“These are all unsafe conditions for children essentially, and in those conditions children simply shouldn’t be working.”
Dispatches calculated that of £2.50 spent on a typical cup of coffee on the high street, the shop receives 88p. Staff receive 63p and 38p goes on tax. A profit of 25p goes to the coffee company – such as Starbucks, which has an annual global revenue of more than £20bn, and has nearly 1,000 shops in the UK alone.
After other costs are accounted for, 10p is left for the coffee suppliers, of which 1p goes to the farmer, who uses a fraction of this to pay coffee pickers.
Dispatches reporter Antony Barnett shared some of the evidence with Clooney. Last week, the Hollywood star, who sits on Nespresso’s sustainability advisory board, said: “I was surprised and saddened to see this story. Clearly this board and this company still have work to do. And that work will be done. I would hope that this reporter will continue to investigate these conditions and report accurately if they do not improve.
“The check and balance of good corporate responsibility lies not just with the company itself but also independent journalists like Mr Barnett to hold everyone’s promise to account.”
Nespresso’s chief executive, Guillaume Le Cunff, said: “Nespresso has zero tolerance of child labour. It is unacceptable. Where there are claims that our high standards are not met, we act immediately. In this case, we’ve launched a thorough investigation to find out which farms were filmed and whether they supply Nespresso. We will not resume purchases of coffee from farms in this area until the investigation is closed. Any issues we uncover will be dealt with diligently and firm action will be taken.”
Starbucks also said it had a “zero tolerance for child labour anywhere in our supply chain”. It told Dispatches: “We’ve launched a full investigation into the claims brought by Channel 4, carried out in partnership with a leading third-party auditor.”
Barnett said: “It’s great that George Clooney supports our investigation but if he is serious about sorting out this issue, he needs to make sure Nespresso puts its money where its mouth is. It’s far too easy to announce an investigation and halt supplies from these regions but this will further punish the farmers and desperately poor families who rely on them. The reason these kids are working is that their parents – and the farms they work on – are not paid enough.“
Channel 4’s Dispatches filmed the children working 40-hour weeks in gruelling conditions, picking coffee for a daily wage little more than the price of a latte. The beans are also supplied to Nespresso, owned by Nestlé. Last week, actor George Clooney, the advertising face of Nespresso, praised the investigation and said he was saddened by its findings.
The Dispatches team said some of the children, who worked around eight hours a day, six days a week, looked as young as eight. They, were paid depending on the weight of beans they picked, with sacks weighing up to 45kg.
Typically, a child would earn less than £5 a day, although sometimes it could be as low as 31p an hour.
Over the course of the investigation, Dispatches visited seven farms linked to Nespresso and five linked to Starbucks. Child labour was found on all the farms.
A human rights lawyer who viewed some of the programme’s evidence suggested both companies were in breach of international labour regulations laid down by the UN’s International Labour Organization.
“The conventions are very clear in that they don’t want children’s education to be compromised,” said Oliver Holland of solicitors Leigh Day. “If children are working 40 hours a week, there is no way they can also be having a proper education.
“These are all unsafe conditions for children essentially, and in those conditions children simply shouldn’t be working.”
Dispatches calculated that of £2.50 spent on a typical cup of coffee on the high street, the shop receives 88p. Staff receive 63p and 38p goes on tax. A profit of 25p goes to the coffee company – such as Starbucks, which has an annual global revenue of more than £20bn, and has nearly 1,000 shops in the UK alone.
After other costs are accounted for, 10p is left for the coffee suppliers, of which 1p goes to the farmer, who uses a fraction of this to pay coffee pickers.
Dispatches reporter Antony Barnett shared some of the evidence with Clooney. Last week, the Hollywood star, who sits on Nespresso’s sustainability advisory board, said: “I was surprised and saddened to see this story. Clearly this board and this company still have work to do. And that work will be done. I would hope that this reporter will continue to investigate these conditions and report accurately if they do not improve.
“The check and balance of good corporate responsibility lies not just with the company itself but also independent journalists like Mr Barnett to hold everyone’s promise to account.”
Nespresso’s chief executive, Guillaume Le Cunff, said: “Nespresso has zero tolerance of child labour. It is unacceptable. Where there are claims that our high standards are not met, we act immediately. In this case, we’ve launched a thorough investigation to find out which farms were filmed and whether they supply Nespresso. We will not resume purchases of coffee from farms in this area until the investigation is closed. Any issues we uncover will be dealt with diligently and firm action will be taken.”
Starbucks also said it had a “zero tolerance for child labour anywhere in our supply chain”. It told Dispatches: “We’ve launched a full investigation into the claims brought by Channel 4, carried out in partnership with a leading third-party auditor.”
