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Unsanitized: The COVID-19 Report for Nov. 19, 2020

Populist Moment Reappears Amid Tyson Gambling Scandal  

Plant managers bet on how many workers would contract the virus

 

Unionized meatpacking workers protest at a Occupational Safety and
Health Administration office in Denver. (David Zalubowski/AP Photo)

First Response

The past couple presidential transitions have featured some sort of
outrage against workers, which the president-elect must answer to. For
Barack Obama it was the sit-down strike at Republic Windows and Doors
, which went
bankrupt in December 2008. Obama endorsed the strike and the workers
reached a settlement with creditors for a $1.75 million compensation
fund. (Eventually they created a worker-owned cooperative
to
manufacture windows.) For Donald Trump it was a deal he made with
Carrier, which during the campaign was the subject of a viral video of
an executive telling plant workers in Indianapolis that their jobs would
be shipped to Mexico. Like so much else with Trump, the reality of that
deal was less than the boast about it
;
the plant shut down and workers lost their jobs.

Now Joe Biden has his chance at a populist, pro-worker statement during
his transition. The news broke yesterday

about a wrongful death lawsuit against Tyson Foods, one of the
nation's biggest meatpacking companies. Meat processing plants have
been some of the worst hotspots during the pandemic, as workers are in
close proximity in poorly-ventilated facilities. Outbreaks have raced
through these work sites; PPE is scarce and the safety measures like
plastic dividers (which don't go all the way to the top of the plant)
aren't very useful. While at one point, workers were allowed to take
time off without fear of losing their jobs, that has been suspended
,
essentially compelling a low-wage, mostly immigrant workforce to risk
their lives so Americans can have a pork chop for dinner.

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But the lawsuit takes things to a whole other level. Isidro Fernandez
caught the virus at the Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa, the company's
largest pork processing facility in the U.S., and died in April.
According to the wrongful death case

brought by Fernandez' family, Tyson ordered employees to work at the
plant in the early months of the pandemic, even if they showed symptoms
of COVID-19 (one manager called it the "glorified flu"), without
providing PPE or safety measures. Tyson also paid out $500 "thank you
bonuses" to those with perfect attendance records in the spring,
essentially pushing workers to continue to expose themselves.

Most of these points are familiar. But here's the bombshell:
supervisors "wagered money on the number of workers who would be
sickened by the deadly virus." It was a winner-take-all betting pool
put in place by Tom Hart, the plant manager. Tyson declined to comment
on the allegations, though it's said previously in court that it
"vigorously disputes" all of the lawsuit's claims.

What can you say? These plant managers were gambling on the lives of
their underpaid employees, and dangling money over their heads to get
them to take on more risk. Predictably, once the spread within the
facilities became undeniable, top managers stopped showing up on the
plant floor, out of fear of contracting the virus. You don't see
callousness and cowardice meet this cleanly.

We Can't Do This Without You

Anyway, the gambling story really got moving last night. Maybe it will
blow over, but it has all the hallmarks of a Republic Windows and Doors
or Carrier scenario, something that rises in the culture to the level
where a president-elect has to issue a statement. And it absolutely
should. Here are managers of a giant company, bigger than Republic
Windows and Doors or Carrier, betting on the souls of their workers.
It's absolutely ghoulish.

This could affect the cabinet position of Secretary of Agriculture as
well. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has been campaigning pretty heavily

for the job, and she's probably the only hope to get USDA fully out of
the clutches of the corporate Ag types who dominated the campaign. Their
top pick for Ag Secretary is former Senator Heidi Heitkamp. Both should
be asked about Tyson, and the one who decides to hedge because they want
to keep the company in their good graces should be immediately placed
out of the running.

Biden has tried to position himself on the side of the common man
"busting his neck" (his phrase) for not enough pay. What better
story to align with them then to stand with low-wage workers who were
literally seen as poker chips by their managers?

I've checked in with the Biden transition, and if I get a comment
I'll let you know.

Support Independent, Fact-Checked Journalism

Check It Out

I was on the Feet to the Fire podcast with Jim Lardner talking about my
book, Monopolized. Watch here
.

I was on Rising Up with Sonali Kolhatkar talking about how Joe Biden can
give everyone Medicare by executive action. (He won't, but if he wants
to be aggressive he can!) Watch here
.

I should mention our major initiatives right now. There's the Day One
Agenda , which we have two new
entries on right now: Harold Meyerson

on what a new National Labor Relations Board can do, and Marcia Brown

on how canceling student debt by executive action went from a fringe
theory to something even the Senate leadership wants to see happen. We
also have Cabinet Watch , with
original reporting on the possibilities for Biden's top advisors and
staff.

And we are over halfway to our goal in sending a reporter to Georgia for
the crucial Senate runoff elections. You can contribute (and get
exclusive access to our reporters and advance notice on articles) at our
ActBlue page .

Days Without a Bailout Oversight Chair

237
.

Click here to help send our reporter to Georgia to cover the runoff
elections for U.S. Senate!

Today I Learned

* Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear's new restrictions

are the most wide-ranging yet: closing all in-person K-12 schools, bars,
and restaurants. (Cincinnati Enquirer)

* New York City is shutting down in-person schooling

too. (New York Daily News)

* Seven governors beg the public to stay home on Thanksgiving
.
(Washington Post)

* Meanwhile, 87 year-old Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has COVID and he still
doesn't support a mask mandate
.
(Anchorage Daily News)

* Links seen between COVID and long-term mental health disorders
.
(Lancet)

* Another round of stories about overwhelmed hospitals
.
(Associated Press)

* The stonewalling of the transition is going to put us behind by weeks

on vaccine distribution, Biden says. (Talking Points Memo)

* COVID outbreak on a Coast Guard vessel stops drug interdiction
.
(NBC News)

* Here we go again with the toilet paper shortages
.
(Wall Street Journal)

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