{"id":3370,"date":"2020-04-02T16:39:16","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/28april.org\/?p=3370"},"modified":"2020-04-02T16:39:16","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T15:39:16","slug":"usa-worker-health-is-public-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/28april.org\/?p=3370","title":{"rendered":"USA: Worker health is public health"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Covid-19 pandemic, worker health is public health – but worker safety and health is in crisis, a top US safety law expert has said. Debbie Berkowitz<\/a> of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) said the US federal government \u201cis failing to ensure the safety and health of workers – including those most at risk, health care workers. The government has also abandoned its role in keeping all other essential workers safe – those in supermarkets, delivery, warehouses, factories, public transportation and sanitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she added: \u201cAs the federal government walks away from its responsibility to protect workers in this crisis, unions and worker activism are helping to fill the vacuum.\u201d Berkowitz noted that dangerous shortages of protective gear were being compounded by a lack of official oversight of working conditions. She criticised the lack of action by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), \u201cthe government agency responsible for protecting worker\u2019s health and safety on the job. In a sharp departure from previous pandemics and crises, OSHA is not conducting any Covid-19 enforcement\u2014even for health care workers at risk.<\/p>\n

This kind of \u2018dereliction\u2019 is unprecedented, she wrote, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s the unions and an amazing exercise of worker power and activism that have come to the rescue.\u201d The safety law expert concluded: \u201cIt is stunning for most of us to realise the weakness of the legal protections for worker safety and health. It is amazing to see the incredible efforts of the unions and rank and file workers \u2013 both unorganised and organised \u2013 to stand up and demand protections from employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

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