Barnett said: “It’s great that George Clooney supports our investigation but if he is serious about sorting out this issue, he needs to make sure Nespresso puts its money where its mouth is. It’s far too easy to announce an investigation and halt supplies from these regions but this will further punish the farmers and desperately poor families who rely on them. The reason these kids are working is that their parents – and the farms they work on – are not paid enough.“
Trump: At $2.13 An Hour, This Waitress Makes Too Much Money
But If She Gets a Raise, It Will Be Because Her State or Local Government, Not the Feds, Has Increased the Minimum Wage
By David Cay Johnston, DCReport Editor-in-Chief
2/28/2020
By multiple measures, workers are faring poorly under Donald Trump compared to his predecessor. Yet Trump keeps telling workers that because of him they are doing better. Let’s examine the facts.
The latest news shows that growth in the last three months of 2019 was at a modest pace of 2.1%. That’s a third of what candidate Trump promised (a ridiculous promise that many believed). It’s lower than the 3.2% average growth of the last 73 years. And it’s lower than during the second Obama term.
Gross Domestic Product growth has been slower each year Trump has been in office, we reported earlier.
Still earlier we gave Trump a grade of C.
A big reason for slow growth is that while cash piles up for those at the top, most struggle to make ends meet.
The Trump administration is hostile to the idea of a minimum wage and opposes any increase. The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, its shriveled to just $6.05 per hour.
For people who get tips, like waitstaff, the minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour since 1992. Its real value has been halved in the last 28 years. Tips, under federal law, make up the $5.12 an hour difference to meet the $7.25 minimum wage.
Paid Too Much
Candidate Trump asserted in 2015 that American workers are paid too much.
“Our wages are too high. Everything is too high,” Trump said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country.”
Trump said it again at a Republican primary debate sponsored by Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. “Wages too high.”
America can’t compete in global markets because workers make too much money, Trump asserted. Never mind that few low-wage Americans work in jobs making goods or providing services our country exports.
Taking Credit
In recent months Trump started crowing that pay is “rising fastest for low-income workers.” He said it in the State of Union, at rallies and in White House lawn comments. And he said it is his economic and tax policies that are making pay at the bottom grow.
Pay at the bottom is indeed rising after years in the economic doldrums. But Trump deserves zero credit for that. The credit goes to lawmakers in 22 states—and many cities and counties—who voted to raise the minimum wage.
As this graphic from the Economic Policy Institute shows, wages at the bottom are up because of those states and localities that increased the minimum wage.
Income growth began sputtering after Trump took office, Census Bureau data show.
The 22 states that raised their minimum wages since the start of 2018 by either a dollar amount or inflation adjustments are politically and economically diverse: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.
Trump and Obama Equal
What if we look at workers as a whole, mixing together those earning a paltry $2.13 an hour to those whose salary and bonus exceed $1 million a week? A record 211 American workers were paid more than $50 million in 2018. And more than 155,000 were paid more than $1 million last year.
Now consider the average wage for private-sector workers, which mixes these extremes of paltry and fantastic pay along with everyone in between.
In Trump’s first three years the inflation-adjusted average wage increased 3%. That’s exactly the same 3% as for Obama’s last three years, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. In other words, Trump did nothing special.
Growth at the Top
And what if we look at a broader measure—household income. That’s wages plus business profits, capital gains, dividends, farm sales, rents, pensions and more. For those at the top income, growth has been fabulous. For everyone else not so much.
So what happened to median household income—half more, half less. It gives a solid sense of the typical American income.
During Trump’s first two years, median household income rose $1,400. During Obama’s last two years median income rose $4,810, more than three times as much.
Cuts Federal Workers’ Raises
Finally, if you harbor any remaining belief that Trump is helping workers make more, consider these two facts from consecutive days earlier this month.
On Feb. 10 Trump said that due to a “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” federal workers would not get a scheduled 3% pay raise. He cut their increase to just 1%, which considering inflation is a pay cut.
The next day Trump struck the opposite note when he tweeted:
“BEST USA ECONOMY IN HISTORY!”
Trump is nothing if not consistently inconsistent except for one thing: using his powers to make sure workers don’t share in economic growth.
The latest news shows that growth in the last three months of 2019 was at a modest pace of 2.1%. That’s a third of what candidate Trump promised (a ridiculous promise that many believed). It’s lower than the 3.2% average growth of the last 73 years. And it’s lower than during the second Obama term.
Gross Domestic Product growth has been slower each year Trump has been in office, we reported earlier.
Still earlier we gave Trump a grade of C.
A big reason for slow growth is that while cash piles up for those at the top, most struggle to make ends meet.
