Low Wage Workers Fired for Injuries on the Job
Day after day, I converse with workers and hear about issues that affect their health and safety, which include injuries and accidents in the workplace. There have been several workers, especially immigrants, who have told me their personal stories. Today though, I am only going to focus on one of the issues that plague them.
The well-being of many immigrant workers is largely affected because they are expected to do the most dangerous jobs and are the most disadvantaged when claiming their rights. In most cases of course, fear is present. The fear of reprisals from employers or even fear of the government. There are several cases I have heard about in which workers are fired after a few days of being injured even though they have worked for the company for several years. Most of the accidents in the workplace are not being reported to OSHA and other government agencies. With injuries going unreported, companies proudly show zero accidents for a month in which they probably had several.
I have heard on several occasions about safety team workers or management that pressure workers not to report any information about workplace injuries. Read more
A ‘habitual offender’ unleashes nearly half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs
Originally published on Grist.org by Tom Philpott – 19 Aug 2010.
As a jaded observer of the livestock industry, I just sighed when I learned the scale of the current salmonella-tainted egg recall: 380 million eggs, distributed under 10 different brands in 17 different states, all from a single producer — Iowa-based Wright County Farms. Another day, another industrial-ag gaffe imperiling the health of millions.
USA Today reports that as many as 1,300 people have already been sickened by the tainted eggs. According to a recent GAO report, companies recover only about 36 percent of targeted products in a typical recall. That means that literally millions of people stand just an undercooked egg or an unwashed hand away from a nasty case of salmonella. Read more
Food Companies Put Profit First, People Last
The working class is being oppressed by employers that only want to grow wealth regardless of the sacrifices or conditions for their workers. The primary and only goal for this type of employer is to make more money. Few of these employers care to be fair to employees.
In a recent regional meeting, immigrant and refugee workers gathered again to address health and safety issues in meat processing plants. It was very clear from their discussions that plant owners, the people they work for, are more worried about an increase in profits than the workers’ lives. The high speed of work lines and the lack of attention to dangerous plant conditions are just two of several reasons why workers get hurt on the job. Plant managers continue to increase the speed of work lines while reducing the work force to produce more for less money – putting the workers at a higher risk of injury.
Often when workers are injured the companies just have them fired. As with other industries, there are too many health issues and injustices being ignored. Read more
NY Doctor Injects Steroids in Fetuses to “Cure” Homosexuality
Dr. Marie New of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City is experimenting with steroid injections in fetuses that will “make girls ‘more feminine’ and reduce odds they turn out gay,” according to an article in the Oregonian.
Back in mid-June, Time magazine wrote on article entitled, “A Prenatal Treatment Raises Questions of Medical Ethics,” which focused on Marie New and a controversy concerning “cures” for a condition they refer to as CAH, short for congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The condition has to do with the adrenal gland, but in many cases results in ambiguous genetalia in females. Apparently 1 in every 16,000 babies is born with this condition. In many cases doctors in the past have made executive decisions to do reconstructive surgery on babies – most often times resulting in a traditionally “female” baby.
According to research, the medical establishment has long recognized that gay and lesbian people are not inherently diseased. Obviously, Dr. New and her collaborators didn’t get that memo back in 1973. Read more
Birth Control is for Everyone
The government released a list of key preventative services Wednesday, which will be covered at no “out of pocket expense” when the new health care legislation takes effect. From counseling for kids who struggle with their weight, to cancer screenings for their parents, preventive health care will soon be available at no out-of-pocket cost under the new consumer rules.
Conspicuously absent is the promised list of women’s preventative services. That list won’t come out until August of 2011. And making sure that birth control is covered on this list is key for the health of all women.
“Avoiding unintended pregnancy is one of the most important medical issues for women,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood. Read more
FDA Risks Lives, Votes to Uphold Homophobic “Gay Blood Ban”
Let’s face it; there is a serious shortage of blood in this country and for that matter around the world. The Red Cross is in dire need of type O Negative blood and is estimating that it will face a critical shortage this summer if more donors are not found. In many donation centers around the United States, blood donations are down, even though springtime is usually the high time of donations. The consequences of this shortage are very serious, with people such as transplant patients not able to get the blood they need for serious operations. With lives on the line, ordinary citizens, medical experts and the US government have all been asking each other the same question, what can we do to increase the blood supply?
The solution comes in the laws created and maintained by the Food and Drug Administration. These draconian laws are out of date and flawed. One of the laws that has been getting a lot of attention lately is referred to as the “gay blood ban.” This regulation bans all men who have had sex with another man at any point since 1977 from donating blood. I found out about it last week, and I was so shocked and appalled that I thought it must be a joke. Read more
A Little Knowledge Yields A Lot Of Power
I never expected something so small that it could fit in a back pocket to make such a big difference. For many in this country, information is readily available via the Internet. But this is not the always case in rural Iowa, and when useful information comes along it is well-received.
