Our collective common sense says fight them now!

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Workers' Fight workplace bulletin editorials
24 June 2020

Just as responsibility for controlling the coronavirus at large, is now being left to the "common sense" of the public, safety in workplaces has been handed over to the "common sense" of the bosses. Never mind that the only "sense" they can demonstrate is their sense of smell: a nose for profit.

    There is no "test and trace" in place for bosses who claim their workplaces are "Covid Secure". When asked what workers should do if they feel they are being exposed to risk, Johnson said "just phone the Health and Safety Executive", which he claims is doing C-19-security “spot checks”.

    In fact it was a bit of a surprise when the HSE popped up at government C-19 briefings. It had all but disappeared, having had such severe cuts to its government funding, that today it has fewer than 1,000 factory inspectors to cover over 5m workplaces - and acts as little more than an advisory service. Which by the way, is almost impossible to reach on the phone.

    But it was needed to provide cover for the "safe return to work" at the end of May. So its boss was brought in to stand at the podium and the grand sum(!) of £14m was handed over, to make up for years of under-funding.

    If any spot checks were carried out, they have certainly not prevented C-19 outbreaks in high risk meat factories: so far, 200 workers were infected in 2 Sisters processing plant in Anglesey, 70 in Rowan Foods, Wrexham and 150 in Kober, West Yorkshire, just in the last weeks. A case was also found at BMW Oxford, where only 2 workers were deemed to have been “exposed” and the rest of the workforce was kept at work and told to keep quiet!

    Of course, at every step in this pandemic, the government has avoided "instructing" the bosses or invoking the law against them. That was predictable. Workers will have to organise to protect themselves, their workmates and the wider community from the consequences of the bosses' lethal, criminal negligence. But they can do it - if they rely on their “common” collective strength.