truthout--2020-04-25--Despite COVID-19, Trump Keeps on Gutting Protections for Workers

Last year , the Trump administration finalized the rollback of a 2016 rule requiring employers to electronically file detailed logs of injuries and illness in the workplace with federal safety regulators .
Employers were already supposed to keep the logs on hand , and the rule was designed to help safety inspectors , unions and employers identify workplace hazards across industries and individual companies — including hazards that contribute to the spread of diseases like COVID-19 .
However , the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed the transparency requirement , and President Trump added the rule to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has loosened or tossed out since taking office .
Now , the Trump administration is reportedly poised to further gut federal rules for businesses as lobbyists for wealthy employers push back against calls for paid sick leave and enhanced workplace protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic .
Advocates says enforcement of labor standards has plummeted under Trump , and previous deregulatory moves have already put essential and front line workers in danger of taking unnecessary risks and falling ill. “ Without universal health insurance , without universal sick leave , with a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal safety agency taking action … we ’ re all at greater risk for the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases , ” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb , co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health ( National COSH ) , during a virtual press conference on Thursday .
“ Worker health is public health .
The coronavirus and other hazards don ’ t stay put in any one workplace.
” The Occupational Safety and Health Administration ( OSHA ) , the federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace safety standards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and illness reporting rule under President Obama before suspending and gutting the rule under Trump .
An ongoing lawsuit filed by public health groups claims the agency jammed the rollback through the regulatory process without clear supporting evidence .
Meanwhile , labor advocates say OSHA has sat on the sidelines despite the escalating threat COVID-19 poses to front line workers nationwide .
Instead of implementing temporary , emergency standards and investigating a massive backlog of complaints from workers , OSHA has issued a series of “ alerts ” and voluntary “ guidance ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the Labor Department has so far refused to issue emergency safety standards for nurses and health care workers , despite petitions from unions and public health groups .
Goldstein-Gelb pointed to slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants linked to hundreds of COVID-19 cases and several deaths that have yet to be seriously penalized by the government .
Last week OSHA cut employers some slack and announced that inspectors will take their “ good faith ” efforts to comply with health and safety standards into “ strong consideration ” when deciding whether to issue a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employer may fail to protect workers from the coronavirus , but an honest attempt may be enough to avoid a fine .
Eugene Scalia , Trump ’ s labor secretary , previously defended corporate bosses in court and is facing blowback over apparent attempts to trim paid sick leave and unemployment rolls .
A spokeswoman for OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
“ It is absolutely a disaster that , at the federal level , OHSA has taken a big back seat in protecting workings in this crisis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have every tool possible to be able to initiate an emergency standard , to take action in terms of investigations and enforcement using both existing tools and new tools , and have failed to do so.
” OSHA enforcement actions and workplace inspections continue to fall under Trump despite an uptick in deaths on the job , according to a new report from National COSH .
In 2018 , 5,520 U.S. workers died from workplace trauma , a nearly 9 percent increase since 2014 .
The number of OSHA workplace inspections fell by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Fatality rates are rising even faster among workers of color , who are more likely to work under dangerous conditions .
From 2014 to 2018 , the number of deaths among Latinx and Black workers increased by nearly 20 and 30 percent respectively .
Today , OSHA has just 875 inspectors covering about 9 million workplaces .
“ Tragically , the higher rates of illness and death from COVID-19 we are seeing in Latinx and African American communities track the higher rates of workplace injuries and fatalities we see in the same @ @ @ @ @ @ @ National COSH co-director Jessica Martinez .
Trump ’ s deregulatory blitz began shortly after he took office with an executive order that requires federal agencies to eliminate two rules for every new rule they implement , making it difficult for regulators to adapt to new challenges posed by the outbreak .
By the time the pandemic hit , Trump had already blocked the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule , which would have helped ensure that federal contracts only go to employers who follow basic labor and employment laws , according to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration says further deregulation is necessary to blunt the outbreaks damage to the economy and hopes to grant liability waivers that would clear businesses of legal responsibility if their employees get sick or die from COVID-19 .
Meanwhile , business groups successfully lobbied the White House to exempt large employers from paid sick leave requirements in Congress ’ s initial COVID-19 stimulus package .
With a friend in the White House , powerful industry groups have pushed back against state and local attempts to establish paid sick leave requirements and raise the minimum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ between showing up sick and losing much-needed income .
Horacio Ruiz , a server at the Capital Grille in Pittsburgh , told reporters on Thursday that he ’ s seen co-workers and even managers come into work when they are sick and should be at home .
Ruiz worked with Restaurant Opportunity Centers ( ROC ) United to pass a paid sick leave law in Pittsburgh five years ago , but a legal challenge filed by an affiliate of the powerful National Restaurant Association held the law up in court .
“ Our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ law five years ago , but the state affiliate of the National Restaurant Association fought us in court , so it didn ’ t go into effect until March of this year , ” Ruiz said .
“ If the restaurant owners didn ’ t fight us for so long , workers in Pittsburgh would have had more paid sick leave credit when this pandemic began.
” As the pandemic continues , Goldstein-Gelb said her organization receives “ frequent ” reports from workers who face retaliation for refusing to work in unsafe conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immune system or a sick loved one .
Teófilo L. Reyes , the deputy research director at ROC United , said some employers are doing the right thing despite the deregulatory atmosphere created by Trump .
For example , the corporation behind restaurant chains such as Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse agreed to provide accrued paid sick leave to hourly employees after facing public pressure .
However , other large employers are enjoying the federal exemption , and Reyes said that makes any workplace that remains open more dangerous .
“ If someone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ keep quiet about it as long as possible , because they are not allowed to take time off to take care of themselves , ” Reyes said in an interview .
Meanwhile , back in Pittsburgh , Ruiz said he and other restaurant employees have already spent their federal stimulus checks and what sick pay they had on rent and groceries .
Restaurants in the city remain closed due to the outbreak .
“ I do not know what will happen to us if this pandemic continues for a longer period of time @ @ @ @ @

Last year, the Trump administration finalized the rollback of a 2016 rule requiring employers to electronically file detailed logs of injuries and illness in the workplace with federal safety regulators. Employers were already supposed to keep the logs on hand, and the rule was designed to help safety inspectors, unions and employers identify workplace hazards across industries and individual companies — including hazards that contribute to the spread of diseases like COVID-19.
However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business interests opposed the transparency requirement, and President Trump added the rule to the long list of federal regulations he has loosened or tossed out since taking office. Now, the Trump administration is reportedly poised to further gut federal rules for businesses as lobbyists for wealthy employers push back against calls for paid sick leave and enhanced workplace protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates say enforcement of labor standards has plummeted under Trump, and previous deregulatory moves have already put essential and front line workers in danger of taking unnecessary risks and falling ill.
“Without universal health insurance, without universal sick leave, with a growing gig economy, and without our federal safety agency taking action … we’re all at greater risk for the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH), during a virtual press conference on Thursday. “Worker health is public health. The coronavirus and other hazards don’t stay put in any one workplace.”
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency tasked with enforcing workplace safety standards and protecting workers, established the injury and illness reporting rule under President Obama before suspending and gutting the rule under Trump. An ongoing lawsuit filed by public health groups claims the agency jammed the rollback through the regulatory process without clear supporting evidence. Meanwhile, labor advocates say OSHA has sat on the sidelines despite the escalating threat COVID-19 poses to front line workers nationwide. Instead of implementing temporary, emergency standards and investigating a massive backlog of complaints from workers, OSHA has issued a series of “alerts” and voluntary “guidance” for employers.