Back in mid-January I was in D.C. for a meeting about better safety laws and regulations for workers in the food industry – like meat processing workers, migrant agricultural workers and restaurant workers. While there, my colleagues and I stopped by the offices of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). We met with representatives who heard our concerns about the health and safety hazards immigrant workers and workers of color face every day in the heartland. Read more
Reproductive Justice Free From Bigotry
This month we celebrated the 50th anniversary of an advancement that revolutionized the lives of women: the pill. At the same time, population control advocates have taken center stage with the recent passage of Arizona’s anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070.
Strangely enough, reproductive health and anti-immigrant advocates have historically found common ground on the issue of population control. Although the reproductive health movement has avoided modern racist and eugenics-related trappings that traditional population control advocates have not, it is worthwhile to examine where intersections lie so that we can identify bigoted agendas within progressive movements. Read more
Great Successes at the Latino Worker Health & Safety Summit
Last week we took workers to Houston, Texas for what could be a historical event, the National Action Summit for Latino Worker Health & Safety. The worker leaders who joined us on the trip have helped to build the Health Action Councils in Iowa and Missouri, which were created to address the most pressing issues Latino immigrants and other workers of color face in their workplace in regards to health and safety. Many of the workers attending the conference faced severe consequences. Since many of the workers do not receive fringe benefits or vacations pay, attending this event represented a massive sacrifice because many of them would not be paid for their 3 day absence. Some could risk losing their jobs but the ones who made the trip were lucky, compared to many workers who work in Americans heartland.
There are some who did not make to the summit and more still who didn’t even hear about it. These workers are living under harsh conditions that many of us could not even imagine. They are living under modern slavery, working for dollars a week. All too often we hear the same injustices that many immigrant, refugees and workers of color face in their workplace. Discrimination, wage theft, or outright abusive treatment from employers or supervisors is commonplace. Many employers do not seem to care about workers conditions, especially in areas such as construction, hotels, mines, oil refineries and meat processing plants. The list goes on and on.
Bottled Water Can Hurt You, Your Wallet and the Environment
This article was originally posted on AlterNet by Jeff Deasy.
From chemicals in plastic bottles to contaminants found in popular brands, it’s a wonder people consider bottled water a healthier option.
“Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backward.” -George Carlin
Millions of Americans have taken to drinking water from plastic bottles in the belief that it is safer than tap water, leading them to pay 1,000 times as much for their drinking water. But evidence from scientific studies shows that bottled water is no less contaminated than tap. Jane Houlihan, Senior Vice President for Research for the Environmental Working Group (EWG) recommends that people worried about water contaminants should drink tap water with a carbon filter. Read more
Haiti Also Needs Psychological First Aid
The earthquake in Haiti this past month is reportedly the region’s worst in over 200 years. In the immediate aftermath, Haiti’s President René Préval called the devastation “unimaginable” with the quake destroying the country’s infrastructure and claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. An early estimate by the Haitian government puts the death toll at 150,000. Sadly, the number of lives lost may never be known because many Haitians were forced to bury their own family members and some bodies may never be recovered from the rubble.
In disaster relief missions of this magnitude, the first response is to provide immediate relief to the region. This includes medical care, food, water, and shelter. It is important to note that those involved with this effort are doing a heroic job providing these absolute necessities. They help to create stability and safety while reducing the ultimate death toll. However, some in the mental health community are concerned that not enough will be done to take care of the emotional needs of the Haitian people. Many of whom are in acute distress and run the risk of long-term trauma-related illness if adequate crisis care is not provided. Read more
The President’s State of the Union: Missed Opportunities on the Push for Immigration and Health Care Reform
An insightful post from VivirLatino blogger Maegan la Mamita Mala. Worth reading to the last word.
After President Obama’s State of the Union address last night, I needed to get out of Casa Mala. I knew what was coming, the analysis, the discussion, and the disagreements about what needed to done and what tone to use in doing it. But I needed a drink, I need to sing and dance a little as an act of mourning because in all of these discussions, which I am now engaged in, there was little mention of actual people.
While I was preparing mentally for the State of the Union address, I saw on the Spanish language news about an immigrant mujer, Alexandra Nunez, who died from massive bleeding during an abortion in a clinic walking distance from Casa Mala. A single mother, like me, made a decision about her body and life within the limits placed on her because of law and who she is. Read more
Leaders Work to Counter Harsh Realities of Meat Packing
It is very difficult to have a good understanding of the hands that feed us every day and the harsh reality that workers undergo daily in the meat packing industry. These are some of the hardest jobs in the food industry and most dangerous in any industry. So it falls to the newest immigrants, refugees and people of color in general to fill these jobs and bear the burden of their risks.
I would like to share the reality of what is happening in rural Midwest communities. The suffering due to work-related injuries is increasing every day now, but many feel they have no other option. These are the highest-risk, lowest-paying jobs in the industry. Unfortunately, the employers know quite well the suffering of workers, but greed has overtaken where there should be humanity. Read more
Factory Farmed Meat Can Trigger a Global Pandemic
Kathy Freston AlterNet posted this article on the dangers of the factory-farmed meat industry. As we’ve discussed before on this blog, the low-wage workers at meat plants are often the most vulnerable to a health hazard and also the first line of defense for the general public.