The Trump administration is hostile to the idea of a minimum wage and opposes any increase. The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Adjusted for inflation, its shriveled to just $6.05 per hour.
For people who get tips, like waitstaff, the minimum wage has been stuck at $2.13 an hour since 1992. Its real value has been halved in the last 28 years. Tips, under federal law, make up the $5.12 an hour difference to meet the $7.25 minimum wage.
Paid Too Much
Candidate Trump asserted in 2015 that American workers are paid too much.
“Our wages are too high. Everything is too high,” Trump said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “Having a low minimum wage is not a bad thing for this country.”
Trump said it again at a Republican primary debate sponsored by Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. “Wages too high.”
America can’t compete in global markets because workers make too much money, Trump asserted. Never mind that few low-wage Americans work in jobs making goods or providing services our country exports.
Taking Credit
In recent months Trump started crowing that pay is “rising fastest for low-income workers.” He said it in the State of Union, at rallies and in White House lawn comments. And he said it is his economic and tax policies that are making pay at the bottom grow.
Pay at the bottom is indeed rising after years in the economic doldrums. But Trump deserves zero credit for that. The credit goes to lawmakers in 22 states—and many cities and counties—who voted to raise the minimum wage.
As this graphic from the Economic Policy Institute shows, wages at the bottom are up because of those states and localities that increased the minimum wage.
Income growth began sputtering after Trump took office, Census Bureau data show.
The 22 states that raised their minimum wages since the start of 2018 by either a dollar amount or inflation adjustments are politically and economically diverse: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Washington.
Trump and Obama Equal
What if we look at workers as a whole, mixing together those earning a paltry $2.13 an hour to those whose salary and bonus exceed $1 million a week? A record 211 American workers were paid more than $50 million in 2018. And more than 155,000 were paid more than $1 million last year.
Now consider the average wage for private-sector workers, which mixes these extremes of paltry and fantastic pay along with everyone in between.
In Trump’s first three years the inflation-adjusted average wage increased 3%. That’s exactly the same 3% as for Obama’s last three years, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. In other words, Trump did nothing special.
Growth at the Top
And what if we look at a broader measure—household income. That’s wages plus business profits, capital gains, dividends, farm sales, rents, pensions and more. For those at the top income, growth has been fabulous. For everyone else not so much.
So what happened to median household income—half more, half less. It gives a solid sense of the typical American income.
During Trump’s first two years, median household income rose $1,400. During Obama’s last two years median income rose $4,810, more than three times as much.
Cuts Federal Workers’ Raises
Finally, if you harbor any remaining belief that Trump is helping workers make more, consider these two facts from consecutive days earlier this month.
On Feb. 10 Trump said that due to a “national emergency or serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare,” federal workers would not get a scheduled 3% pay raise. He cut their increase to just 1%, which considering inflation is a pay cut.
The next day Trump struck the opposite note when he tweeted:
“BEST USA ECONOMY IN HISTORY!”
Trump is nothing if not consistently inconsistent except for one thing: using his powers to make sure workers don’t share in economic growth.
U.S. employment in the 2010s in five charts
Dan Burns, Howard Schneider - reuters
1/10/20
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The last U.S. employment report of the 2010s out Friday had few surprises, but it wrapped up a decade that featured some notable milestones in a job market that has changed dramatically in the space of 10 years.
RECORD DECADE FOR JOB CREATION
The 2010s will go into the record books - for at least another 10 years - as the decade that saw the greatest number of jobs created in the United States: 22.6 million.
It was a welcome recovery from the 2000s, the only decade in the history of Bureau of Labor Statistics data to feature a net loss of jobs, thanks largely to the two recessions that bookended that era. December’s report was the 111th monthly scorecard in a row to show employment gains, and the U.S. economy ended the decade with a record 152.4 million people working.[...]
RECORD DECADE FOR JOB CREATION
The 2010s will go into the record books - for at least another 10 years - as the decade that saw the greatest number of jobs created in the United States: 22.6 million.
It was a welcome recovery from the 2000s, the only decade in the history of Bureau of Labor Statistics data to feature a net loss of jobs, thanks largely to the two recessions that bookended that era. December’s report was the 111th monthly scorecard in a row to show employment gains, and the U.S. economy ended the decade with a record 152.4 million people working.[...]
Robert Reich: Here are the 5 biggest corporate lies about unions
Robert Reich / Robert Reich's Blog - salon
September 3, 2019
Wealthy corporations and their enablers have spread 5 big lies about unions in order to stop workers from organizing and to protect their own bottom-lines. Know the truth and spread the truth.