For example, OSHA and the Labor Department has so far refused to issue emergency safety standards for nurses and health care workers, despite petitions from unions and public health groups. Goldstein-Gelb pointed to slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants linked to hundreds of COVID-19 cases and several deaths that have yet to be seriously penalized by the government. Last week OSHA cut employers some slack and announced that inspectors will take their “good faith” efforts to comply with health and safety standards into “strong consideration” when deciding whether to issue a citation during the COVID-19 outbreak. An employer may fail to protect workers from the coronavirus, but an honest attempt may be enough to avoid a fine. Eugene Scalia, Trump’s labor secretary, previously defended corporate bosses in court and is facing blowback over apparent attempts to trim paid sick leave and unemployment rolls. A spokeswoman for OSHA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It is absolutely a disaster that, at the federal level, OHSA has taken a big back seat in protecting workings in this crisis,” Goldstein-Gelb said. “They have every tool possible to be able to initiate an emergency standard, to take action in terms of investigations and enforcement using both existing tools and new tools, and have failed to do so.”
OSHA enforcement actions and workplace inspections continue to fall under Trump despite an uptick in deaths on the job, according to a new report from National COSH. In 2018, 5,520 U.S. workers died from workplace trauma, a nearly 9 percent increase since 2014. The number of OSHA workplace inspections fell by 10.5 percent over the same time period. Fatality rates are rising even faster among workers of color, who are more likely to work under dangerous conditions. From 2014 to 2018, the number of deaths among Latinx and Black workers increased by nearly 20 and 30 percent respectively. Today, OSHA has just 875 inspectors covering about 9 million workplaces.
“Tragically, the higher rates of illness and death from COVID-19 we are seeing in Latinx and African American communities track the higher rates of workplace injuries and fatalities we see in the same populations in the workplace,” said National COSH co-director Jessica Martinez.
Trump’s deregulatory blitz began shortly after he took office with an executive order that requires federal agencies to eliminate two rules for every new rule they implement, making it difficult for regulators to adapt to new challenges posed by the outbreak. By the time the pandemic hit, Trump had already blocked the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces rule, which would have helped ensure that federal contracts only go to employers who follow basic labor and employment laws, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Now, the administration says further deregulation is necessary to blunt the outbreak’s damage to the economy and hopes to grant liability waivers that would clear businesses of legal responsibility if their employees get sick or die from COVID-19. Meanwhile, business groups successfully lobbied the White House to exempt large employers from paid sick leave requirements in Congress’s initial COVID-19 stimulus package.
With a friend in the White House, powerful industry groups have pushed back against state and local attempts to establish paid sick leave requirements and raise the minimum wage, forcing low-paid workers to choose between showing up sick and losing much-needed income. Horacio Ruiz, a server at the Capital Grille in Pittsburgh, told reporters on Thursday that he’s seen co-workers and even managers come into work when they are sick and should be at home. Ruiz worked with Restaurant Opportunity Centers (ROC) United to pass a paid sick leave law in Pittsburgh five years ago, but a legal challenge filed by an affiliate of the powerful National Restaurant Association held the law up in court.
“Our city council passed a paid sick leave law five years ago, but the state affiliate of the National Restaurant Association fought us in court, so it didn’t go into effect until March of this year,” Ruiz said. “If the restaurant owners didn’t fight us for so long, workers in Pittsburgh would have had more paid sick leave credit when this pandemic began.”
As the pandemic continues, Goldstein-Gelb said her organization receives “frequent” reports from workers who face retaliation for refusing to work in unsafe conditions or stay home due to a weakened immune system or a sick loved one. Teófilo L. Reyes, the deputy research director at ROC United, said some employers are doing the right thing despite the deregulatory atmosphere created by Trump. For example, the corporation behind restaurant chains such as Olive Garden and Longhorn Steakhouse agreed to provide accrued paid sick leave to hourly employees after facing public pressure. However, other large employers are enjoying the federal exemption, and Reyes said that makes any workplace that remains open more dangerous.
“If someone is sick, their incentive is to keep quiet about it as long as possible, because they are not allowed to take time off to take care of themselves,” Reyes said in an interview.
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Ruiz said he and other restaurant employees have already spent their federal stimulus checks and what sick pay they had on rent and groceries. Restaurants in the city remain closed due to the outbreak.
“I do not know what will happen to us if this pandemic continues for a longer period of time,” Ruiz said.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-25--Facing Near Total Loss of Customers During Pandemic, Street Vendors Need Relief

Every weekend at 6 am , Elvira Sucasaca , along with her family , sets up their renowned Peruvian tamales street cart along the bustling Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights , Queens , New York , as they prepare for the breakfast rush .
Usually , like clockwork , a hungry drove of loyal regulars , craving savory tamales and sweet picarones — deep-fried donuts made of sweet potatoes and squash — forms around the cart with the thunderous roar of the elevated train passing overhead .
The cart is so popular , people often order on the phone and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of their car .
Yet , since the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis , the once-lively streets of Jackson Heights have become akin to a ghost town .
In fact , the community , once famed for its diversity , has become more well-known as the epicenter of the epicenter .
This has particularly hurt Sucasaca , who like many street vendors , is finding earning a living to be precarious at best .
“ If you look at this block , it used to be full with other vendors , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no longer come out because they are scared of getting sick and it ’ s hard to make money .
We are the only ones out now , but we don ’ t know for how long.
” Street vendors , like Sucasaca , are one of a handful of workers in the informal economy who are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of the national shutdown .
Many vendors are undocumented and dependent on cash payments , thus making them ineligible for federal programs like the Paycheck Protection Program , which will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loans to small businesses under the Coronavirus Aid , Relief , and Economic Security ( CARES ) Act .
Georgina , an undocumented immigrant from Pueblo , Mexico , who declined to give her last name , has been selling her traditional pottery goods on the streets of Queens for 24 years .
Without the supplementary income from vending , she will find it difficult to support her five kids .
“ If I didn ’ t have to come out in the street and sell I wouldn ’ t , ” Georgina @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help , what else could I do ?
” Many street vendors won ’ t be eligible to receive the CARES Act ’ s one-time $ 1,200 payments .
Without adequate help , they will be forced to continue to work , putting themselves and the public at risk of falling ill with COVID-19 .
“ There are very few if any financial resources for street vendors , so we are seeing that street vendors are essentially being left out of city policy and emergency funding , ” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez , deputy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which provides legal help and advocates on behalf of street vendors in New York City .
“ Vendors are reporting sales drops of up to 80 percent , which is completely understandable because no one is out on the streets , but at the same time , that ’ s what vendors rely on for business , ” Kaufman-Gutierrez said .
“ If there is no safety net for them to fall back on , they have to continue to vend.
” With the gap in resources for street vendors , the Street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide emergency relief for all workers in the informal economy .
Kaufman-Gutierrez says the demands are modest compared to the bailout many corporations received .
“ We are not asking for much other than ensuring that workers who are employed by food truck or cart owners , including undocumented workers , are eligible for any forthcoming relief funds , ” Kaufman-Gutierrez said .
“ Help will look like granting opportunity for low-income sole proprietors of street vending businesses .
Help will also look like waiving outstanding tickets that street vendors have been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , New York City Council Members Margaret Chin and Carlos Menchaca openly called for increased protections ahead of the COVID-19 crisis .
“ Instead of spending time on squeezing money out of immigrant workers who are suffering from record losses and are increasingly worried about how they ’ ll put food on the table , our city needs to create a comprehensive relief package that is inclusive of all types of businesses and workers , and that includes street vendors , ” Chin recently told Eater .
