Thread by @UFWupdates

Why is Mitch McConnell refusing to agree to aid without shields for corporations? Let’s reflect on why corporations don’t want to be liable.

Last summer a massive outbreak swept through a Foster Farms plant. Hundreds got sick. At least 9 died. (1/thread)
latimes.com/politics/story…

Workers found out about this outbreak from the media. After suggesting —then ordering— the company to make changes that were ignored, Merced County finally ordered the plant shut down.

Foster Farms directed the workers to come work their shifts anyway.
latimes.com/california/sto…

How could this happen? How can a county ordered shutdown be defied while a deadly, massive outbreak grows?

Foster Farms was supported by the federal government, so maybe they felt safe refusing to comply. For 2 more days the spread continued.
latimes.com/california/sto…

Now, December 2020, it appears at least 3 Foster Farms facilities have major outbreaks. At one plant, 20% of the workers were infected.

Labor advocates say the company hasn’t provided crucial information to either workers or authorized representatives.
latimes.com/business/story…

In Livingston, the site of the tragic outbreak that killed at least 9, around 4000 workers are still reporting to work.

The UFW has explicitly, repeatedly asked for specific information on numbers, positive test dates, and other data as required by law. kqed.org/news/11850332/…

We aren’t the only ones struggling to gain insight into the outbreaks. When a @KQED reporter pressed repeatedly for answers, Foster Farms’ VP of Communications replied with 3 words that are still ringing in our ears.

“Continue to ignore.”

https://twitter.com/chalexhall/status/1336820511163052032

Foster Farms volunteered no information on the outbreak to us, and workers report no information being shared. In Fresno they put up an English poster. Many speak only Spanish or Punjabi.

Workers are being asked to work overtime to keep production going. bakersfield.com/ap/national/ne…

In a defensive response to our increasingly urgent questions, Foster Farms shared partial, insufficient replies.

(Comparing “positivity test rate” of a mandatory, full-worksite tests to positivity rates of only those self reporting for testing or medical care is disingenuous.)

Workers and advocates are scrambling to glean information. Our desperate quest for answers raises terrible questions. How many workers are actually sick? How are their lives being protected?

Why do corporations deserve protections, if human lives don’t?
latimes.com/politics/story…

An Iowa Tyson plant manager organized a cash betting pool on how many workers would get sick. A lawsuit was filed by the family of a man who died in the outbreak that saw a third of the plant’s workers infected.

Is this what @senatemajldr wants to protect?iowacapitaldispatch.com/2020/11/18/law…

We agree, @RepKatiePorter — liability shields enable "the worst of the worst examples of disregard for human life.”

We need help. Hospitals and small businesses need help. Why is @senatemajldr holding us all hostage, with the ransom paid to corporations? businessinsider.com/covid-19-stimu…

It’s absolutely infuriating that these questions— asked by a woman widowed by the Foster Farms outbreak— are still going unanswered.

How many will die?
Who will answer for it?
How is their work essential, if their lives weren’t worth protecting?

In late June, Merced County health officials told Foster Farms to take specific steps to contain that growing outbreak. Those recommendations were ignored while more workers got sick, then while people died. The outbreak raged through July into August.

Don’t protect this.