Friend,

It’s hard to imagine what’s going on inside the halls of OSHA and the Department of Labor -- but one thing is clear:

Longtime corporate lawyer turned Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia has failed to protect both essential workers and the tens of millions who are newly unemployed due to the pandemic.

Tell Scalia: It’s Labor Day. Do your job. Protect workers.

After the $600/week enhanced unemployment benefits ended in July, Secretary Scalia told Fox News that the policy wasn’t based on “careful science.”

Under his leadership, OSHA has issued just four citations out of more than 7,000 COVID-19 related complaints.

Some employees filing these complaints say they’re risking their lives and are expected to work shoulder to shoulder, often without adequate protective equipment. A group of workers in Pennsylvania says half the staff at a Maid-Rite meatpacking plant are out sick -- rather than addressing the problem, the company hires new workers who are then also exposed, continuing a deadly cycle.

OSHA’s response has been to drastically cut back on inspections and issue suggestions that companies can simply choose not to follow.

But if OSHA is no longer protecting workers...who is?

While more than 29 million Americans are out of work, essential workers are left on their own to figure out how to stay safe while keeping food in our grocery stores and running our nursing homes and hospitals.

Secretary Scalia took an oath to uphold the Constitution with a pledge to protect American workers, so he should be doing everything he can to stop the spread of this disease and get people back to work safely.

Add your name to tell Scalia: do the right thing and protect workers. NOW.

-- Allied Progress