The chicken and pork industries have wrought unprecedented changes in bird and swine flu. Billions could die in a deadly flu pandemic, the likes of which we have never seen.
I was intrigued (and disturbed) by a book I just read online — www.BirdFluBook.org — by Michael Greger, M.D. about the potential of a deadly flu pandemic, the likes of which we have never seen. Greger very clearly delineates how a virus begins, mutates, and becomes dangerous. As with so many problems we are seeing lately — environmental or health — factory farmed meat seems to be a big part of the cause. A graduate of the Cornell University School of Agriculture and the Tufts University School of Medicine, Michael Greger, M.D., serves as Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at The Humane Society of the United States. An internationally recognized lecturer, he has presented at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, testified before Congress, and was an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the infamous “meat defamation” trial. His recent scientific publications in American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Critical Reviews in Microbiology, and the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health explore the public health implications of industrialized animal agriculture. Read more
Fringe Groups Distort Debate Over Health Care
Journalists should use caution when reporting on immigrants and health care.
Anti-immigrant groups with controversial histories are crying fire when it comes to health care and immigrants in an attempt to use mainstream media sources to stir up mass panic.
Amid a rash of articles muddying the waters on whether immigrants will and should have access to health care, both documented and undocumented immigrants suffer an unfair battering. And the best interests of the American public are obscured.
A Washington Times article of November 30, 2009 relied exclusively on the shaky data of Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigrant group founded by John Tanton. In order to assert that “health bills fail to block illegals from coverage”, the article liberally quotes Center for Immigration Studies’ research director, Steven Camarota, and Iowa Representative Steve King. Read more
Real Health Reform Leaves No Human Behind
Rosa Parks was well respected in Montgomery’s segregated world of black and white. Nearly fifty-five years ago today she chose to represent those who faced the daily indignities of being treated as a second class citizen by refusing to give her bus seat up to a white passenger. To be clear, the struggle to secure full civil and human rights continues to exist today.
Discrimination continues to deny many equal access to employment, housing, education, and health care—opportunities no person should be unfairly denied. It is clear that what made a defiant Rosa Parks successful was a movement which had come to realize that no one, from the most powerful clergy to the lowliest sharecropper, could be left behind. Read more
Blog Highlight: The War on Soy
Tara Lohan of AlterNet published the following article, The War on Soy: Why the ‘Miracle Food’ May Be a Health Risk and Environmental Nightmare. Looks like soy is proving to be too much of a good thing.
Vegetarians aren’t the only ones who should be concerned; there’s soy in just about everything you eat these days — including hamburgers, mac ‘n cheese and salad dressing.
These days, you can get soy versions of just about any meat — from hot dogs to buffalo wings. If you’re lactose-intolerant you can still enjoy soy ice-cream and soy milk on your cereal. If you’re out for a hike and need a quick boost of energy, you can nibble on soy candy bars.
Read more
Anti-Immigrant Hysteria Could Block Black Access to Health Care
In an attempt to placate House Representatives associated with the extremist House Immigration Reform Caucus who are looking for a reason to oppose health care, Congress has put African Americans at risk. It is not the role of Congress to promote anti-immigrant bigotry and further disenfranchise African Americans. It is a false remedy with serious side effects and must be rejected.
Under [H.R. 3200]—America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009– millions of African Americans could potentially be denied Federal payments for affordability credits. H.R. 3200, SEC. 246 (No Federation Payment for Undocumented Aliens) reads:
Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for the affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States. Read more
Big Beef, Bad Burgers, FAIR Fellow
It’s not that we didn’t already know that the nation’s industrial food system is a toxic network of dangerous, low-paying jobs, often yielding dangerous products. But sometimes it helps to be jarringly reminded, as Michael Moss did yesterday in his New York Times story on e-coli in hamburger—a sober reminder that the enforcement of policies and laws to protect eaters from contaminated food is a sham and that, as always, bottom-line profitability rules over food quality and safety.
Like the big banks that are “too large to fail,” big beef—the four corporations that now control over 83% of all U.S. beef slaughter—seem to be relatively immune from government oversight and enforcement. On packinghouse floors low-wage immigrants and workers of color (now over 60% of the workforce) labor in difficult working conditions in some of the most dangerous jobs in the nation. Beef carcasses move by line workers at speeds that mock sanitation standards and invite contamination. The food factories that grind various “parts” into the stuff of hamburgers are notoriously lax in clean production oversight. In short, the burger you get at the store or restaurant may, indeed, be hazardous to your health.
What are the children drinking?
Nearly four decades after the clean water act was passed drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain lead, pesticides, arsenic, and other toxins.
Not surprisingly, schools that have their own wells are the ones with the most apparent contamination; however it’s a widespread issue affecting schools in all 50 states. It’s also affecting both private and public schools in cities and small towns alike.
But the problem has gone largely unmonitored by the federal government, even as the number of water safety violations has multiplied.
Marc Edwards, an engineer at Virginia Tech who has been honored for his work on water quality, calls it an outrage but also points out that there is no system to “make people follow the rules and keep school children safe”.
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