Friday, May 1, 2020
In 'Terrifying' Indictment of For-Profit System, 12.7 Million Workers Estimated to Have Lost Insurance Due to Coronavirus
"If we take anything away from this pandemic, it's that health care should not be tied to employment."
by
Julia Conley, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/30/terrifying-indictment-profit-system-127-million-workers-estimated-have-lost
New research from the Economic Policy Institute reveals that the number of Americans who are losing their employer-based health insurance is growing rapidly, with more than 30 million people laid off or furloughed in the last six weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
EPI estimates that 12.7 million of the people who have lost their jobs since early March have lost their health insurance.
"The linkage between specific jobs and the availability of health insurance is a prime source of inefficiency and inequity in the U.S. health system," wrote EPI research director Josh Bivens and economist Ben Zipperer. "It is especially terrifying for workers to lose their health insurance as a result of, and during, an ongoing pandemic."
EPI released its new research shortly after government watchdog Public Citizen tweeted sarcastically that the U.S. has a "normal and fine healthcare system," sharing a news story about health insurer Cigna's skyrocketing profits for the first months of 2020 alongside EPI's earlier headline from just two weeks ago when the think tank estimated 9.2 million Americans had lost their employer-based health insurance.
Thursday's report also shines a light on the wide range of industries in the U.S. in which lay offs and furloughs have resulted in the loss of insurance.
In the hospitality and food services industry, which has lost more than 41% of its workforce so far due to the pandemic, more than 23% of workers have employer-based health coverage.
More than 56% of people who work in healthcare and social work have employer-sponsored insurance; that industry lost more than three million workers in recent weeks.
In the manufacturing sector, meanwhile, about 69% of workers have health insurance through their employers; manufacturing has also lost about three million workers.
To help the millions of people across all industries who are now without health coverage, EPI said, Congress must expand the free-at-the-point-of-service healthcare which already exists through Medicare and Medicaid.
"Because the United States is unique among rich countries in tying health insurance benefits to employment, many of the newly unemployed will suddenly face prohibitively costly insurance options," wrote Bivens and Zipperer. "A comprehensive policy solution would be to extend Medicare and Medicaid to all those suffering job losses during the pandemic period, with the federal government funding this expansion."
Bivens and Zipperer rejected a Democratic proposal, introduced earlier this month by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), to offer expanded COBRA subsidies to people. The COBRA program allows laid-off employees to pay out of pocket to stay on their former employers' health plans.
"While this policy proposal will help many workers continue coverage, in some states it will not help workers from small businesses with fewer than 20 employees, who are not eligible for COBRA," the authors wrote.
In an op-ed for Politico Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) expanded on how Democrats must propose far bolder action than offering COBRA subsidies to unemployed Americans.
"There's another, better way to guarantee that everyone in America gets all the health care they need, without cost, for the duration of the pandemic: Empower Medicare to pay all of the health care costs for the uninsured, as well as all out-of-pocket expenses for those with existing public or private insurance, for as long as this pandemic continues," wrote Sanders.
"Expanding COBRA during the pandemic would do nothing to cover those who already lacked insurance," he added. "It also won't help the many Americans who continue to receive employer-provided health care but are still prevented from going to the doctor by massive deductibles and co-pays. In fact, the average family with employer-provided insurance faces $4,700 in out-of-pocket costs every year. The deductible alone for the average low-income worker is $2,600 a year. Maintaining the status quo does nothing to address these extraordinary costs, made worse during the pandemic economy."
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich this week echoed the call to expand Medicare to all Americans, and said the pandemic makes the most compelling case yet for doing so.
"If we take anything away from this pandemic, it's that healthcare should not be tied to employment," said Reich. "Anything short of Medicare for All is unacceptable."
'We Should All Be Alarmed': McConnell to Bring Senate Back Not to Fight Covid-19 But to Confirm More Trump Judges
"McConnell cares more about ushering his unqualified 38-year-old crony onto one of the country's highest courts than about ensuring Americans' health in the middle of a pandemic."
by
Jake Johnson, staff writer
33 Comments
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/30/we-should-all-be-alarmed-mcconnell-bring-senate-back-not-fight-covid-19-confirm-more
Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups are accusing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of endangering the health of members of Congress and Capitol Hill employees for political gain as the Kentucky Republican presses forward with plans to reconvene the chamber next week for the sole purpose of confirming more right-wing judges—including his unqualified 38-year-old protégé.
"McConnell is calling the Senate back in, ignoring D.C.'s stay at home order, and putting thousands of Capitol employees at risk," tweeted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). "Not to do oversight of Trump's pandemic response. Not to pass a new relief bill. But to ram through more conservative judges."
