WHEN EMPLOYERS ARE SHIELDED FROM ACCOUNTABILITY WORKERS PAY THE PRICE

ACTION ONE: CALL YOUR SENATORS

SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR WYDEN AND MERKLEY:

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
Congress should be working to protect workers from COVID-19, not protecting employers from the legal obligation to provide safe workplaces. I am asking the Senator to demand that the Senate version of the Heroes Act include protections for workers and uphold legal accountability for businesses.  I am also asking him to actively support the Every Worker Protection Act. Thank you.

ACTION TWO: CALL YOUR HOUSE REPS

Not sure who your U.S. Representative is? Find out here. 

SAMPLE SCRIPTS FOR REPRESENTATIVES:

My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code]. I am calling because…
For Blumenauer, Bonamici and DeFazio:
Congress should be working to protect workers from COVID-19, not protecting employers from the legal obligation to provide safe workplaces.  I want to thank the Representative for voting for the Heroes Act. I appreciate that the House version did not give companies immunity from legal accountability. And I am asking him/her to actively support the Every Worker Protection Act and to continue to demand protections for workers and uphold legal accountability for businesses.  Thank you.
For Schrader and Walden:
Congress should be working to protect workers from COVID-19, not protecting employers from the legal obligation to provide safe workplaces. I am disappointed that the Representative voted against the Heroes Act. I am asking that he begin to put the health and safety of his constituents ahead of the demands of corporations and their lobbyists. He must support the Every Worker Protection Act and insist that all economic relief packages include protections for workers and uphold legal accountability for businesses.

ACTION THREE:  HELP REGISTER VOTERS FROM HOME

Sign up for a virtual letter writing event.
Stay tuned: lots more events coming soon!

BACKGROUND:

Despite many examples of employers failing to provide adequate workplace safety protocols during the pandemic, Republicans are not advocating for improved worker protection. Instead, they are pushing to lessen legal accountability for companies.
McConnell has declared that the Heroes Act just passed by the House will not pass the Senate unless it includes immunity from lawsuits for companies whose workers fall ill or die from COVID-19.
Shielding companies from legal liability has long been a goal of the GOP, and they are using the cover of the pandemic to push their agenda.  
Companies are lobbying both for legal immunity and against enforceable emergency safety standards. The GOP claims that OSHA, which has been gutted by this administration, provides sufficient protection for workers.
During the H1N1 outbreak OSHA established emergency standards.  Now under Trump it has not. Instead, along with the CDC, it has issued only voluntary guidelines.  OSHA is not even requiring businesses to report the number of workers stricken with COVID-19.  CDC’s new guidelines state that essential workers who have been exposed but are still asymptomatic can be forced to work.

SOURCES: