You can learn a great deal about humanity during a pandemic. Some, for example, will always care little for fellow human beings and instead only focus on greed and how to profit from a tragedy.
(For live updates, including reports from autoworkers on the
conditions in their plants, follow the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter
Facebook page at fb.com/autoworker.newsletter.)
The decision by US auto companies to keep their factories running at
normal capacity during the coronavirus pandemic is a criminally reckless
decision, which threatens the health of hundreds of thousands of
autoworkers, their family members and the wider communities in which
they work and live.
On Sunday, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommended that no gatherings of 50 people or more be held in the US
for the next eight weeks to slow the spread of the coronavirus. State
governments throughout the country, including the major auto-producing
states of Indiana and Ohio, had already announced bans on gatherings of
more than 250 people. But the federal and state measures exempt the auto
plants, which employ as many as 8,000 people, and other workplaces.
The Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site calls for the formation of rank-and-file committees to fight
for the immediate shutdown of all nonessential production with full
compensation for all lost income. These measures must be combined with
demands for immediate testing, the elimination of all out-of-pocket
medical costs and equal access to high quality health care for all. At
the same time workers should fight for the allocation of society’s
resources to fund a worldwide and coordinated public health campaign to
fight the pandemic, rather than squandering trillions to prop up the
stock markets and protect the super-rich.
China was able to slow the growth of the disease only by a nationwide
shutdown of all workplaces. Auto plants in Wuhan, China’s Motor City,
idled for weeks. Without such drastic intervention, by the US
government’s own estimates, up to 214 million Americans could be exposed
and 1.7 million could die.
In the United States, not a single major facility has been placed on
extended shutdown. Even Fiat Chrysler’s Kokomo Transmission plant, the
first facility with a confirmed case of coronavirus, continues to
operate at full capacity. At GM’s Wentzville Assembly near Kansas City,
management shut the plant for only a single shift for “deep cleaning”
after a worker was potentially exposed. German automaker Volkswagen
announced a mere 24-hour shutdown at its Chattanooga, Tennessee plant
today for cleaning and to give workers time to make arrangements for
their children whose schools have closed. But even with proper
sanitation, which is impossible in such a short span of time, this will
do nothing about transmissions that have already occurred or halt new
ones once workers return to work.
Auto plants in other countries only closed after a considerable delay
and in the face of the demands of workers. Fiat Chrysler’s plants in
Italy began to close last week after a growing wildcat strike wave
demanding the closure of plants. Ford is only now shutting its plant in
Valencia, Spain, a country which has been placed on lockdown, after
three workers tested positive for the virus–but only for a single week.
In Windsor, Ontario across the river from Detroit, Fiat Chrysler
autoworkers were able to temporarily halt production on Friday over
coronavirus concerns, only to be sent back to work with the support of
Unifor, the Canadian auto union, and the government of Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau—who is under self-quarantine after his wife became
infected.
The United Auto Workers union is playing a critical role in keeping
workers on the job. Bound to the companies by a thousand threads, they
insist that only management has the right to make decisions over the
operation of the plant, regardless of the health threats to workers.
Faced with overwhelming opposition among the rank-and-file, the union’s
plant chairman at Ford’s Louisville Assembly issued a pathetic request
for management to close the plant for two weeks. But the real attitude
of the UAW was expressed at the end of a letter by president Rory Gamble
to members, which declared the union’s intent to “keep the economy
flowing,” ie., the profits to the corporations and Wall Street
investors.
The CEO of Whole Foods’ parent company is the world’s richest person, and continues to pay people like
for right-wing hot takes while simultaneously doing this to service industry workers on the food supply chain
·
Whole Foods CEO suggests employees who are not sick "donate" their vacation time to employees who are sick: vice.com/en_us/article/
Show this thread
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for Monday:
Monday, March 16, 2020. Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders debate with Joe showing he is the status quo yet again.
Starting in the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. Last night, there was a debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Both were pressed on whether they would have a female running mate. CNN suddenly cares about women? The DNC does? Both like women -- at a distance only. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race. Tulsi is a woman. The DNC changed the debate rules to keep her off the stage. Stop talking about a woman on a ticket beneath you if you won't put a woman on the stage when she met the qualification rules before they were suddenly changed.
Starting in the US where the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. Last night, there was a debate between Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders. Both were pressed on whether they would have a female running mate. CNN suddenly cares about women? The DNC does? Both like women -- at a distance only. Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race. Tulsi is a woman. The DNC changed the debate rules to keep her off the stage. Stop talking about a woman on a ticket beneath you if you won't put a woman on the stage when she met the qualification rules before they were suddenly changed.
49% of voters say #LetTulsiDebate. But the political elite/corporate media are trying to erase my candidacy. They don’t want a debate on ending regime change wars, the new cold war & nuclear arms race, and instead investing the trillions wasted on such wars into the American ppl.
In other news, Joe revealed himself to be unable to think at all. Despite being a US senator in the 70s, the 80s, the 90s and the 00s and eight years as vice president -- or maybe because of that history -- Joe only knows how to do what was done before.
There is nothing new from Joe, not now, not ever.
Joe Queally (COMMON DREAMS) reports:
As Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders debated Sunday night over the failures of the U.S. healthcare system that have been dramatically exposed by the current coronavirus pandemic rattling the nation, Biden argued against the need for Medicare for All, defended the private insurance industry, and said now was not the time to debate key ideological differences.
"This coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current health care system," Sanders said during an exchange early in the debate as he advocated for his Medicare for All plan in the context of the current crisis.
It is deeply disturbing that amid a pandemic that threatens the lives of millions of people, a Democratic candidate for president spent much of a live television debate slamming the idea of guaranteeing basic medical care to all through a Medicare for All system.
Sunday’s Democratic debate featured urgent questions about how presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden would address the coronavirus pandemic. As the outbreak spreads across the United States at a breakneck pace, officials are faced with two paths of how to respond: hand off public services and assets to further enrich the corporate elite, or expand social programs to protect the working class.
In her influential book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein warned of how free market fundamentalists exploit crises like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina—but at the same time, Klein highlighted the opportunities for positive social change inherent in “communal recovery” to crisis. As disasters make apparent the deep inequities at the heart of our capitalist society, they allow us to rethink and, in Klein’s words, “remake” the world in order to benefit working people.
Sanders has laid out an expansive vision of government intervention to deal with coronavirus, including implementing a Medicare for All system to provide universal testing and treatment for those who contract the virus, as well as free healthcare going forward for all Americans, regardless of income. Sanders also called for guaranteed paid sick leave and a national moratorium on evictions, home foreclosures and utility shutoffs as immediate steps to deal with the crisis.
“What we’ve got to do is move aggressively so that every person in this country understands that they don’t have to worry about money for treatment. I believe in Medicare for All, I will fight for that as president. Do not worry about the cost right now because we are in the midst of a national emergency,” Sanders said during Sunday’s debate, continuing later, “This coronavirus pandemic exposes the incredible weakness and dysfunctionality of our current healthcare system.”
Biden, meanwhile, has endorsed free testing and treatment for coronavirus patients and emergency paid leave, but refused to back Medicare for All, citing concerns about the cost, pragmatism and wisdom of such a universal system.
“You have a single payer system in Italy, it doesn’t work there. It wouldn’t solve the problem at all,” Biden claimed Sunday.
Biden’s critique misses the fact that coronavirus patients in Italy are receiving all of their care free of cost, whereas in the United States, the cost of simply getting tested can reach above $3,000, and the House coronavirus response package recently passed with bipartisan support, which would make testing free, has yet to be signed into law.
As I was saying...
·
Biden is so wrong to say people are looking for results, not a revolution. The two are not exclusive. In America the civil rights movement, women rights movement & labor movement were all revolutions.
Joe doesn't know what he's talking about -- as usual. And he doesn't know what he's doing. Some states are holding primaries on Tuesday -- not moving them back. If you were Joe Biden, who gets more support from elderly voters, if you were that person and you were smart, you would call for the primaries to be postponed. That's common sense.
It's also true. My ophthalmologist called after I'd mentioned him and my eye issue in last night's entry (he called to say that's a lot worse -- my eye issue -- than how I described it over the phone -- yes, it is, I wasn't going to go over all that over the phone). After we discussed that, we discussed coronavirus. He's an ophthalmologist, not a optometrist. People seeing him are not coming in for glasses or contacts. They've got cataracts, glaucoma, retina issues, etc. It's a medical issue for you to see him.
And I asked how many people were cancelling. He said they started tracking Thursday and on Thursday and Friday, his office got 39 cancellations for appointments in March and April. The people are either not rescheduling or are rescheduling out to the end of May or June. And what's the distribution of the cancellations age wise?
All were over 65. I texted two of my other doctors and they responded their cancellations were also 65 and over.
