Big business is using the coronavirus pandemic crisis as a cover for its real goal of protecting itself against all worker and consumer lawsuits on health and safety, all the time. That’s according to experts who spoke at an American Constitution Society seminar on May 19.
Here’s how it works. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says any new economic stimulus bill must include language preventing workers and consumers from suing if they catch the coronavirus on the firms’ premises, unless the workers and consumers can prove firms violated state and federal guidelines to prevent its spread. Even if this sounds reasonable – any many don’t think it does – McConnell’s plan “is part of businesses’ pressure over time to avoid the law” and all lawsuits, according to Georgetown University law professor Heidi Li Feldman. Reading from a glossy brochure the Chamber of Commerce sent to all senators, Feldman added that the business groups “are also asking for immunity from other legal avenues” workers can currently take to battle back against irresponsible bosses. Tune in at 1 o’clock this afternoon when Rebecca Dixon of the National Employment Law Project will discuss this issue on this week’s edition of Your Rights At Work here on WPFW. In today’s labor history, on this date in 2004, nearly 100,000 unionized SBC Communications workers began a four-day strike to protest the local phone giant’s latest contract offer. Today’s labor quote is by Emma Goldman; Italian activists and anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, widely believed to have been framed for murder, went on trial on this date in 1921. They were eventually executed as part of a government campaign against dissidents. Emma Goldman, who said: “Vanzetti was right when he declared that his execution was his greatest triumph, for all through history it has been the martyrs of progress that have ultimately triumphed. Where are the Caesars and Torquemadas of yesterday? Who remembers the names of the judges who condemned Giordano Bruno and John Brown? The Parsons and the Ferrers, the Saccos and Vanzettis live eternal and their spirits still march on.” Union City Radio is supported by our friends at Union Plus. AFSCME member Sherri Miller lucked out when she discovered the union-owned Union Plus Mortgage Company in the middle of her home search last year. As a first-time homebuyer, she felt she was in good hands with their thoughtful customer service and special union member benefits, including hardship mortgage assistance. "I've been telling everybody about Union Plus Mortgage Company," she says. You can find out more at unionplus.org And of course, please be sure to support WPFW during our Spring Pledge Drive; call 202-588-9739 or 1-800-222-9739. You can also pledge online at wpfwfm.org -- click on Donate Now -- you can now give by using WPFW's CashApp account, just search for $WPFW. Thanks very much!
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