Quote of the day
“Stop increasing taxes, stop putting new regulations on that are costly, stop the bleeding and then let’s take a look and again, making the cost of workers’ compensation more fairer, reducing significant unemployment insurance burdens for example or environmental regulations that simply add cost and we haven’t done that.”
Illinois Manufacturers’ Association President Mark Denzler
Workers’ comp sought in death of poultry plant employee
The family of a 60-year-old Tyson Foods employee in Iowa who died of COVID-19 has filed a workers’ compensation claim against the company. The company earlier this month reportedly reinstated punitive employee-absence policies in Iowa as COVID-19 continued to through its meatpacking plants. MSN
Most Illinois metro areas show population loss as manufacturing jobs decline
A new review of U.S. Census data shows most of Illinois’ metropolitan areas have lost population over the past ten years. Rockford shrank 5 percent, Peoria shrank 4.1 percent and Springfield is 2.4 percent smaller since 2010. The state’s leading manufacturing association says the state must foster a better business climate. Center Square
Texas nursing staffer files lawsuit over infection
A skilled nursing facility staff member at a Texas facility in who contracted COVID-19 has filed a lawsuit alleging the company failed to provide a safe working environment during the pandemic. Allegations include the employer negligently failed to provide to provide proper personal protective equipment. Panola Watchman
Chinese company faces federal charges in ‘fake’ N95 respirator case
A Chinese manufacturer has been charged with producing and exporting to the United States nearly half a million misbranded and defective masks that falsely purported to be N95 respirators for allegedly violating the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. According to the complaint, the company manufactured 495,200 defective and misbranded masks, embroidered with “N95,” even though they fell well below the minimum 95 percent filtration standard, that it claimed to be N95 respirators and had them imported into the United States. MassDevice