McConnell has “insisted” that the next stimulus package will include legal immunity for businesses that open back up.
He told Politico, “The next pandemic coming will be the lawsuit pandemic in the wake of this one. So we need to prevent that now when we have the opportunity to do it.” It’s important to understand what McConnell is proposing here: He’s saying that he will withhold aid money to state and local governments fighting the Covid-19 pandemic if the package does not include legal giveaways to protect businesses from the justice system.
The Senate leader wants to block businesses from being sued for putting people at risk of Covid-19—thus ensuring people are put at risk.
www.thenation.com
--------------------------------
soon workers will have no rights if the republicans stay in power.
It's not the justice system that's being trampled here. It's workplace safety regulations and requirements.
Under current government legislation, employers have a legal obligation to ensure a safe working environment for their employees, and to ensure that workplaces don't contribute to the illness and injury of workers. If I don't follow these laws and my workers start getting sick or injured, I can sue them for my injuries. Additionally, the government can charge them for failing to meet workplace safety standards, and they would face hefty fines.
McConnell and Trump want to remove the workers' right to sue. The red states are saying if you're called back to work and you refuse to go, you'll lose your unemployment insurance. So if I work for a meat packing plant, which the President has ordered to remain open, and the plant refuses to follow the CDC recommendations for safe work spaces, I must go back to work or starve, and if I get sick because my employer decides he can't be bothered to spend the money or slow the line down to conform to standards, I'm shit outta luck.
We're already seeing that happening in the meat packing business. The plastic shields around workers, the PPE's, and slowing the line isn't happening and workers continue to get sick. The government is making it clear that keeping the meat processing plants open is more important than the lives of the workers. What can workers do to protect themselves if they lose the right to sue? Do you actually expect Trump to protect the workers - most of whom are immigrants, and many of whom are illegals?