‘Essential’ Factory Workers Are Afraid to Go to Work and Can’t Afford to Stay Home | Talking Points Memo

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1299330

Workers at her factory get two paid sick days a year

American Exceptionalism. Tell me about that again?

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Put some managers down on the floor and the lines. Suddenly it won’t be too expensive to change working conditions.

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ex·cep·tion·al

/ˌikˈsepSH(ə)n(ə)l/

adjective

  1. unusual; not typical.

“crimes of exceptional callousness and cruelty”

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A shout-out of deep gratitude from me to my carers, who are still tending to my every need during this crisis with grace and strength.

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“Companies aren’t taking the health of their workers seriously,”

“I’ve been trying to wipe down the machine with a paper napkin,” said one worker, who is reevaluating whether to continue working. “More than anything, it’s because my parents live with me. They are elderly.”

So much for flattening the curve…and it gets complicated because there is no WH credible pandemic team. What we are getting instead is Covidiot Trump playing doctor and overriding Dr.Fauci just because he thinks of himself as a Stable Genius!

Meanwhile…Covidiot Trump whines about his victim hood from the fake news and wants us to thank him for saving lives!

Truth be told:
Covid-19 Pandemic Response = I take no responsibility
Covid-19 $500 Billion Slush Fund = I am the oversight

How greedy is that?
How reprehensible is that?
How unconscionable is that?

Addendum:

When Covidiot Trump Believes Greedy Jared, Americans Die!

Addendum2:

Perdue workers walk off job…
Perdue failed to sterilize chicken plant during pandemic!

http://www.11alive.com/video/news/health/coronavirus/perdue-plant-employees-walk-out-over-covid-19-concerns/93-95249800-5e28-40fe-8579-bf9ca879b85a?jwsource=cl

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These same people that profess to being afraid to go to work due to having to mingle and be close to coworkers would flock to a damn Trump rally (today, right now), packed like sardines in a tight hockey arena, and cough and sneeze and yell their lungs off for hour upon hour. Gleefully. Holding signs saying the virus is a hoax.

This is really a good example of where our lack of safety culture and the republican fights to nuter unions put everyone at risk, and where Trump’s complete incompetence puts everyone at risk. Including the economy.

I actually have a private client who is an “essential” business and have to stay open - and trust me, you want them open if you want to eat… So since I have a doctorate (just the wrong kind…) lawyer guy said “hey, you guys need quidelines to keep everyone safe”. This is partially to protect the company, and also to protect the workers. But there are no decent Federal Guidelines - at least not that I could find. Just nothing. Totally falling down on the job.

I ended up crafting a covid-19 policy by using WHO guidelines, adopted to fit the type of company they were. But I had to sit down and figure out the interactions along the supply and sales chain and explain how things needed to be done to be safe and reduce exposure, so it was clear to everyone what exactly needed to change.

And oh, I had to then have the company scramble to get more gloves and and stand off thermometers.

This is the big difference between decent countries (Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, and now France) and shambolic places like the US, Italy, England, and surprisingly Japan (how badly their government did is underrated, they just got lucky) have responded not just with the type of public advise but also directions to companies.

The answer to trying to keep the economy running is to make sure that businesses get (a) the advise and direction, and (b) supplies they need. This is a very underrated area where Trump and his incompetence is really costing us.

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You can do almost anything with duct tape, beer cans and twine.

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Someone that makes sense… obviously he doesn’t work fro Trump…

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Hey, I run a classy shop. No canned beer, only the stuff in bottles, and not with a screw top.

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Miss Kitty has a friend that brews his own beers. OMG, don’t get trapped in a conversation with these people.

Hell is other people. That brew their own beer.

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Let’s also not forget how this maladministration removed OSHA reporting mechanisms put in place by the Obama administration to monitor and improve overall worker health and safety. tRump and his lobbyist cronies did this during the government shutdown by rushing the changes through, basically under cover of night and without proper oversight because government workers, meant to review the changes, were furloughed.

Screwing over workers has been the one consistent mainstay of tRump’s time in office.

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Trump is no “businessman”. He worked for this father, then set up shop for himself, he hired other to design and project manage his properties. There was a woman Rachel had on a couple of times that worked Donald. She talked about how the architects and construction managers would figure things out, and then Donald would come in and make changes. Demand that this, that, and the other thing be changed even if it went against building codes, or if they were working with a partner want to change things that had already been worked out.
The Donald is a figurehead. Not a builder, not a manager, and certainly not a businessman unless it’s to sell the Trump product, which is him.

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You might want to add Gorilla Glue in that list of supplies.

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If this is your list, you might want to add canned beer, preferably of the “Lite” variety… :wink:

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There is a company called Safelite here in Chandler that has a huge building with 300 cubicled workers in it. Most of them do nothing but work at computers while they talk on the phone. One of my best friends works there. He received a bone marrow transplant for lymphoma last year and he went to his manager last week and asked if he could be allowed to work from home. He was advised that he could take an unpaid LOA.

This company was great last year in covering his medical expenses through his benefits. I am shocked that they are being so callous this year. And yes, he is taking the LOA although he cannot afford it and does not know how long he can hold onto his apartment.

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And really, really stupid. As a lawyer, I would advise them that if he gets stick, they are on the hook for failing to keep him safe. And it might not just be a workers comp issue, they may have liability on top of that.

We have a system where companies think they are on top, and they usually are in the system created by republicans over the last 40 years, but my guess is that there is a systemic shock coming, and this kind of response will not go over well in court if something goes wrong.

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I work for a company that makes poultry production equipment. Most to the workers in those processing plants wear a lot of protective covering to keep raw chicken bits off of them but they are side by side touching the birds and when they go on break take off that covering and sit elbow to elbow in a jam packed break room. Hard to imagine how that’s going to keep going.

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It’s amazing what you’ll do if immigration agents visit you and threaten to throw your kids in a cage.

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