Yet , despite the support , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ There are a lot of calls for action from council members and senators who are strong supporters of street vendors , but we are not seeing anything from the mayor or the governor that really targets informal workers , gig workers and folks who are undocumented.
” In Los Angeles , the situation is even more dire .
Unlike New York , in which street vending is legal and still permitted despite the shutdown , in March , the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance effectively banning street vending within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ take preventative measures seriously and help flatten the curve on the spread of this virus , ” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez .
“ Large public gatherings at restaurants and food establishments present a public health risk .
It is in the public ’ s best interest to eliminate the congregation of people in all public spaces .
Street vendors are no exception.
” The ban comes as a sharp reversal , as the city in January finally legalized street vending after over a 10-year campaign by local grassroots activists to overturn the nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coalition of social justice organizations formed the Legalize Street Vending Coalition to help draft legislation that would lift the estimated 50,000 street vendors in Los Angeles out of the shadow economy .
With the renewed ban , the city should be responsible for providing resources for vendors , says Lyric Kelkar , senior associate of the nonprofit community development organization Inclusive Action for the City .
“ One thing we know is that many vendors are undocumented and are not going to have access to resources in the federal stimulus , so the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ systems that ensure that these folks are getting the resources that they need , ” Kelkar told Truthout .
As a temporary solution , Inclusive Action for the City has partnered with the East L.A Community Corporation and pro bono law firm Public Counsel to put together the Street Vendor Emergency Fund .
According to Kelkar , they have already raised over $ 20,000 in individual donations , and the United Way Pandemic Relief Fund has donated an additional $ 50,000 .
Although they plan on distributing $ 400 debit cards to street @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without the city ’ s help , the funds her organization can provide will only be a temporary bandage .
“ The hard part is that even if we get $ 200,000 , that might only help about 500 vendors of the estimated 50,000 .
So it ’ s a drop in the bucket , ” Kelkar said .
“ We are trying to advocate for the city to develop similar funds for street vendors as well as undocumented folks outside of street vending.
” The idea of creating an excluded workers fund @ @ @ @ @ @ @ D.C .
Many Languages One Voice , an immigrant-led organization based in D.C. , has also been handing out over $ 10,000 worth of debit cards and direct cash payments to street vendors in their network .
“ Obviously , for people who are not covered under the federal stimulus package , we are pushing for the creation of an excluded workers fund so that undocumented workers can get relief right now , ” said Megan Macreag , interim executive director of Many Languages One Voice .
“ There is a whole group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ informal economy that are going to fall through the cracks.
” Still , according to Macreag , at least 40 percent of vendor families they work with are undocumented and thus , not eligible for any federal relief .
In early April , DC Jobs with Justice , a Washington , D.C.-based labor coalition , chastised the D.C Council in a blog post for not doing enough to help workers who are not eligible for federal help : “ We are very disappointed that D.C. leaders have made no commitments to provide cash @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for unemployment benefits .
As a result , the workers who built our restaurant , hospitality , construction , home care , and other industries are left with no government resources to turn to.
” To Macreag , street vendors are front-line heroes who should be given a hero ’ s honor .
“ At least half of the vendors we work with have stopped vending .
Rather than be a vector , they turned into a container for the disease , ” Macreag said .
“ These incredibly humble people voluntarily gave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID .
If that ’ s not altruism , I don ’ t know what is .
”

Part of the Series Despair and Disparity: The Uneven Burdens of COVID-19
Every weekend at 6 am, Elvira Sucasaca, along with her family, sets up their renowned Peruvian tamales street cart along the bustling Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, as they prepare for the breakfast rush. Usually, like clockwork, a hungry drove of loyal regulars, craving savory tamales and sweet picarones — deep-fried donuts made of sweet potatoes and squash — forms around the cart with the thunderous roar of the elevated train passing overhead. The cart is so popular, people often order on the phone and pick up their food from the comfort of their car. Yet, since the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis, the once-lively streets of Jackson Heights have become akin to a ghost town. In fact, the community, once famed for its diversity, has become more well-known as the epicenter of the epicenter. This has particularly hurt Sucasaca, who like many street vendors, is finding earning a living to be precarious at best.
“If you look at this block, it used to be full with other vendors,” said Sucasaca. “Lately though, many no longer come out because they are scared of getting sick and it’s hard to make money. We are the only ones out now, but we don’t know for how long.”
Street vendors, like Sucasaca, are one of a handful of workers in the informal economy who are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of the national shutdown. Many vendors are undocumented and dependent on cash payments, thus making them ineligible for federal programs like the Paycheck Protection Program, which will allocate nearly $350 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
Georgina, an undocumented immigrant from Pueblo, Mexico, who declined to give her last name, has been selling her traditional pottery goods on the streets of Queens for 24 years. Without the supplementary income from vending, she will find it difficult to support her five kids. “If I didn’t have to come out in the street and sell I wouldn’t,” Georgina told Truthout. “But without any help, what else could I do?”
Many street vendors won’t be eligible to receive the CARES Act’s one-time $1,200 payments. Without adequate help, they will be forced to continue to work, putting themselves and the public at risk of falling ill with COVID-19.
“There are very few if any financial resources for street vendors, so we are seeing that street vendors are essentially being left out of city policy and emergency funding,” said Carina Kaufman-Gutierrez, deputy director of the Street Vendor Project, which provides legal help and advocates on behalf of street vendors in New York City. “Vendors are reporting sales drops of up to 80 percent, which is completely understandable because no one is out on the streets, but at the same time, that’s what vendors rely on for business,” Kaufman-Gutierrez said. “If there is no safety net for them to fall back on, they have to continue to vend.”
Vendors are reporting sales drops of up to 80 percent.
With the gap in resources for street vendors, the Street Vendor Project is calling for New York to provide emergency relief for all workers in the informal economy. Kaufman-Gutierrez says the demands are modest compared to the bailout many corporations received. “We are not asking for much other than ensuring that workers who are employed by food truck or cart owners, including undocumented workers, are eligible for any forthcoming relief funds,” Kaufman-Gutierrez said. “Help will look like granting opportunity for low-income sole proprietors of street vending businesses. Help will also look like waiving outstanding tickets that street vendors have been issued in 2020.”
In late March, New York City Council Members Margaret Chin and Carlos Menchaca openly called for increased protections ahead of the COVID-19 crisis. “Instead of spending time on squeezing money out of immigrant workers who are suffering from record losses and are increasingly worried about how they’ll put food on the table, our city needs to create a comprehensive relief package that is inclusive of all types of businesses and workers, and that includes street vendors,” Chin recently told Eater.
Yet, despite the support, Kaufman-Gutierrez feels it is far from enough. “There are a lot of calls for action from council members and senators who are strong supporters of street vendors, but we are not seeing anything from the mayor or the governor that really targets informal workers, gig workers and folks who are undocumented.”
In Los Angeles, the situation is even more dire. Unlike New York, in which street vending is legal and still permitted despite the shutdown, in March, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance effectively banning street vending within the city limits. “We must take preventative measures seriously and help flatten the curve on the spread of this virus,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez. “Large public gatherings at restaurants and food establishments present a public health risk. It is in the public’s best interest to eliminate the congregation of people in all public spaces. Street vendors are no exception.”
“There is a whole group of excluded workers who work in the informal economy that are going to fall through the cracks.”
