New York Times Editorial Board Rips OSHA Under Trump Admin For Providing ‘Little Incentive’ to Protect Workers From Covid-19

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The New York Times editorial board called out the Trump administration for providing “little incentive” for companies to protect their employees from the coronavirus in an op-ed.

“Just $15,615. That’s how much a $52 billion meatpacking company was fined by the federal government for unsafe conditions that led to the deaths of eight workers,” the editorial board declared in an article on Monday, accusing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of being “asleep at the wheel” despite the coronavirus “infecting 6.5 million Americans and killing nearly 200,000.”

The editorial board noted that OSHA “has issued only guidelines, rather than establish enforceable rules, for businesses that rushed to reopen when they were deemed essential early in the pandemic, putting hundreds of thousands of employees in workplaces where the virus could easily spread,” and claimed it “has failed to act on thousands of coronavirus-related complaints, relying largely on self-reporting from companies seeking to forestall inspections.”

The board went on to advise that even small changes, like barriers, face masks, and social distancing could help stop infections, but concluded that “without the threat of real enforcement from the nation’s top cop for worker safety, there is little incentive for businesses to change their ways to better protect their employees and their communities.”

The article was published just after it was reported that at least over 200 meatpacking workers had died since March from Covid-19.