That doesn't mean those under 65 will be showing up for appointments. It may just mean that the elderly are more polite and cancelling ahead of time or more aware of no show policies and cancelling ahead of time. But it could also mean that the elderly, an at risk population, are aware of the risks and vastly curtailing public activities. That could include voting if they didn't early vote or vote by mail. Again, Joe has their votes. I have no idea why he hasn't called for all primaries to be postponed temporarily -- other than the fact that he can never think of anything himself. He can only mirror what took place before.
While we're talking about what's going on, I saw this Tweet.
Trader Joe’s (and all grocery store employees) are first responders. They are saving our lives by making sure we can eat during a terrifying crisis.
Take two seconds to email traderjoes.com/contact-us and ask that they get hazard pay NOW. The store is making bank. They can do it
·
Across the country, cities are shutting down. Trader Joe’s needs to provide workers hazard pay starting right now. Crewmembers are terrified, knowing their job is putting them on the frontlines of a global pandemic. It is not enough to receive PTO only after being proven sick.
Saturday, I was talking to a friend who handles advertising for a nation grocery chain. That chain saw a 45% increase in sales from the same week last year. Yes, all the grocery chains can afford to pay hazard pay to their workers.
Back to the debate, Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan (WASHINGTON TIMES) reports of the debate:
Sen. Bernard Sanders said he is happy that Joseph R. Biden has come his way on some issues, but questioned the former vice president’s “courage” and “leadership.”
Mr. Sanders said in a debate Sunday that Mr. Biden is pledging to clean up some of the messes that he helped create by backing bad legislation, including a 2005 bankruptcy bill.
“I voted against it in the House and I was right, and I don’t have to rethink my position because that leadership is about - having the guts to take an unpopular vote,” Mr. Sanders said.
The Vermonter said he took hard voters when it mattered most, and staked out positions that were once unpopular, but have become so in vogue that people that Mr. Biden has finally come around.
“What leadership is about is about going forward when it is not popular,” Mr. Sanders said. “When it is an idea that you get criticized for.”
And that is about leadership. Bernie has taken the hard stands and has led on demanding needs for the people. Saturday, we saw Bernie again lead. Coronvirus means many interactions for candidates and the people are temporarily gone. So late Saturday, he announced that in approximately two hours he would be holding a Fireside Chat.
With only two hours heads up, over 100,000 streams took place while it was live. I say "streams." My house was one stream and we had twelve people watching. Since the video has gone up at YOUTUBE after the event, it has had another 166,000-plus streams.
Now Joe tried something different as well. Not a Fireside Chat but then no one's really sure what he was going for. He was in front of a camera on a stand and speaking towards the camera while he spoke into his phone. At some point, after being unsure whether or nor he might be president in one year or two, he got flustered and started walking to the side -- apparently no longer aware that he was standing in front of a camera.
WATCH this bizarre video from recent Biden live stream. Probably the last we'll see Biden campaign expose him to actual unscripted conversation. The man is not well. Why doesn't anyone around him speak up for the supportive medical intervention he needs?
Click on "Mar 14" above to see video if you haven't already.
·
During Democratic debate Joe Biden denies advocating for social security cuts—here's video showing he did newsweek.com/biden-denies-a
Yes, Joe continued to lie in last night's debate.
Don’t say you support a fracking ban when you don’t. Don’t say you didn’t write the bankruptcy bill when you were one of it’s biggest champions. Don’t say you supported ending Hyde a long time ago when you were just pressured into it last year.
This is basic. The truth matters.
He lied throughout the debate. NEWSWEEK at least called him on it. Will anyone else in the corporate press?
Marianne Williamson Tweeted the debate. If Twitter hadn't switched the layout, we'd include it all. Instead, we'll include as much as we can without distorting the snapshot -- huge black gaps appear if you just copy and paste now.
You tell ‘em, Bernie!!! Keep laying it down like it really is. People who create profit centers off human suffering are not legitimate businesspeople - they’re crooks.
We need to do more than deal with symptoms by just providing temporary relief from suffering; we need to address underlying systemic injustices that make such suffering inevitable. We need fundamental change, not just a superficial fix - regardless of whether Big Pharma approves.
Joe just said “People are looking for results, they’re not looking for a revolution.”I think he’s wrong.We need a nonviolent political revolution to challenge the systemic rigging of America’s economic system, or else there will be a continuing pattern of intense human suffering.
Joe thinks we need to handle an emergency created by the coronavirus. Bernie thinks our problem with the coronavirus is the result of a rolling emergency that’s been going on for decades.