"The current plan is to go back in session on May the 4th," McConnell told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on April 22. "I haven't seen anything that would discourage me from doing that. And as soon as we get back in session, we'll start confirming judges again. We need to have hearings, and we need to confirm judges."McConnell made clear in an interview last week that resuming rapid-fire confirmations of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees will be the Senate's top priority when it reconvenes Monday, despite the desperate need for additional relief for frontline workers and the unemployed as the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause mass layoffs across the nation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said on Twitter Wednesday that instead of advancing "real solutions to the nation's hardship and heartbreak," McConnell is "recklessly endangering Capitol workers and others for pure partisan politics."
The Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), announced Wednesday that despite opposition from every Democratic member of the panel, it plans to hold a nomination hearing on May 6 for Justin Walker, Trump's pick for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Walker, a McConnell ally with ties to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was rated "not qualified" by the American Bar Association when Trump nominated him last year to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. The Republican-controlled Senate disregarded the ABA rating and confirmed Walker last October, and now the judge is on track for a promotion.
Politico reported Thursday that McConnell "is gambling that 100 senators can safely meet on the Senate floor and throughout the Capitol complex. Many of them will travel across the country for the Senate's reopening, risking [Covid-19] exposure on airplanes and in airports."
In addition to Walker, the Senate next week is also expected to quickly advance the nomination of Mississippi Court of Appeals Judge Cory Wilson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Confirmation of Walker and Wilson would leave no more vacancies at the circuit court level.
Late Wednesday, Trump—who is responsible for picking around one in five current U.S. federal judges—announced his intent to nominate Aileen Mercedes Cannon to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and Dirk Paloutzian to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
"Instead of focusing on Covid-19, Republicans have decided to prioritize stacking our federal courts with conservative ideologues," Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, tweeted Wednesday. "We should all be alarmed."
Workers Gear Up for Major May Day Strike in Pushback Against Unsafe Conditions Amid Pandemic
One organizer explained that the goal is to "push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."
by
Andrea Germanos, staff writer
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/29/workers-gear-major-may-day-strike-pushback-against-unsafe-conditions-amid-pandemic
Workers at some of the nation's biggest companies including Amazon and Target are preparing to symbolically lock arms Friday for a May 1 strike and demand better protections on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the lead organizers of the action, Motherboard reported Wednesday, is Chris Smalls, the Amazon worker who was fired last month from his job at a fulfillment center in Staten Island after organizing a protest.
"We formed an alliance between a bunch of different companies because we all have one common goal which is to save the lives of workers and communities," Smalls told Motherboard.
"Right now isn't the time to open up the economy," Smalls added. "Amazon is a breeding ground [for this virus] which is spreading right now through multiple facilities."
Adam Ryan, who works at a Target store in Virgina, is another lead organizer of the May Day action. He explained to Motherboard that the goal of the strike is "to shut down industry across the board and push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."
As Motherboard reported:
While the mass strike action might not be enough to shut down society, the collective action certainly echoes the calls for a general strike—a coordinated work stoppage across businesses and industries in pursuit of a common goal—the likes of which have not been seen in the United States since World War II.
The workers are demanding their profitable employers provide increased pay and paid leave, health insurance for all workers, and for Covid-19 affected stores to be shut. The workers are also calling on customers to show solidarity by not shopping at the stores on May 1, according to a flier shared on social media.
The Intercept also reported on the upcoming strike, with Daniel Medina writing Tuesday:
The May 1 strike is the latest in a wave of actions led by union and nonunion front-line workers. Last month, Amazon workers in New York City and more than 10,000 Instacart workers across the country staged a walkout. Whole Foods employees led a national sickout on March 31, while upwards of 800 workers skipped their shifts at a Colorado meatpacking plant as coronavirus cases were confirmed among employees. Sanitation workers in Pittsburgh and bus drivers in Detroit both staged wildcat strikes.
"These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor," said Stephen Brier, a labor historian and professor at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. "All of a sudden, they’re deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively.”
"May 1 is a celebration of working people around the world," Margaret Kimberley wrote Wednesday at Black Agenda Report. "It is the perfect moment to begin the fight for economic justice which has accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
Workers Plan May Day “People’s Strike” to Demand Safer Workplaces
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/4/29/headlines/workers_plan_may_day_peoples_strike_to_demand_safer_workplaces
Workers at some of the biggest corporations in the United States are planning an unprecedented wave of strikes on May 1, International Workers’ Day.
