At a time of record unemployment, Cintya Medina feels lucky to have a job at the Barnes & Noble warehouse in Monroe, N.J.—but she does not want a job that puts her in danger. When Medina and her coworkers learned of several confirmed Covid-19 cases at the warehouse, they organized a protest on April 7 to demand …
A total of 38.6 million workers have now applied for unemployment assistance over the past nine weeks. Another 2.4 million workers filed new unemployment claims last week, DOL reported, suggesting that the economic pain from the coronavirus is continuing even as states begin to allow businesses to reopen. The coronavirus has forced nearly 39 million …
Unemployment claims rise by 2.4 million as states try to open for business Read More »
When the independent news site Tennessee Holler tweeted a letter from Kroger to an employee, clawing back $461.60 in “overpaid” emergency pay and even threatening “further collection efforts,” outrage ensued. As it should. But the good news is, Kroger quickly paid attention to that outrage and backed off. “We’ve instructed our payroll department to directly inform the small number …
The U.S. president recently ordered meatpacking employees back into workplaces plagued by coronavirus. He did not order the employers to make their slaughterhouses safe. GOP-proposed legislation exempts employers from lawsuits by employees sickened or killed by coronavirus infections at workplaces. The GOP is mostly silent about requiring employers to maintain safe or healthy workplaces. Employers across the …
Capitalism vs. Safety, Health: An Old Story Again Read More »
Calling people “gig” workers is a subtle trap. “Gig” can sound anywhere from upbeat to just a mundane description. The truth is the “gig” economy is just another way of exploiting people and it’s a dream for all capitalists to have a pool of workers who can be used and abused at the beckon call …
Democrats and unions are trying to compel the Trump administration to aggressively police workplace safety as businesses from auto plants to retail stores begin reopening across the country. The AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers, on Monday asked a federal court to force the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue mandatory workplace …
Clash over government role in worker safety intensifies as businesses reopen Read More »
Buried on the 18th page of a recently updated federal government memo defining which workers are critical during the Covid-19 pandemic is a new category of essential workers: defense industry personnel employed in foreign arms sales. The memo, issued April 17, is a revised version of statements issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and …
Trump Administration Quietly Adds Foreign Arms Sale to List of “Essential Work” Read More »
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Sunday warned that the nation’s unemployment rate could soar to 25 percent during the worst of the coronavirus crisis, though he said the economy should recover more quickly than during the Great Depression, when joblessness last reached those levels. “Those numbers sound about right for what the peak may …
Fed’s Powell warns unemployment could reach Depression-level 25 percent Read More »
The difficulties caused to workers by record unemployment during the pandemic are a product of capitalism. Most of the time, employers decide to hire or fire workers depending on which choice maximizes employers’ profits. Profit, not the full employment of workers nor of means of production, is “the bottom line” of capitalism and thus of …
Many individuals with medical conditions managed through medication and/or lifestyle adjustments are finding themselves particularly vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic—especially when it comes to their employment. Some of these individuals may not previously have requested a reasonable accommodation for a heart or lung condition because they work in an office environment with sedentary duties. This …
FAQ: COVID-19 and Navigating the Workplace with a Disability Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