The ban comes as a sharp reversal, as the city in January finally legalized street vending after over a 10-year campaign by local grassroots activists to overturn the nearly 100-year ban. In 2008, a coalition of social justice organizations formed the Legalize Street Vending Coalition to help draft legislation that would lift the estimated 50,000 street vendors in Los Angeles out of the shadow economy. With the renewed ban, the city should be responsible for providing resources for vendors, says Lyric Kelkar, senior associate of the nonprofit community development organization Inclusive Action for the City. “One thing we know is that many vendors are undocumented and are not going to have access to resources in the federal stimulus, so the city of L.A needs to be developing systems that ensure that these folks are getting the resources that they need,” Kelkar told Truthout.
As a temporary solution, Inclusive Action for the City has partnered with the East L.A Community Corporation and pro bono law firm Public Counsel to put together the Street Vendor Emergency Fund. According to Kelkar, they have already raised over $20,000 in individual donations, and the United Way Pandemic Relief Fund has donated an additional $50,000. Although they plan on distributing $400 debit cards to street vendors across the city, Kelkar believes without the city’s help, the funds her organization can provide will only be a temporary bandage. “The hard part is that even if we get $200,000, that might only help about 500 vendors of the estimated 50,000. So it’s a drop in the bucket,” Kelkar said. “We are trying to advocate for the city to develop similar funds for street vendors as well as undocumented folks outside of street vending.”
The idea of creating an excluded workers fund is also catching on in Washington, D.C. Many Languages One Voice, an immigrant-led organization based in D.C., has also been handing out over $10,000 worth of debit cards and direct cash payments to street vendors in their network. “Obviously, for people who are not covered under the federal stimulus package, we are pushing for the creation of an excluded workers fund so that undocumented workers can get relief right now,” said Megan Macreag, interim executive director of Many Languages One Voice. “There is a whole group of excluded workers who work in the informal economy that are going to fall through the cracks.”
“These incredibly humble people voluntarily gave up their source of income to stop COVID. If that’s not altruism, I don’t know what is.”
Still, according to Macreag, at least 40 percent of vendor families they work with are undocumented and thus, not eligible for any federal relief. In early April, DC Jobs with Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based labor coalition, chastised the D.C Council in a blog post for not doing enough to help workers who are not eligible for federal help: “We are very disappointed that D.C. leaders have made no commitments to provide cash assistance to D.C. workers who are ineligible for unemployment benefits. As a result, the workers who built our restaurant, hospitality, construction, home care, and other industries are left with no government resources to turn to.”
To Macreag, street vendors are front-line heroes who should be given a hero’s honor. “At least half of the vendors we work with have stopped vending. Rather than be a vector, they turned into a container for the disease,” Macreag said. “These incredibly humble people voluntarily gave up their source of income to stop COVID. If that’s not altruism, I don’t know what is.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-04-25--This Appalachian Collective Has Launched Its Own “Green Stimulus”

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week , United Nations Secretary General António Guterres urged world leaders to ensure economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic include measures that tackle what he called the “ even deeper emergency ” of climate change .
According to a recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency , directing stimulus funds toward green infrastructure will enable countries around the world to become less unequal and more resilient , cumulatively employ 100 million energy jobs and save trillions of dollars in comparison with a recovery that returns economies to “ business as usual.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Europe and Asia include plans to limit cars , and scale down greenhouse gas emissions , and in spite of a team of congressional leaders who have outlined what a just recovery would entail in the United States , the stimulus package that President Trump signed on March 27 did not deliver on green stimulus measures like a Green Jobs Guarantee or an attempt to require the airline industry to go carbon neutral by 2025 in exchange for $ 25 billion in bailout funds .
Short of coordinated leadership from Washington , some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic hardship are turning inward to existing community-based efforts , and actively reimagining agriculture in the process .
One initiative in Lewisburg , West Virginia , aims to train unemployed or underemployed West Virginians in coal country to restore native vegetation on former mining sites throughout central Appalachia , a major part of which entails recovering bee populations .
In 2016 , the town won a multimillion-dollar settlement against coal mine operator Alpha Natural Resources for its violation of the Clean Water Act .
Lewisburg used the funds to launch the nonprofit Appalachian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities in the region by developing a sustainable local economy and improving the natural environment .
According to a report commissioned by the Appalachian Regional Commission , between 2005 and 2015 , coal production in Appalachia declined by 45 percent .
In West Virginia , mining jobs fell a staggering 90 percent in 2017 , driven by low natural gas prices .
The poverty rate followed suit , explains Terri Giles , who helped launch the Appalachian Headwaters .
“ It ’ s not like we haven ’ t been affected for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Truthout in reference to the boom-and-bust nature of the coal industry .
“ But it ’ s reached a crescendo .
The companies are leaving these communities ravaged , ” Giles says .
“ You ’ ve got to have something else.
” Abandoned by companies like Blackjewel , a subsidiary of Revelation Energy , mines across the state were overtaken by autumn olive and kudzu , both invasive species .
Although the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act required coal companies to cover the cost of cleanup , including efforts like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy has been spottily enforced by state agencies .
To compound these problems , in spite of the thousands of acres of unused land , much of the state was food insecure .
“ We ’ ve always been an exporter , ” Giles says .
“ It started with salt , timber , coal , natural gas , all of that .
None of that ever came back to West Virginia.
” When Giles was growing up in the nearby town of Hinton , everyone bartered .
Her uncle used to trade @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetables she and her family spent months preparing .
But as highways were carved into the hills , and big box stores popped up , the increasing access to goods produced elsewhere led to the disappearance of skills like gardening and tending to hives .
Beekeeping is in West Virginians ’ DNA , Giles says .
The idea of trying to build up a honey economy made sense .
Over the past decade , demand for honey in the U.S. has outpaced production .
In 2017 , 75 percent of honey was imported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like corn or rice syrup — a process known as “ honey laundering.
” In 2017 , local beekeeper Mark Lilly began hauling in bees from across the state , as well as from Kentucky , the Carolinas and Florida to develop hives for local recruits interested in joining the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective .
He sought out the help of anyone willing to let 20 hives sit on their property as the bees got established .
“ They get the benefit of pollinators , ” he says , referring to how the bees @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and trees that bolster forest cover .
In the meantime , locals of all ages , like James Scyphers , enrolled in beekeeping classes .
Scyphers is a Vietnam veteran who worked as a coal miner for 16 years after returning from service .
The transition to working outdoors was welcome , he told Voice of America .
“ I have learned that [ bees are ] the most fascinating insect … I have not had a better job in my 40-some years of working.
” Partners in the collective get regular visits @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the hives .
Appalachian Headwaters buys it from them directly for about $ 7 a pound .
Once they go through the training program and are fully operational — taking care of around 12 hives — that means beekeepers can earn around $ 4,000 extra a year .
In a county where the per capita income is $ 24,000 , the extra cash makes a difference , Scyphers said .
Three years later , Lilly explains , with 77 partners , and 30 more set to join this year , the collective is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ locally .
Following spring of 2020 , Lilly expects the group will have their own queens , which will enable the collective to build nucleus colonies to give to new partners .
As the bee populations become more established , they pollinate the local trees .
Appalachian Headwaters is also training residents in the benefits of native plants .
As partners get more into planting , bees will aid in revitalizing the land by helping pollinate .
“ It ’ s kind of a circle , ” Lilly says .
“ It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trees that then attract more pollinators.
” And that ’ s part of what Giles says could make West Virginia honey , which is considered “ tree honey , ” a staple for people across the country .
Bees begin the season with tulip poplar , then move onto black locust trees .
In June , they pollinate basswood trees , and later sourwood trees , which makes premium honey because the bloom period is so short .
