Safety Protections Lacking For Millions Of Essential Workers, Report Says

ProPublica: Millions of Essential Workers Are Being Left Out Of COVID-19 Workplace Safety Protections, Thanks To OSHA
As news emerged that the novel coronavirus was infecting hundreds of workers in meatpacking plants, Gregoria Rivas began worrying that her chicken processing facility in North Carolina wasn’t doing enough to protect workers like her from the virus. There was no social distancing, she said. Everywhere she went at the Case Farms plant, there were dozens of workers crowded into a small space. In the locker room, where everyone put on their uniforms. (Grabell, Yeung and Jameel, 4/16)

ABC News: ‘I’m Not Ready To Die’: New ‘Essential Workers’ Call For Protections, Hazard Pay In Coronavirus Crisis 
Vitalina Williams worked two jobs to make ends meet, at a Walmart and their local grocer, Market Basket in Salem, Massachusetts. As a newly-deemed “essential worker” during the novel coronavirus pandemic, she continued going to work even as COVID-19 made its insidious spread through the U.S. On April 4, she passed away from the coronavirus at the age of 59. (Thorbecke, 4/17)

NBC News: CDC Contractor Failed To Follow Coronavirus Rules, And A Worker Got Sick, Whistleblower Says
It seemed like a godsend to an unemployed former Mississippi college student: a seemingly secure job with a big federal contractor at a time when the coronavirus crisis was crashing the economy in her state and around the country. For Brianna Flores, 22, the added plus to working at a Maximus call center meant she could do some good by giving worried callers coronavirus guidance directly from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Siemaszko, 4/16)

The Hill: California To Provide Food Industry Employees With Two Weeks Paid Leave 
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced Thursday that the state is providing food industry workers impacted by the coronavirus two weeks of paid sick leave. The order seeks to “fill the gap” left by the federal government’s stimulus bill, which guaranteed paid sick leave for businesses that employ fewer than 500 people and an exemption for businesses with fewer than 50 employees. (Moreno, 4/16)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Coronavirus: Here Are Safety Measures For Essential Businesses
Indiana businesses are operating with new restrictions under Gov. Eric Holcomb’s latest order to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The directive issued last week allows essential businesses to remain open as long as they comply with social distancing requirements and recommended sanitation measures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Pak-Harvey, 4/17)