Thursday, June 17, 2010
BP Tells Cleanup Workers They'll Be Fired If They Wear Respirators
As I noted on May 19th, BP has been telling cleanup workers that they don't need to wear respirators or other protective gear.
As Jerrold Nadler, the New York congressman whose district includes the World Trade Center, said today:
We're repeating the same catastrophe in the Gulf. You see pictures of people wearing regular clothes who are wading in and scooping oil off the water. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people, are going to get sick unnecessarily.More egregious still, sources on the ground say that BP is telling cleanup workers that they will be fired if they wear respirators:
And see this and this.
Why?
Because - as part of their PR campaign - BP is doing everything it can to prevent dramatic pictures or headlines regarding the oil spill.
For example, BP has been keeping reporters out of areas hardest hit by the oil (and see this, this, this and this) and threatening to arrest them if they try to take pictures, hiding dead birds and other sealife, and using dispersants to break up the thick plumes of oil. Indeed, attorney and environmental advocate Monique Harden says that BP is "running the Gulf region like a prison warden".
7 comments:
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Since when does inhaling benzene and xylene fall under "OSHA Safe"? This is another felonious act of BP!
ReplyDeleteAs a retired member of the Laborers International Union Of North America, and having been involved in the Asbestos removal industry as a Worker and Contractors Supervisor; I can tell you "If BP is doing this, whomever is in charge CAN and WILL be held responsible under Federal Law!" To knowingly endanger the health and safety of a worker in this country is a felony punishable by imprisonment. If Obummer and his slimy cronies allow this to happen, he and they should be held accountable as well! I would like to know who in the HELL do these (sic)people think they are?
ReplyDeleteThat PR move is going to be disasterous in the end.
ReplyDeleteWe already KNOW the damage is beyond repair, why risk further shame by allowing workers to get sick??
You would think BP would be making EVERY effort to make sure employees are safe.
They surely didn't care about the animals, they might as well start showing SOME humanity by keeping the workers safe regardless of the safety issue.
BP should quit trying to downplay the whole event already, it's just making them look worst by the day!!!
ReplyDeleteThey should strive to keep the workers safe REGARDLESS of what the PR people say.
We already KNOW that the oil is toxic, they should be doing everything possible to make sure the workers are kept safe.
Who really cares though? I drive by BP and the lines are long. Americans barely care for our own anymore as long as Walmart is open. This is what BP is banking on.
ReplyDeleteI will repeat....It is a felony punishable by heavy prison time to knowingly let workers be subjected to hazardous or deadly conditions. Period. If the President and officials of BP are letting this happen, they are both breaking Federal Law! Period!
ReplyDeleteFinn, some of us do care. i won't even buy my Coffee at BP any more. BP Sucks!
ReplyDelete