“ It ’ s like wine .
You ’ re not going to buy a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” she says .
“ But if you are a honey connoisseur , you ’ re going to seek out honey from Appalachia because we have the most diverse and oldest temperate deciduous forest.
” James McCormick , an army veteran who grew up in Scott Depot , West Virginia , has returned to active duty to help with COVID-19 response for the National Guard .
As part of the response team , he has an intimate view into how the communities he ’ s been serving are dealing with the crises at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ places seem to be the most resilient .
Agriculture education , through programs like the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective , he tells Truthout , should be part of every public school education .
He adds that the region needs more programs that retrain people out of work in developing local food systems .
“ I think we really need to focus on building those models that get us away from the Big Agriculture concept.
” A January 2020 memo by Data For Progress points out that soil is eroding up to 100 times faster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agricultural practices .
By contrast , a shift to regenerative practices could sequester 10 percent of anthropogenic emissions .
Through the honey bee , Lilly says , partners learn about ecology .
“ We can show that what affects these small insects affects all of us .
If we break the chain , we ’ ll see issues within society , ” he continues .
“ A farmer can plant the seed and prepare the ground , then it rains .
But if it isn ’ t pollinated , the process stops.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s scaling up to be the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression , Lilly hopes communities he works with may be beginning to understand the benefits of non-extractive livelihoods .
“ We don ’ t have to look at the traditional sources of employment , whether it be mines , or the Walmarts or large chains , ” he says .
“ Think outside the box .
Think of what you can do in your area.
” Giles agrees .
“ The vision has to come from down here .
It has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the small communities , ” she says .
“ We are at a crossroads and we can change directions .
”

Part of the Series Covering Climate Now
This story is published as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day this week, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres urged world leaders to ensure economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic include measures that tackle what he called the “even deeper emergency” of climate change. According to a recent report from the International Renewable Energy Agency, directing stimulus funds toward green infrastructure will enable countries around the world to become less unequal and more resilient, cumulatively employ 100 million energy jobs and save trillions of dollars in comparison with a recovery that returns economies to “business as usual.”
While COVID-19 responses from leaders in Europe and Asia include plans to limit cars, and scale down greenhouse gas emissions, and in spite of a team of congressional leaders who have outlined what a just recovery would entail in the United States, the stimulus package that President Trump signed on March 27 did not deliver on green stimulus measures like a Green Jobs Guarantee or an attempt to require the airline industry to go carbon neutral by 2025 in exchange for $25 billion in bailout funds.
Short of coordinated leadership from Washington, some rural communities that are no strangers to economic hardship are turning inward to existing community-based efforts, and actively reimagining agriculture in the process.
One initiative in Lewisburg, West Virginia, aims to train unemployed or underemployed West Virginians in coal country to restore native vegetation on former mining sites throughout central Appalachia, a major part of which entails recovering bee populations. In 2016, the town won a multimillion-dollar settlement against coal mine operator Alpha Natural Resources for its violation of the Clean Water Act. Lewisburg used the funds to launch the nonprofit Appalachian Headwaters, which is focused on strengthening communities in the region by developing a sustainable local economy and improving the natural environment.
According to a report commissioned by the Appalachian Regional Commission, between 2005 and 2015, coal production in Appalachia declined by 45 percent. In West Virginia, mining jobs fell a staggering 90 percent in 2017, driven by low natural gas prices. The poverty rate followed suit, explains Terri Giles, who helped launch the Appalachian Headwaters. “It’s not like we haven’t been affected for the past 50 years,” she tells Truthout in reference to the boom-and-bust nature of the coal industry. “But it’s reached a crescendo. The companies are leaving these communities ravaged,” Giles says. “You’ve got to have something else.”
Abandoned by companies like Blackjewel, a subsidiary of Revelation Energy, mines across the state were overtaken by autumn olive and kudzu, both invasive species. Although the 1977 Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act required coal companies to cover the cost of cleanup, including efforts like replanting trees and replacing soil, the policy has been spottily enforced by state agencies. To compound these problems, in spite of the thousands of acres of unused land, much of the state was food insecure. “We’ve always been an exporter,” Giles says. “It started with salt, timber, coal, natural gas, all of that. None of that ever came back to West Virginia.”
When Giles was growing up in the nearby town of Hinton, everyone bartered. Her uncle used to trade his honey for the jars of canned vegetables she and her family spent months preparing. But as highways were carved into the hills, and big box stores popped up, the increasing access to goods produced elsewhere led to the disappearance of skills like gardening and tending to hives. Beekeeping is in West Virginians’ DNA, Giles says. The idea of trying to build up a honey economy made sense. Over the past decade, demand for honey in the U.S. has outpaced production. In 2017, 75 percent of honey was imported, much of it diluted with additives like corn or rice syrup — a process known as “honey laundering.”
In 2017, local beekeeper Mark Lilly began hauling in bees from across the state, as well as from Kentucky, the Carolinas and Florida to develop hives for local recruits interested in joining the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective. He sought out the help of anyone willing to let 20 hives sit on their property as the bees got established. “They get the benefit of pollinators,” he says, referring to how the bees help regenerate the landscape by pollinating crops and trees that bolster forest cover.
In the meantime, locals of all ages, like James Scyphers, enrolled in beekeeping classes. Scyphers is a Vietnam veteran who worked as a coal miner for 16 years after returning from service. The transition to working outdoors was welcome, he told Voice of America. “I have learned that [bees are] the most fascinating insect … I have not had a better job in my 40-some years of working.”
Partners in the collective get regular visits from a mentor, who check on the hives. Appalachian Headwaters buys it from them directly for about $7 a pound. Once they go through the training program and are fully operational — taking care of around 12 hives — that means beekeepers can earn around $4,000 extra a year. In a county where the per capita income is $24,000, the extra cash makes a difference, Scyphers said.
Three years later, Lilly explains, with 77 partners, and 30 more set to join this year, the collective is almost producing all of its own bees locally. Following spring of 2020, Lilly expects the group will have their own queens, which will enable the collective to build nucleus colonies to give to new partners. As the bee populations become more established, they pollinate the local trees. Appalachian Headwaters is also training residents in the benefits of native plants. As partners get more into planting, bees will aid in revitalizing the land by helping pollinate. “It’s kind of a circle,” Lilly says. “It’s also helping the forest to regenerate trees that then attract more pollinators.”
And that’s part of what Giles says could make West Virginia honey, which is considered “tree honey,” a staple for people across the country. Bees begin the season with tulip poplar, then move onto black locust trees. In June, they pollinate basswood trees, and later sourwood trees, which makes premium honey because the bloom period is so short. “It’s like wine. You’re not going to buy a Bordeaux from the mountains of Appalachia,” she says. “But if you are a honey connoisseur, you’re going to seek out honey from Appalachia because we have the most diverse and oldest temperate deciduous forest.”
James McCormick, an army veteran who grew up in Scott Depot, West Virginia, has returned to active duty to help with COVID-19 response for the National Guard. As part of the response team, he has an intimate view into how the communities he’s been serving are dealing with the crises at hand. He says smaller, community-oriented places seem to be the most resilient. Agriculture education, through programs like the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective, he tells Truthout, should be part of every public school education. He adds that the region needs more programs that retrain people out of work in developing local food systems. “I think we really need to focus on building those models that get us away from the Big Agriculture concept.” A January 2020 memo by Data For Progress points out that soil is eroding up to 100 times faster than at natural rates under current government-subsidized agricultural practices. By contrast, a shift to regenerative practices could sequester 10 percent of anthropogenic emissions.