Lie #1: Labor unions are bad for workers. Wrong. Unions are good for all workers – even those who are not unionized. In the mid-1950s, when a third of all workers in the United States were unionized, wages grew in tandem with the economy. That’s because workers across America – even those who were not unionized – had significant power to demand and get better wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions. Since then, as union membership has declined, the middle class has shrunk as well.
Lie #2: Unions hurt the economy. Wrong again. When workers are unionized they can negotiate better wages, which in turn spreads the economic gains more evenly and strengthens the middle class. This creates a virtuous cycle: Wages increase, workers have more to spend in their communities, businesses thrive, and the economy grows. Since the 1970s, the decline in unionization accounts for one-third of the increase in income
inequality. Without unions, wealth becomes concentrated at the top and the gains don’t trickle down to workers.
Lie #3: Labor unions are as powerful as big business. No way. Labor union membership in 2018 accounted for 10.5 percent of the American workforce, while large corporations account for almost three-quarters of the entire American economy. And when it comes to political power, it’s big business and small labor. In the 2018 midterms, labor unions contributed less than 70 million dollars to parties and candidates, while big corporations and their political action committees contributed 1.6 billion dollars. This enormous gulf between business and labor is a huge problem. It explains why most economic gains have been going to executives and shareholders rather than workers. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
Lie #4: Most unionized workers are in industries like steel and auto manufacturing. Untrue. Although industrial unions are still vitally important to workers, the largest part of the unionized workforce is workers in the professional and service sectors – retail, restaurant, hotel, hospital, teachers–which comprise 59% of all workers represented by a union. And these workers benefit from being in a union. In 2018, unionized service workers earned a median wage of 802 dollars a week. Non-unionized service workers made on average, $261 less. That’s almost a third less.
Lie #5: Most unionized workers are white, male, and middle-aged. Some unionized workers are, of course, but most newly-unionized workers are not. They’re women, they’re young, and a growing portion are black and brown. In fact, it’s through the power of unions that people who had been historically marginalized in the American economy because of their race, ethnicity, or gender are now gaining economic ground. In 2018, women who were in unions earned 21 percent more than non-unionized women. And African-Americans who were unionized earned nearly 20 percent more than African-Americans who were non-unionized.
Don’t believe the corporate lies. Today’s unions are growing, expanding, and boosting the wages and economic prospects of those who need them most. They’re good for workers and good for America.
Lie #1: Labor unions are bad for workers. Wrong. Unions are good for all workers – even those who are not unionized. In the mid-1950s, when a third of all workers in the United States were unionized, wages grew in tandem with the economy. That’s because workers across America – even those who were not unionized – had significant power to demand and get better wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions. Since then, as union membership has declined, the middle class has shrunk as well.
Lie #2: Unions hurt the economy. Wrong again. When workers are unionized they can negotiate better wages, which in turn spreads the economic gains more evenly and strengthens the middle class. This creates a virtuous cycle: Wages increase, workers have more to spend in their communities, businesses thrive, and the economy grows. Since the 1970s, the decline in unionization accounts for one-third of the increase in income
inequality. Without unions, wealth becomes concentrated at the top and the gains don’t trickle down to workers.
Lie #3: Labor unions are as powerful as big business. No way. Labor union membership in 2018 accounted for 10.5 percent of the American workforce, while large corporations account for almost three-quarters of the entire American economy. And when it comes to political power, it’s big business and small labor. In the 2018 midterms, labor unions contributed less than 70 million dollars to parties and candidates, while big corporations and their political action committees contributed 1.6 billion dollars. This enormous gulf between business and labor is a huge problem. It explains why most economic gains have been going to executives and shareholders rather than workers. But this doesn’t have to be the case.
Lie #4: Most unionized workers are in industries like steel and auto manufacturing. Untrue. Although industrial unions are still vitally important to workers, the largest part of the unionized workforce is workers in the professional and service sectors – retail, restaurant, hotel, hospital, teachers–which comprise 59% of all workers represented by a union. And these workers benefit from being in a union. In 2018, unionized service workers earned a median wage of 802 dollars a week. Non-unionized service workers made on average, $261 less. That’s almost a third less.
Lie #5: Most unionized workers are white, male, and middle-aged. Some unionized workers are, of course, but most newly-unionized workers are not. They’re women, they’re young, and a growing portion are black and brown. In fact, it’s through the power of unions that people who had been historically marginalized in the American economy because of their race, ethnicity, or gender are now gaining economic ground. In 2018, women who were in unions earned 21 percent more than non-unionized women. And African-Americans who were unionized earned nearly 20 percent more than African-Americans who were non-unionized.
Don’t believe the corporate lies. Today’s unions are growing, expanding, and boosting the wages and economic prospects of those who need them most. They’re good for workers and good for America.
funnies