Employees of Amazon, Whole Foods, Walmart, FedEx, Target and Instacart will walk off the job demanding compensation for unpaid time off work, hazard pay, sick leave, personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies at workplaces.
Many of the workers are part of a growing coalition that will join a May 1 People’s Strike launched by worker cooperatives in Mississippi.
This is Kali Akuno, co-director of Cooperation Jackson.
Kali Akuno: “We’re asking everybody to start with these basics: no work, no shopping, no rent, no mortgage, no school, no borders, no prisons. Right? Let us all take joint action together.”
Kali Akuno: “We’re asking everybody to start with these basics: no work, no shopping, no rent, no mortgage, no school, no borders, no prisons. Right? Let us all take joint action together.”
AS AMAZON, WALMART, AND OTHERS PROFIT AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS, THEIR ESSENTIAL WORKERS PLAN UNPRECEDENTED STRIKE
Daniel A. Medina
https://theintercept.com/2020/04/28/coronavirus-may-1-strike-sickout-amazon-target-whole-foods/
AN UNPRECEDENTED COALITION of workers from some of America’s largest companies will strike on Friday. Workers from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, and FedEx are slated to walk out on work, citing what they say is their employers’ record profits at the expense of workers’ health and safety during the coronavirus pandemic.
The employees will call out sick or walk off the job during their lunch break, according to a press release set to be published by organizers on Wednesday. In some locations, rank-and-file union members will join workers outside their warehouses and storefronts to support the demonstrations.
“We are acting in conjunction with workers at Amazon, Target, Instacart and other companies for International Worker’s Day to show solidarity with other essential workers in our struggle for better protections and benefits in the pandemic,” said Daniel Steinbrook, a Whole Foods employee and strike organizer.
The labor action comes as workers and organizers say Amazon, in particular, has not been forthcoming about the number of Covid-19 cases at its more than 175 fulfillment centers globally.
Jana Jumpp, an Indiana Amazon employee, along with her small team of fellow Amazon workers, has over the last month tallied Covid-19 cases at Amazon warehouses in the U.S. According to Jumpp, there have been at least 500 coronavirus cases in at least 125 Amazon facilities.
Jumpp suspects that the number is much higher, but says this is what she and her team have been able to directly confirm through their sourcing, which includes screenshots of internal company texts and voicemails to employees when cases have arisen, in addition to messages received from Amazon workers on private Facebook groups. The numbers, which have not been previously reported, are the most comprehensive to this point.
Amazon declined to comment on the numbers of sick workers compiled by organizers. “While we respect people’s right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups in spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis,” said Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty. She added, “We have gone to extreme measures to understand and address this pandemic.”
The May 1 strike is the latest in a wave of actions led by union and nonunion front-line workers. Last month, Amazon workers in New York City and more than 10,000 Instacart workers across the country staged a walkout. Whole Foods employees led a national sickout on March 31, while upwards of 800 workers skipped their shifts at a Colorado meatpacking plant as coronavirus cases were confirmed among employees. Sanitation workers in Pittsburgh and bus drivers in Detroit both staged wildcat strikes.
“These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor,” said Stephen Brier, a labor historian and professor at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. “All of a sudden, they’re deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively.”
The workers coalition will unveil a set of demands. Among them are: compensation for all unpaid time off used since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in March; hazard pay or paid sick leave to be provided for the duration of the pandemic; protective equipment and all cleaning supplies to be provided at all times by the company; and a demand for full corporate transparency on the number of cases in facilities.
The workers chose May 1, International Workers Day, as a signal to workers everywhere that collectively, they can take on corporate behemoths, said Christian Smalls, a lead organizer of the strike. Amazon fired Smalls on March 30, only hours after he led his colleagues at a company warehouse in Staten Island, New York, on a walkout in protest of Amazon’s response to the pandemic. Amazon said Smalls was fired for violating a company-enforced quarantine.
The firing galvanized front-line workers everywhere, who sent dozens of messages daily to Smalls asking how they too could organize work stoppages to protest their workplace conditions. Smalls joined forces with workers rights groups like Amazonians United, Target Workers Unite, Whole Worker, and the Gig Workers Collective, among others.
The coalition organized the strike over the last several weeks on Zoom calls and encrypted messaging apps like Telegram and Signal. Civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson joined in on one Zoom call to briefly address the organizers, offering the full support of his Rainbow Push network. “I am with you in your struggle,” Jackson told the call’s participants.