Through the honey bee, Lilly says, partners learn about ecology. “We can show that what affects these small insects affects all of us. If we break the chain, we’ll see issues within society,” he continues. “A farmer can plant the seed and prepare the ground, then it rains. But if it isn’t pollinated, the process stops.”
As the country reels through what’s scaling up to be the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression, Lilly hopes communities he works with may be beginning to understand the benefits of non-extractive livelihoods. “We don’t have to look at the traditional sources of employment, whether it be mines, or the Walmarts or large chains,” he says. “Think outside the box. Think of what you can do in your area.”
Giles agrees. “The vision has to come from down here. It has to come from ground zero, from the small communities,” she says. “We are at a crossroads and we can change directions.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
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truthout--2020-04-26--Koch-Funded Think Tanks Are Lobbying to Send Workers to Their Deaths

It ’ s no mystery what will happen if we rush to reopen the economy and send people back to work before epidemiologists say it is safe to do so .
A model produced in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) in March projected a worst-case scenario of 1.7 million Americans killed .
Another estimate by the Imperial College London put this number at 2.2 million .
We know that COVID-19 , which has already taken more than 40,000 U.S. lives , is disproportionately killing African Americans .
Poor people are already bearing the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ die in even larger numbers if they are prematurely sent back to wait tables and crowd together in warehouses and factories .
Amid this climate , a small army of right-wing think tanks and conservative organizations is cynically invoking the plight of the downtrodden to make the case for swiftly reopening the economy and sending workers into deadly conditions .
Some of the organizations beating this drum the loudest — the Heritage Foundation , Americans for Prosperity ( AFP ) , and the American Legislative Exchange Council ( ALEC ) — are behind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , from the anti-union Janus Supreme Court ruling to the Trump administration ’ s work requirements for food stamps .
As Trump , the GOP , CEOs and now billionaire-backed “ protesters ” call for the economy to reopen , these think tanks are working fervently behind the scenes , crafting talking points , speaking with legislators and building coalitions aimed at boosting Wall Street ’ s profits , at the expense of ordinary people .
“ The people running these organizations are going to remain safely ensconced in gated mansions with little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they make millions of Americans go back to work standing shoulder to shoulder , ” Carl Rosen , general president for the UE union ( United Electrical , Radio and Machine Workers of America ) , told In These Times .
On April 16 , Kay Coles James , the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank , praised President Trump for issuing guidelines for states to reopen their economies in three phases .
“ The administration is rightly working to restore livelihoods in the midst of catastrophic job losses while also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and safety , ” said James .
“ The Heritage Foundation ’ s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission is also working quickly to deliver additional recommendations to governments at every level , the private sector , and churches , charities , and other parts of civil society on a pathway to reopen America.
” James was listed as a thought leader on Trump ’ s dubious “ Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups ” — likely at least partially a P.R .
stunt , but nonetheless , a measure of influence and power .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a sign that the organization ’ s campaign to reopen the economy might be paying off .
The group announced a “ National Coronavirus Recovery Commission ” on April 6 and , soon after , issued a five-phase plan for reopening America .
According to the Washington Post , the Heritage Foundation is working with other conservative groups including FreedomWorks and ALEC as part of an informal “ Save Our Country ” coalition aimed at reopening the economy .
With funding from the Koch Foundation , ExxonMobil and a bevy of wealthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the center of political efforts to prematurely restart the economy .
Remarkably , the organization is citing the well-being of the poor people it wants to send into treacherous conditions when issuing this call .
On April 13 , James declared , “ Keeping the American people at work and prosperous is what will produce better health outcomes for our citizens .
A growing economy has the money for research and development into new medical innovations and cures ; has more resources to better educate and train medical personnel ; and creates greater @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and personnel to handle the sick .
It ’ s also an economy where abundance allows us to have the resources to help poorer citizens get the medical help that they need.
” In other words , she is arguing that reopening the economy will make people sick , but market forces will somehow offset this catastrophe by providing the things we need to treat them—a claim made without evidence , and against the advice of epidemiological experts .
This insistence on sending workers into treacherous conditions “ for their own good @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s history .
The Heritage Foundation was heavily influential in the Reagan administration and right-wing Tea Party movement , and was a major influencer in the Trump administration ’ s transition team .
It is vehemently anti-union , a fierce opponent of a $ 15 minimum wage , a fervent supporter of the 2018 Janus ruling , which pummeled public-sector unions , and a proponent of so-called right-to-work laws , which say workers don ’ t have to pay dues to the unions that represent them .
Heritage has made gutting public programs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its existence , and opposes expanding healthcare access .
The organization saw one of its cruelest agenda items come to fruition in December of 2019 , when the Trump administration placed further restrictions on who can receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , known as food stamps , declaring that able-bodied adults without children in places that have an unemployment rate below 10 % have to work 20 hours a week to qualify .
This rule was approved by Trump despite warnings that 700,000 people would lose their food stamps .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ SNAP in New York City from 2011 to 2013 , wrote that “ work requirements have been shown to not help unemployed people find work and to make it more difficult for them to feed themselves .
But taking people who are unemployed off SNAP often does harm to more than just those who directly receive food assistance.
” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the rule change “ appears to base its intellectual underpinning on policy developed at the conservative Heritage Foundation , experts say.
” The Heritage Foundation , for its part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Heritage Research Influences Food Stamp Eligibility Rule.
” According to Rosen of UE , “ The only thing these corporations want to achieve is corporate profits as usual .
That ’ s their real goal—not making sure working people have an income , not to make sure health and economic needs were taken care of .
If those were their goals , they would support much more robust policies right now that make sure everyone has a full income and full healthcare through Medicare for All .
These are the steps that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” “ People need to be paid to stay home right now — that ’ s the only way we can recover as a country , ” Rosen added .
“ Attempts to force people to go back to work when it ’ s not safe for them to do so is a horrendous , murderous policy.
” When it comes to the push to reopen the U.S. economy , the Heritage Foundation is not going it alone .
As the Associated Press notes , the Koch-backed AFP was “ one early shutdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ business should be allowed to “ adapt and innovate.
” Intercept reporter Lee Fang noted on March 26 that AFP , which calls itself a political advocacy group , “ wants employees to return to work despite desperate pleas from public health officials that people should stay home as much as possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
” State chapters of AFP have also joined in the effort .
Like the Heritage Foundation , the AFP cites the hardships of poor people when pushing for the economy to reopen .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ depriving the people most in need of the products and services provided by businesses across the country , ” the organization said on March 20 .
“ If businesses are shut down , where will people who are most in need get the things they need to care for themselves and others ?
Rather than blanket shutdowns , the government should allow businesses to continue to adapt and innovate to produce the goods and services Americans need , while continuing to do everything they can to protect the public health.
” Yet AFP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mary Bottari as “ the Kochs ’ ‘ grassroots ’ lobbying arm , ” has played a tremendous role in gutting public programs aimed at protecting ordinary people , including the CDC , and social welfare programs , particularly Medicaid .
In recent years , the organization has gone on a blitz trying to pass right-to-work laws , seeing some success .
Before the COVID-19 crisis began , AFP was mobilizing against the PRO Act , which passed the House in February .
This legislation would strengthen the right to strike , override @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bosses who retaliate against workers for attempting to form a union .
While the legislation is not perfect , it would “ go a long way toward reversing decades of GOP-backed efforts to grind unions into dust , ” Jeremy Gantz wrote in February for In These Times .
