PPE

Workers Tried To Blow The Whistle On COVID19 Hazards

October 15, 2020 Dave Jamieson, Huff Post. Educate! COVID-19, OSHA, PPE, Worker Rights

As soon as the coronavirus pandemic began, workers across the country flooded federal and state offices with complaints that their employers weren’t protecting them from the health threat. The concerns have continued to pour into workplace safety agencies for seven months, totaling nearly 40,000 as of Thursday. It turns out the allegations have been a flashing warning sign all along, according to a new working paper published by the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. The analysis of data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration shows that a rise in workers’ safety complaints has preceded a rise in deaths throughout the pandemic.

Baltimore Teachers Demand ‘Masks, Tests And Plexiglass!’

October 4, 2020 Struggle La Lucha. Resist! Baltimore, COVID-19, PPE, Public schools

On Sept. 30, the Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) held a protest and die-in in front of the Baltimore City Public Schools headquarters in Baltimore City. Diana Desierto, BTU member and speech language pathologist, explained: “I am out here for the National Day of Resistance to make sure that our students, families and staff in Baltimore City are prepared and will be accommodated with all the things they need to return to school safely. “I’m here to support my students and their families. It’s been a struggle for them and for all of us. Of course we want to go back to school, we just want to go back safely.”

OSHA Fines Smithfield Foods For ‘Failing To Protect Employees’

September 13, 2020 Mackenzie Huber, Argus Leader. Create! COVID-19, Meatpackers, PPE, Worker Rights

The Smithfield Foods plant in Sioux Falls, which was the epicenter of one of the nation's largest coronavirus hotspots in April, has been fined by the U.S. Department of Labor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced Thursday that it was fining the Smithfield Packaged Meats Corporation for $13,494 for "failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus," a news release states. The fine is the maximum amount allowed by law. At least 1,294 Smithfield employees contracted coronavirus, and four employees died from the virus, the release states.

Staff Refuse To Enter Unsafe School Building

September 10, 2020 District 75 P352X Special Education Staff, Popular Resistance. Resist! COVID-19, New York City (NYC), PPE, Public schools

Bronx, NY - The special education staff of P352X, composed of five different sites (buildings), will be coordinating a refusal to enter unsafe buildings. We have not received inspection reports from the UFT or the DOE for all five sites. When staff arrived on the first day, the promised PPE was not available and due to no fault of our administration, we still did not have enough information to have a plan for the first day back. Guidances from the department of education change and are updated daily.

Campus Workers Sue UNC System Over Unsafe Working Conditions

August 16, 2020 Kate Murphy, The News and Observer. Resist! COVID-19, North Carolina, PPE, Worker Rights

North Carolina university employees are suing the UNC System, saying working conditions are unsafe as tens of thousands of students return to campuses during the coronavirus pandemic. “Essential workers across UNC System campuses continue to report to work with inadequate protective equipment to ensure their safety,” the UE150, NC Public Service Workers Union said in a statement Monday. Some university employees, including housekeepers and other campus workers, are provided one or two masks per week and many don’t have access to face shields or gowns, according to the union.

Meatpacking Workers Continue To Struggle During The Pandemic

August 12, 2020 By Connor Goodwin, American Prospect. Create! COVID-19, Meat Packers, PPE, Worker Rights and Jobs

Five thousand plant workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Nebraska, representing nearly 20 percent of cases statewide, and at least 21 of those workers have died. Plants predominantly employ immigrants and refugees, consisting mostly of Latinos, but also Sudanese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese, and other groups. Even though workers’ pay increased at the plants, so too did their workload. With many still out sick, workers have been expected to keep up with line speeds operating at full capacity. Many workers live in multigenerational homes, and the coronavirus case and death figures cited by Sen. Vargas do not account for infected friends and family that could be traced back to plants. Finally, as has been the case historically, plant workers speaking up about their rights or safety concerns is viewed by employers as an act of insubordination and disciplined as such.

“A Lot Of People Really Don’t Think We Should Be Working Right Now”

August 7, 2020 James Tatsch, WSWS. Resist! COVID-19, Essential worker, PPE, Strikes

Last week saw the highest number of new recorded cases for the Kansas City metro area since the start of the pandemic. The ever-increasing level of confirmed cases takes place as infection levels are soaring across both Kansas and Missouri, which have been recording record-breaking highs on a near-daily basis. The GM Fairfax Assembly Plant is a sprawling 4,900,000-square-foot facility located in the Fairfax Industrial District along the Missouri River. Beginning production in 1988, on the grounds of the former Fairfax Airport, the plant now employees 2,385 workers in the production of the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XT4 models. Following the two-month shutdown of the auto industry forced by workers through a series of wildcat strikes earlier this year, production at the Fairfax Plant officially resumed on June 1, with the reinstitution of two full-time shifts. A third shift at the plant was previously cut and roughly 1,000 laid off in 2017, with the company’s move encountering no opposition from the United Auto Workers.

Amazon Workers Blocked Delivery Trucks For Hours

August 5, 2020 Lauren Kaori Gurley, Vice. Resist! Amazon, COVID-19, Essential worker, PPE

Amazon warehouse workers shut down deliveries at an Amazon Distribution Center in the San Francisco Bay Area for several hours on Saturday, demanding the company implement more safety measures to protect workers against COVID-19 and increased pay to reflect the cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive metro areas. Early Saturday, a caravan of cars, organized by Bay Area Amazonians, an Amazon warehouse worker and delivery-driver led group, drove into the warehouse parking lot, blocking Amazon delivery vans from leaving the facility for roughly three hours and disrupting the flow of business, according to the protest’s organizers.