The Intercept spoke to 20 organizers from more than half a dozen states, reflecting the widespread nature of the strike. From Whole Foods workers in Boston to Instacart gig workers in Silicon Valley to Amazon warehouse organizers in Kentucky and Michigan, their stories and demands varied but together illustrated a pattern of corporate neglect toward workers now regarded as essential — alongside doctors, nurses, and EMT workers — during the coronavirus outbreak that has forced much of the nation into home lockdown.
“All of these workers are coming together and building power,” said Vanessa Bain, an Instacart worker and co-founder of the Gig Workers Collective, which counts more than 17,000 members and advocates for gig workers’ rights. “May Day is not just a one-time symbolic action, but also about building real, vast, and broad sweeping networks of power.”
Companies Not Doing Enough
The company that has faced the most sustained criticism throughout the outbreak has been Amazon, whose CEO Jeff Bezos has personally become $24 billion richer during the pandemic.
Last week, Amazon announced that it was ending its temporary policy of unlimited, unpaid time off on April 30. In response, on early Sunday morning, more than 50 Amazon workers in Minnesota walked out of a company warehouse in suburban Minneapolis to protest the move and decry their working conditions.
In March, Amazon announced plans to hire 100,000 workers to meet surging demand and to cover for workers who had taken out the unpaid leave over fears of exposure to the virus at their workplace. This month, the company announced plans for an additional 75,000 hires. For its part, Instacart hired 300,000 new shoppers in March alone — more than its entire existing workforce to that point — and last week announced that it would hire an additional 250,000 workers to meet the historic demand.
The hiring binge by Amazon and Instacart exposed the winners and losers in the pandemic, as businesses not deemed essential by the state fight mass layoffs, said Brier.
Critics say the opportunities to “cash in” on the pandemic have not come without risks. Pressured by worker protests and elected officials, companies granted some concessions to workers. Amazon, Walmart, and Target increased hourly pay by $2. Amazon now provides personal protective equipment at its facilities and more actively cleans workspaces, while Target has mandated its workers to wear masks after weeks of reports that they were reprimanded for doing so.
The Intercept reached out to all six companies targeted in Friday’s strike. FedEx and Walmart did not offer comments. Instacart said the company remained “singularly focused on the health and safety of the Instacart community.” In a statement, Target said it had taken many measures to ensure the safety of its employees and customers. Of the May Day strike, the company said, “While we take them seriously, the concerns raised are from a very small minority. The vast majority of our more than 340,000 frontline team members have expressed pride in the role they are playing in helping provide for families across the country during this time of need.”
After publication of this story, a spokesperson for Whole Foods said the company had taken measures to enhance its cleaning operations and impose policies to minimize the spread of coronavirus among its workers. “Our focus right now is ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our Team Members, which remains our top priority, while continuing to serve our customers and communities,” said the spokesperson.
A Staten Island Amazon worker, who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from the company, has been on unpaid leave for more than a month. As someone with a number of underlying health conditions, the worker said contracting the virus would be “a death sentence.” They are surviving off meager savings and had to move into a friend’s home because they could no longer pay rent.
“They need to close down the warehouse and do a thorough, deep cleaning for it to be safe,” the worker told The Intercept. “If someone dies, they have blood on their hands.”
An Amazon worker in Detroit, who plans to call out sick on Friday, described a warehouse where, for weeks, there was no enforced social distancing and no gloves, masks, and hand sanitizer provided to workers, even as the city became a national coronavirus hot spot. Multiple colleagues confirmed the worker’s claims to The Intercept.
“You either come to work or take an unpaid leave of absence,” said the worker, who has a serious underlying health condition. “If I miss one paycheck, it would mean I lose my vehicle, I lose my place to live. I lose everything.”
A Whole Foods worker in Southern California spent weeks organizing colleagues to strike on May 1, as the number of coronavirus cases have increased at stores. The worker said that managers — even those sympathetic to their demands — are helpless against the Amazon subsidiary’s corporate office. The strike, like the sickout last month, is the only way that employees can get concessions from the company, said the worker: “Nothing happens unless they see their bottom line affected.”
Whole Worker, the group that advocates for Whole Foods workers rights, has compiled its own list of positive coronavirus cases at Whole Foods stores in a document shared with The Intercept. According to the group, there have been a total of 249 cases in at least 131 stores. (The Whole Foods spokesperson said, “Statements made by this group misrepresent the full extent of Whole Foods Market’s actions in response to this crisis and do not represent the collective voice of our more than 95,000 Team Members,” adding that the grocery giant was following guidance from authorities.)
Adam Ryan, a Target worker in southern Virginia and liaison with Target Workers Unite, said the May 1 strike is the first collective action by Target employees in the company’s nearly 60-year history.
Ryan said, “It’s up to us to fight for ourselves.”
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