AFP is presently circulating a letter which declares , “ This legislation would turn back the clock on workers ’ rights by undermining many pro-worker successes of recent years , just one year after the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision that affirmed union @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers nationwide.
” AFP is not only pushing to send workers into dangerous conditions : It also wants to erode their right to collectively fight back .
But perhaps the biggest villain of all is ALEC , the Koch-backed “ nonprofit ” model-legislation shop that has devoted its nearly half-century of existence to eroding workers ’ rights .
ALEC has been active in efforts to reopen the economy .
Its CEO Lisa B. Nelson told Newt Gingrich on March 27 , “ We believe preparations need to be made for a clarion call @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and so the economy can start its rebound.
” ALEC hosted a March 21 conference call featuring ALEC Board of Scholar Member Art Laffer , a right-wing economist and key figure behind the Reagan-era tax cuts for the rich .
“ We need to get production back — period , ” declared Laffer , who was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by Trump last year .
As ALEC has called for policies that would endanger society ’ s most vulnerable , the organization has sought to portray itself as a victim .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ALEC Chief Economist Jonathan Williams said : “ I think we all know how times of crises like these can be very dangerous times for those of us who believe in the ALEC principles of free markets and limited government and federalism.
” Meanwhile , the organization is pushing for a host of other goals , including deregulation of telecommunications and supporting “ federalism ” and “ state ’ s rights.
” In an interview , Laffer cited the plight of poor people when staking out his political positions .
Reuters paraphrases , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really important to balance out the economic consequences with the health consequences , ’ Laffer said , adding that increased poverty from an extended shutdown could mean lower life expectancy , more suicide and a jump in child abuse.
” ( Notably , robust social programs , which Laffer opposes , are proven to reduce suicides during times of economic downturn . )
And in a podcast interview , Nelson cited “ working ” as a public good : “ Open america and get America working again , ” she declared .
ALEC @ @ @ @ @ @ @ long history .
As Mary Battari noted in a February 2018 story for In These Times , “ ALEC was founded in 1973 as a venue for politicians and corporate lobbyists to meet behind closed doors and draft cookie-cutter legislation , known as ‘ model bills , ’ that promote corporate interests.
” Today it boasts a massive network of 2,000 legislative members and 300 or more corporate members , according to The Center for Media and Democracy , which says , “ ALEC is not a lobby ; it is not a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powerful than that.
” Aided by funding from corporations , corporate trade groups and the Koch Foundation , its bills have aimed to undermine unions , criminalize protests and privatize public goods .
Over the past 15 years it has worked closely with conservatie advocacy groups , including AFP , to undermine unions .
According to Rosen , groups like ALEC are a big reason why we are so ill-prepared to meet the COVID-19 crises .
“ Over the last 50 years , ” he says , “ we ’ ve allowed corporate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ net .
There was no preparation done for a pandemic like this , even though it was clear that something like this could happen .
The groups demanding we reopen are the ones that destroyed the social safety net , thereby creating the pressures making some people want to start up again.
” These three think tanks are pillars of a much broader effort to “ reopen the economy , ” which is another way of saying “ treat workers as disposable widgets in service of corporate profits.
” The oversized role of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into question any claims that local protests for reopening constitute an organic , working-class movement .
As the Guardian reports , “ The Michigan Freedom Fund , which said it was a co-host of a recent Michigan rally against stay-at-home orders , has received more than $ 500,000 from the DeVos family , regular donors to rightwing groups.
” The DeVos family is one of the richest in Michigan .
Joining in the cacophony are individual CEOs , who occasionally put conservative organizations ’ talking points in cruder and more honest terms .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Paychex Inc. , told Bloomberg in late March , “ The damages of keeping the economy closed as it is could be worse than losing a few more people .
I have a very large concern that if businesses keep going along the way they ’ re going then so many of them will have to fold.
” He added , “ You have to weigh the pros and cons.
” Of course , for him , the “ pro ” is that he will not be the one serving tables , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once the economy reopens : When he talks about the costs , he ’ s talking about other people .
The same can be said about the leaders of the conservative think tanks and organizations that are leading the push to send workers into danger : It will cost them nothing .
The price for ordinary people will be immeasurable .
Lu Zhao and Indigo Olivier contributed research to this report .

It’s no mystery what will happen if we rush to reopen the economy and send people back to work before epidemiologists say it is safe to do so. A model produced in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March projected a worst-case scenario of 1.7 million Americans killed. Another estimate by the Imperial College London put this number at 2.2 million. We know that COVID-19, which has already taken more than 40,000 U.S. lives, is disproportionately killing African Americans. Poor people are already bearing the brunt of this crisis — and will die in even larger numbers if they are prematurely sent back to wait tables and crowd together in warehouses and factories.
Amid this climate, a small army of right-wing think tanks and conservative organizations is cynically invoking the plight of the downtrodden to make the case for swiftly reopening the economy and sending workers into deadly conditions. Some of the organizations beating this drum the loudest — the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) — are behind the most anti-worker measures of our times, from the anti-union Janus Supreme Court ruling to the Trump administration’s work requirements for food stamps. As Trump, the GOP, CEOs and now billionaire-backed “protesters” call for the economy to reopen, these think tanks are working fervently behind the scenes, crafting talking points, speaking with legislators and building coalitions aimed at boosting Wall Street’s profits, at the expense of ordinary people.
“The people running these organizations are going to remain safely ensconced in gated mansions with little danger of getting infected themselves, while they make millions of Americans go back to work standing shoulder to shoulder,” Carl Rosen, general president for the UE union (United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America), told In These Times.
On April 16, Kay Coles James, the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, praised President Trump for issuing guidelines for states to reopen their economies in three phases. “The administration is rightly working to restore livelihoods in the midst of catastrophic job losses while also taking care to balance Americans’ health and safety,” said James. “The Heritage Foundation’s National Coronavirus Recovery Commission is also working quickly to deliver additional recommendations to governments at every level, the private sector, and churches, charities, and other parts of civil society on a pathway to reopen America.”
James was listed as a thought leader on Trump’s dubious “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups” — likely at least partially a P.R. stunt, but nonetheless, a measure of influence and power. For the Heritage Foundation, it’s a sign that the organization’s campaign to reopen the economy might be paying off. The group announced a “National Coronavirus Recovery Commission” on April 6 and, soon after, issued a five-phase plan for reopening America. According to the Washington Post, the Heritage Foundation is working with other conservative groups including FreedomWorks and ALEC as part of an informal “Save Our Country” coalition aimed at reopening the economy. With funding from the Koch Foundation, ExxonMobil and a bevy of wealthy donors, the Heritage Foundation is at the center of political efforts to prematurely restart the economy.
Remarkably, the organization is citing the well-being of the poor people it wants to send into treacherous conditions when issuing this call. On April 13, James declared, “Keeping the American people at work and prosperous is what will produce better health outcomes for our citizens. A growing economy has the money for research and development into new medical innovations and cures; has more resources to better educate and train medical personnel; and creates greater capacities of beds, equipment, medicines, and personnel to handle the sick. It’s also an economy where abundance allows us to have the resources to help poorer citizens get the medical help that they need.” In other words, she is arguing that reopening the economy will make people sick, but market forces will somehow offset this catastrophe by providing the things we need to treat them—a claim made without evidence, and against the advice of epidemiological experts.
