Highlights:
The Trump Administration Designated Farm Laborers As Essential Workers, But Failed To Issue Guidelines For Protecting Workers’ Health And Safety While On Farms. According to Politico, “The Trump administration has deemed the millions of people who are cutting lettuce, picking cherries, packing peaches and otherwise getting food from farm to table to be ‘essential workers’ but is doing little to keep them healthy during the pandemic. The lack of federal action has left state and industry leaders scrambling to shield their farmworkers from the coronavirus. As harvest season ramps up, farmers across several major produce states have installed more hand-washing stations, instructed workers to keep their distance and provided face masks — but those efforts have been inconsistent and largely voluntary. Farmworkers have long lived in the shadows of the American economy, an itinerant community that includes low-income citizens, about 250,000 legal guest workers from Mexico and Central America and hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants who might travel from farm to farm with the changing harvest seasons. Now, labor advocates are warning that continuing to ignore this vulnerable population not only threatens lives but endangers the food supply. ‘We’re very concerned that the worst is yet to come,’ said Bruce Goldstein, president of Farmworker Justice, an advocacy group. ‘With the limited protections that are available, we’re afraid that there’s going to be a substantial increase in Covid-19 cases among farmworkers.” [Politico, 5/12/20]
The CDC Health-Safety Recommendations Pertaining To Essential Workers Went Unenforced By The Trump Administration And Inquiries About Supporting Farm Laborers Were Deferred To The Department Of Labor Where They Were Subsequently Dismissed. According to Politico, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued recommended guidelines that cover a range of critical employment sectors, including farm labor. But the Trump administration has not made the guidelines mandatory, as the Department of Labor is empowered to do on an emergency basis. And the CDC has not released recommendations specific to field workers like it did for meatpacking employees as that industry fell into chaos in recent weeks. Since March, advocates like the United Farm Workers have been urging federal agencies and states to make existing Covid-19 recommendations enforceable and to go further, ensuring benefits like paid sick leave, access to health care and a major revamp of housing standards that would allow for social distancing. The CDC referred inquiries about workplace requirements to the Labor Department, which said in a statement, ‘Because of the enforcement authorities already available to it and the fluid nature of this health crisis, OSHA does not believe that a new regulation, or standard, is appropriate at this time.’” [Politico, 5/12/20]
Farm Laborers Appeared To Be Some Of The Hardest Hit By The COVID-19 Pandemic. According to Politico, “Six months into the pandemic, according to a POLITICO analysis, these workers appear to be victims of the worst of the Covid-19 crisis. For several weeks, many of the places that grow the nation’s fruits and vegetables have seen disproportionately high rates of coronavirus cases — a national trend that, as harvest season advances in many states, threatens already vulnerable farmworkers, their communities and the places they work.” [Politico, 9/8/20]
Trump’s OSHA Closed The Vast Majority Of Complaints Related To COVID-19 In The Workplace. According to Politico, “The federal agency charged with workplace safety has done little to punish companies when their workers get sick or even die from the coronavirus, as major employers and President Donald Trump’s political appointees have pushed for a much more lenient approach to handling risks like Covid-19 on the job than previous administrations. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has received 10,485 complaints and referrals about Covid-19 risks at workplaces and closed 8,702 of them during the pandemic.” [Politico, 10/6/20]
In Cases When OSHA Did Act, The Agency Proposed Small Penalties. According to Politico, “The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has received 10,485 complaints and referrals about Covid-19 risks at workplaces and closed 8,702 of them during the pandemic. But in these cases -- some involving companies worth millions -- the agency hasn’t proposed a single penalty greater than $30,000 for coronavirus-related risks.” [Politico, 10/6/20]
An Advocate Said That OSHA’s Citation Against Meatpacking Companies That Saw At Least A Dozen Workers Die Of COVID-19 Was Merely A “Slap On The Wrist.” According to Politico, “Just last month, OSHA levied its first citations against the meatpacking industry for coronavirus workplace safety risks, fining two of the world’s largest meat companies, Smithfield and JBS Foods, roughly $29,000 combined after at least 12 workers died and almost 1,500 became infected at their plants. The fines sparked an uproar from worker advocacy groups, one of whom called the penalties a ‘slap on the wrist’ to the giant companies.” [Politico, 10/6/20]
Trump’s Labor Department Turned Away Calls To Strengthen Rules For Protecting Workers, Claiming It Would “Overwhelm OSHA.” According to The Hill, “The AFL-CIO and a coalition of labor unions had urged Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia in March to enact stronger rules for protecting workers and to require employers to report to the agency when their workers tested positive for the coronavirus. Scalia responded in a letter saying that his agency had issued strong guidelines to protect workers and that the labor groups’ proposal would unnecessarily ‘burden employers and overwhelm OSHA with information.’” [The Hill, 6/11/20]
Trump’s Labor Department Faced Criticism For Limiting Access To Unemployment Benefits And Making It Easier For Employers To Not Pay For Family Leave Benefits. According to the Washington Post, “The Labor Department is facing growing criticism over its response to the coronavirus pandemic as the agency plays a central role in ensuring that the tens of millions of workers affected by the crisis get assistance. The criticism ranges from direct actions that the agency has taken to limit the scope of worker assistance programs to concerns that it has not been aggressive enough about protecting workers from health risks or supporting states scrambling to deliver billions in new aid. In recent days, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, who has expressed concerns about unemployment insurance being too generous, has used his department’s authority over new laws enacted by Congress to limit who qualifies for joblessness assistance and to make it easier for small businesses not to pay family leave benefits. The new rules make it more difficult for gig workers such as Uber and Lyft drivers to get benefits, while making it easier for some companies to avoid paying their workers coronavirus-related sick and family leave.” [Washington Post, 4/10/20]