Migrant seafood-processing workers, who are legally hired and transported to the U.S. each season through the federal H-2B visa program, face heightened risks of catching COVID-19.
Podcast: Airport workers faced COVID risks as airlines advertised passenger safety measures
Conversations about the safety of air travel have largely left airport workers out. The choice of whether or not to fly in a pandemic is a question of community safety and how the decision affects people with the least protection. Meet some of them in the Howard Center podcast In The Air.
At least 9,000 Arkansas workers caught COVID-19 as pandemic overwhelmed regulators, companies
In working conditions that stress a quick turnaround on products, have close contact between employees and brisk temperatures, poultry workers say they were put at risk for catching the virus.
Massachusetts health departments overwhelmed, unprepared to protect workers
With federal regulators missing from the field and state leaders scrambling to manage the COVID-19 crisis, Massachusetts’ 351 overtaxed local boards of health were unwittingly thrust into a new role last year — overseers of workplace safety.
As Walmart sales soared, workers got scant COVID-19 protection from OSHA
Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, provides a window into OSHA’s performance during the pandemic.
Baltimore reimbursement program leaves residents burdened with sewage backup costs
Natasza Bock-Singleton could smell it from where she was sitting in her home office in the basement. She could hear it too — a gurgling sound, coming from the bathroom. She got up to find out what was going on.…
Policing mental health crises in Montgomery County
In Montgomery County, there is a growing debate about the role of police in addressing mental health crises. The county’s population is reliant on only two in-person assistance resources for behavioral-health related incidents. Nationwide, one in four victims of police…
Emergency first responders doing vital but dangerous work during the pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency first responders’ efforts have increased in both necessity and danger. Emergency medical services workers are some of the most vulnerable front-line workers, but they have gone almost unnoticed in reporting about front-line workers during the pandemic.
Prisoners in solitary confinement live in cells the size of an elevator
Solitary Confinement prisoners live in a 6 foot by 9 foot cell for 22 hours a day. This type of isolation can cause severe anxiety, depression, stress and suicidal tendencies.
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez want $172 billion to overhaul public housing
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, want the federal government to invest as much as $172 billion over 10 years to transform living conditions for nearly two million people living in public housing. They are sponsoring…