This insistence on sending workers into treacherous conditions “for their own good” stems directly from the organization’s history. The Heritage Foundation was heavily influential in the Reagan administration and right-wing Tea Party movement, and was a major influencer in the Trump administration’s transition team. It is vehemently anti-union, a fierce opponent of a $15 minimum wage, a fervent supporter of the 2018 Janus ruling, which pummeled public-sector unions, and a proponent of so-called right-to-work laws, which say workers don’t have to pay dues to the unions that represent them. Heritage has made gutting public programs for the poor a central focus throughout its existence, and opposes expanding healthcare access.
The organization saw one of its cruelest agenda items come to fruition in December of 2019, when the Trump administration placed further restrictions on who can receive assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as food stamps, declaring that able-bodied adults without children in places that have an unemployment rate below 10% have to work 20 hours a week to qualify. This rule was approved by Trump despite warnings that 700,000 people would lose their food stamps. Maggie Dickinson, a researcher who studied SNAP in New York City from 2011 to 2013, wrote that “work requirements have been shown to not help unemployed people find work and to make it more difficult for them to feed themselves. But taking people who are unemployed off SNAP often does harm to more than just those who directly receive food assistance.” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the rule change “appears to base its intellectual underpinning on policy developed at the conservative Heritage Foundation, experts say.” The Heritage Foundation, for its part, claimed credit in an article titled “Heritage Research Influences Food Stamp Eligibility Rule.”
According to Rosen of UE, “The only thing these corporations want to achieve is corporate profits as usual. That’s their real goal—not making sure working people have an income, not to make sure health and economic needs were taken care of. If those were their goals, they would support much more robust policies right now that make sure everyone has a full income and full healthcare through Medicare for All. These are the steps that have been taken in many European countries.”
“People need to be paid to stay home right now — that’s the only way we can recover as a country,” Rosen added. “Attempts to force people to go back to work when it’s not safe for them to do so is a horrendous, murderous policy.”
When it comes to the push to reopen the U.S. economy, the Heritage Foundation is not going it alone. As the Associated Press notes, the Koch-backed AFP was “one early shutdown opponent,” making the case that business should be allowed to “adapt and innovate.” Intercept reporter Lee Fang noted on March 26 that AFP, which calls itself a political advocacy group, “wants employees to return to work despite desperate pleas from public health officials that people should stay home as much as possible to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.” State chapters of AFP have also joined in the effort.
Like the Heritage Foundation, the AFP cites the hardships of poor people when pushing for the economy to reopen. “We can achieve public health without depriving the people most in need of the products and services provided by businesses across the country,” the organization said on March 20. “If businesses are shut down, where will people who are most in need get the things they need to care for themselves and others? Rather than blanket shutdowns, the government should allow businesses to continue to adapt and innovate to produce the goods and services Americans need, while continuing to do everything they can to protect the public health.”
Yet AFP, described by In These Times writer Mary Bottari as “the Kochs’ ‘grassroots’ lobbying arm,” has played a tremendous role in gutting public programs aimed at protecting ordinary people, including the CDC, and social welfare programs, particularly Medicaid. In recent years, the organization has gone on a blitz trying to pass right-to-work laws, seeing some success.
Before the COVID-19 crisis began, AFP was mobilizing against the PRO Act, which passed the House in February. This legislation would strengthen the right to strike, override “right-to-work” laws, and punish bosses who retaliate against workers for attempting to form a union. While the legislation is not perfect, it would “go a long way toward reversing decades of GOP-backed efforts to grind unions into dust,” Jeremy Gantz wrote in February for In These Times. AFP is presently circulating a letter which declares, “This legislation would turn back the clock on workers’ rights by undermining many pro-worker successes of recent years, just one year after the Janus v. AFSCME Supreme Court decision that affirmed union membership is a choice for all government workers nationwide.” AFP is not only pushing to send workers into dangerous conditions: It also wants to erode their right to collectively fight back.
But perhaps the biggest villain of all is ALEC, the Koch-backed “nonprofit” model-legislation shop that has devoted its nearly half-century of existence to eroding workers’ rights. ALEC has been active in efforts to reopen the economy. Its CEO Lisa B. Nelson told Newt Gingrich on March 27, “We believe preparations need to be made for a clarion call to get Americans back to work, and so the economy can start its rebound.” ALEC hosted a March 21 conference call featuring ALEC Board of Scholar Member Art Laffer, a right-wing economist and key figure behind the Reagan-era tax cuts for the rich. “We need to get production back — period,” declared Laffer, who was awarded the presidential medal of freedom by Trump last year.
As ALEC has called for policies that would endanger society’s most vulnerable, the organization has sought to portray itself as a victim. On an April 1 legislators call, ALEC Chief Economist Jonathan Williams said: “I think we all know how times of crises like these can be very dangerous times for those of us who believe in the ALEC principles of free markets and limited government and federalism.” Meanwhile, the organization is pushing for a host of other goals, including deregulation of telecommunications and supporting “federalism” and “state’s rights.”
In an interview, Laffer cited the plight of poor people when staking out his political positions. Reuters paraphrases, “‘I think it’s really important to balance out the economic consequences with the health consequences,’ Laffer said, adding that increased poverty from an extended shutdown could mean lower life expectancy, more suicide and a jump in child abuse.” (Notably, robust social programs, which Laffer opposes, are proven to reduce suicides during times of economic downturn.) And in a podcast interview, Nelson cited “working” as a public good: “Open america and get America working again,” she declared.
ALEC’s current advocacy emanates from a long history. As Mary Battari noted in a February 2018 story for In These Times, “ALEC was founded in 1973 as a venue for politicians and corporate lobbyists to meet behind closed doors and draft cookie-cutter legislation, known as ‘model bills,’ that promote corporate interests.” Today it boasts a massive network of 2,000 legislative members and 300 or more corporate members, according to The Center for Media and Democracy, which says, “ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that.” Aided by funding from corporations, corporate trade groups and the Koch Foundation, its bills have aimed to undermine unions, criminalize protests and privatize public goods. Over the past 15 years it has worked closely with conservatie advocacy groups, including AFP, to undermine unions.
According to Rosen, groups like ALEC are a big reason why we are so ill-prepared to meet the COVID-19 crises. “Over the last 50 years,” he says, “we’ve allowed corporate forces to systematically destroy the social safety net. There was no preparation done for a pandemic like this, even though it was clear that something like this could happen. The groups demanding we reopen are the ones that destroyed the social safety net, thereby creating the pressures making some people want to start up again.”
These three think tanks are pillars of a much broader effort to “reopen the economy,” which is another way of saying “treat workers as disposable widgets in service of corporate profits.” The oversized role of wealthy people in pushing this effort calls into question any claims that local protests for reopening constitute an organic, working-class movement. As the Guardian reports, “The Michigan Freedom Fund, which said it was a co-host of a recent Michigan rally against stay-at-home orders, has received more than $500,000 from the DeVos family, regular donors to rightwing groups.” The DeVos family is one of the richest in Michigan.
Joining in the cacophony are individual CEOs, who occasionally put conservative organizations’ talking points in cruder and more honest terms. Billionaire Tom Golisano, founder and chairman of Paychex Inc., told Bloomberg in late March, “The damages of keeping the economy closed as it is could be worse than losing a few more people. I have a very large concern that if businesses keep going along the way they’re going then so many of them will have to fold.” He added, “You have to weigh the pros and cons.”
Of course, for him, the “pro” is that he will not be the one serving tables, stocking warehouses or struggling to get healthcare once the economy reopens: When he talks about the costs, he’s talking about other people. The same can be said about the leaders of the conservative think tanks and organizations that are leading the push to send workers into danger: It will cost them nothing. The price for ordinary people will be immeasurable.
Lu Zhao and Indigo Olivier contributed research to this report.
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This article was originally published at In These Times.