Brute Force Approach To Reopen Benefits Reckless CEOs, Endangers Workers

August 5, 2020 Sarah Anderson, Inequality.org. Educate! Congress, COVID-19, PPE, Worker Rights

In late April, poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride transferred Maria Hernandez from her usual job to another department at its plant in Lufkin, Texas. Her sons say Hernandez’s bosses didn’t give her proper protective gear. And they didn’t warn the 63-year-old that she would be working in a hot spot where other workers had already fallen ill from COVID-19. When Hernandez, who worked at the plant for 30 years, started feeling sick, she continued to show up for her shift for fear of being fired. On May 8, she was found dead in her home — one of more than 90 meat and poultry plant workers who’ve succumbed to the virus.

Larry Brilliant On How Well We Are Fighting COVID-19

July 14, 2020 Steven Levy, Wired. Educate! COVID-19, health, Pandemic, PPE

It seems like a century ago that I first interviewed Larry Brilliant about the novel coronavirus. But it’s been just a little over three months since I spoke to then-75-year-old Brilliant, an epidemiologist who aided in the eradication of smallpox, and who for years has been warning the world of a pandemic that looks very much like the one we have now. (One of the tools in sounding the alarm was the movie Contagion, for which Brilliant was an adviser.) In that interview, he was able to provide clarity, gravity, and even a measure of hope to our unique and terrifying circumstances. The response was tremendous; it was the second-most-read story in the history of WIRED. Brilliant’s vita includes roles with the World Health Organization, Google, and the Grateful Dead, but his life’s work has been anticipating and dealing with pandemics.

Texas Teachers Union May Strike Over Lack Of COVID-19 Precautions

July 13, 2020 Jeff Rouner, RA News. Resist! COVID-19, PPE, Strikes, Teacher's Union

The president of the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers says that going on strike is an option if teachers are forced back into the classroom this fall without proper precautions for COVID-19. As of right now, Texas is planning on sending students back to campuses when the fall semester starts. As new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations skyrocket, teachers are afraid. “I had already been sick with respiratory illness almost the entire year, so I think I may have a health problem, but I was unable to get to the bottom of it due to COVID and not wanting to go out to a lot of appointments,” one teacher who asked to remain anonymous told Reform Austin. “I have no faith in our governor to make the right call, especially after he screwed us over with the reopening, and his announcement that we’ll be back in person in the fall no matter what is highly irresponsible— it would be laughable if it weren’t so damn tragic.”

Nurse Strike Wave Grows

July 12, 2020 Mike Elk, Payday Report. Resist! COVID-19, Healthcare workers, Nurses, PPE

As the country undergoes a severe surge of COVID cases, many hospitals are still short of PPE. Nurses across the country went on strike this week demanding these vital protections. This week, nurses at the AMITA Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Ill. continued the strike they began on Saturday. In response, the hospital has even brought in “scab replacement” nurses to keep the hospital staffed. The nurses report making progress at the bargaining table and feel confident they are close to a deal. “It’s getting better,” union leader Pat Meade told the Joliet Herald-News, but she warned that they gave up “so much” in the deal as well. For more, head to the Joliet Herald-News.

FCA Toledo Jeep Workers Support Call For Rank-And-File Safety Committees

July 4, 2020 Marcus Day, WSWS. Organize! COVID-19, PPE, Strike, Worker Rights

Anger is reaching a boiling point as workers continue to fall ill and management and the United Auto Workers union refuse to release information about the extent of COVID-19 cases. “It is ridiculous,” Johnny, a worker at Fiat Chrysler’s Toledo North Assembly Plant, said. “Threats and intimidation. People popping up positive left and right. I’ve been hearing we’ve had about 11 positive this week alone. All the different parts of the plants. Plus, there are several other potential cases.” Another worker at the FCA Toledo plant said that workers needed a rank-and-file safety committee at their factory, adding that they had read and shared the statement by the committee at Jefferson North. “Management and the union are two peas in a pod down in Toledo. Management has threatened the workers about any line stoppage. The union is still in hiding.

Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear

July 2, 2020 By Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra and Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News. Resist! COVID-19, Health Care, OSHA, PPE

COVID-19 cases were climbing at Michigan’s McLaren Flint hospital. So Roger Liddell, 64, who procured supplies for the hospital, asked for an N95 respirator for his own protection, since his work brought him into the same room as COVID-positive patients. But the hospital denied his request, said Kelly Indish, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 875. On March 30, Liddell posted on Facebook that he had worked the previous week in both the critical care unit and the ICU and had contracted the virus. “Pray for me God is still in control,” he wrote. He died April 10. The hospital’s problems with personal protective equipment (PPE) were well documented. In mid-March, the state office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) received five complaints, which described employees receiving “zero PPE.”

Families Of Deceased Workers Sue Tyson Over Outbreak At Meatpacking Plant

June 28, 2020 Ryan J. Foley, AP News. Resist! COVID-19, PPE, Tysons, Workers Rights and Jobs

The families of three workers who died after contracting the coronavirus in an Iowa meat plant outbreak sued Tyson Foods and its top executives Thursday, saying the company knowingly put employees at risk and lied to keep them on the job. The lawsuit alleges that Tyson officials were aware the virus was spreading at the Waterloo pork processing plant by late March or early April but kept that information from employees and the public. As the outbreak grew, the company failed to implement safety measures, allowed some sick and exposed employees to remain on the production line, and falsely assured workers and the public that the plant was safe, the suit alleges. “Tyson intended by these false representations to deceive workers in the Waterloo facility ... and to induce them to continue working despite the uncontrolled COVID-19 outbreak at the plant and the health risks associated with working,” according to the lawsuit.

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