essential workers News

Walmart Sales Soared, Essential Workers Got Scant Protection

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Sandra Kunz had been worried for her safety while working as a cashier at a Walmart in Aurora, Colorado, during the pandemic, said her sister, Paula Spellman. The 72-year-old had lung disease, Spellman said. She …

Confusion Reigns as Companies Try To Navigate COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

NEW YORK — U.S. companies and industry groups trying to move their workers to the front of the line for a COVID-19 vaccine remain confused about conflicting state and local guidelines on how shots will be administered and to which …

Meatpacking Workers Get Priority for Vaccine Under CDC Guideline

Meatpacking and poultry processing workers should be among front-line workers next in line for coronavirus vaccines under guidelines approved by a U.S. Centers for Disease Control advisory committee. Outbreaks of the virus at some plants during the spring caused shutdowns …

Tyson Suspends Managers Accused of Covid Betting Pool

Tyson Foods Inc. said it has suspended managers at an Iowa meatpacking plant accused in lawsuits of betting on how many workers would be infected in a Covid outbreak earlier this year. More than 1,000 of the 2,800 employees at …

Virus Hits Frontline Workers in Taxed Public Health System

As a veteran public health worker, Chantee Mack knew the coronavirus could kill. She already faced health challenges and didn’t want to take any chances during the pandemic. So she asked — twice — for permission to work from home. …

No Guarantee of Workers’ Comp Benefits For Essential Workers

WASHINGTON — Lauded for their service and hailed as everyday heroes, essential workers who get the coronavirus on the job have no guarantee in most states they’ll qualify for workers’ compensation to cover lost wages and medical care. Fewer than …

Federal Lawmakers Propose Heroes Compensation Act For Essential Worker Comp

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers on Thursday unveiled a plan to compensate essential workers who fall sick of die from COVID-19, modeling the Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act after the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney, D-NY, …

Trump’s Slaughterhouse Order a Blunt Tool Against Political Risk

President Donald Trump’s unprecedented order to keep U.S. slaughterhouses running is a blunt instrument to stave off a catastrophe threatening his rural base and the voters elsewhere he’ll need to win re-election. The meatpacking closures forced by the pandemic are …

Analyst Projects COVID-19 Presumption for Work Comp Will Cost $10 Billion

While the potential cost of relaxing a tenet of the workers compensation system to deal with extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19 could top $50 billion, it’s more likely to be one-fifth of that, an analyst reported last week. States like Michigan …