This debate is very educational. It’s an embodiment of the contest between corporate and progressive Democrats. Corporates say, “The problem is, you guys can’t do it!” Progressives say, “No, the problem is that you guys WON’T do it!”
Bernie is saying what’s real and what’s true in America today. Regardless what happens, we should listen to this man. He refuses to go along with the political double-speak that has corrupted American politics.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable.” - John F Kennedy
Whether the nominee is Biden or Bernie, universal healthcare, universal access to higher education and deliverance from the burden of those college loans is an absolute must - not only to defeat Trump but to get this country morally back on track.
Joe's dishonesty continued after the debate via his campaign.
Let this sink in. Understand that all of us in the Sanders campaign are seen as nothing but trespassers on their party property and they absolutely cannot wait to call the cops. #DemDebate
·
Surprising post-debate comment from Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn: “It’s safe to say Vice President Biden showed up to a debate tonight and for two hours graciously [dealt] with a kind of protester who often shows up at campaign events, on live television.”
Joe doesn't like protesters. Remember how he used to verbally attack the Iraq War protesters? He pretends he doesn't remember that. He pretends to forget a lot.
REMINDER: Here is Joe Biden looking at Bush sign the Iraq war authorization with a smile on his face. Biden proudly championed this war based on lies and helped to sell it to the American people. Millions would go on to die as a result of that war.
Tonight
lied about his record on social security, abortion rights, bankruptcy bill, green new deal, war in Iraq, gay marriage. If lying no longer matters, so be it. But democrats need to prepare to drop their moral high ground against
. #BidenvsSanders
lied about his record on social security, abortion rights, bankruptcy bill, green new deal, war in Iraq, gay marriage. If lying no longer matters, so be it. But democrats need to prepare to drop their moral high ground against
. #BidenvsSanders
Biden is again saying he only voted for the Iraq War because he was misled by Bush, but he publicly stated his openness to using military force against Saddam Hussein in the aftermath of 9/11, and defended his vote until 2005.
cnn.com/2019/09/04/pol by
and me
and me
Feel like Joe Biden might want to come up with a better lie than "I was tricked into being a cheerleader for the invasion of Iraq by brain-genius mastermind George W. Bush."
Joe's Iraq War continues. Yesterday, Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) reported:
The U.S. military is planning to reposition
hundreds of troops in Iraq, including moving some out of the country,
according to three U.S. defense officials.
The
consolidation of forces will include removing U.S. troops from joint
bases at al-Qaim near the Syrian border, Qayyarah Airfield West near
Mosul and possibly K-1 Air Base in Kirkuk.
Reposition, not remove. Remove is what needs to happen. All US troops need to leave Iraq. Last week saw Gunnery Sgt Diego D. Pongo, Capt Moises A. Navas, Army Specialist Juan Covarrubias and Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts. Countless others were wounded last week. It's time to pull all US troops out of Iraq. Instead, some more US troops are going in. ALMASDAR NEWS notes:
The U.S. military has sent one of their primary ground assault forces to Iraq, following an attack on their troops at the Taji Base last week, an Iraqi military source told Sputnik Arabic on Saturday.
According to the source, who requested anonymity from inside a prominent air base in Iraq, the personnel of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division will arrive at the base soon.
The source added that the U.S. Marine Corps are already present at the air base that the 101st Division is deploying to.
Not only are US troops facing increased attacks from actors who may or may not be connected to the Iraqi government or may or may not be connected to the Iranian government, they are being called out by the Iraqi government. Jason Ditz (ANTIWAR.COM) reports:
After multiple US airstrikes in Iraq over the course of the past week, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry says they will submit a formal complaint to the UN Security Council about ongoing US aggression, and violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Blaming Iraqi Shi’ite militias for rockets fired at US troops, the US attacked at least five bases, The US presents the attacks as retaliation against “Iran-backed” militias, but in practice these militias are part of Iraq’s security forces.
Attacking Iraqi security forces on Iraqi soil is problematic, even if the US sees it as justified. Iraqi officials are warning that the strikes are further destabilizing the situation, and Iraq can’t exactly afford that after months of anti-government protests.
New content at THIRD:
- Truest statement of the week
- Truest statement of the week II
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: California's elected officials disappoi...
- Media: The hypocrisy and the insanity
- There's really only one choice in this race
- Family remembers Hanford soldier Army Specialist J...
- Why doesn't anyone around him speak up for the sup...
- Roundtable
- Bernie Sanders' Saturday Fireside Chat
- This edition's playlist
- Greens on proposed Coronavirus legislation: far to...
- Highlights
The following sites updated:
