6,000 Nissan Workers Forced to Work During COVID-19 in Mississippi

"Kat Callahan" (kyosuke)
03/18/2020 at 06:10 • Filed to: None

I was the editor on this piece:

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DISCUSSION (40)

duurtlang > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 06:55

I think this is more about the difference in general work culture in the UK compared to the US. In the UK everything is being closed *because greater good*, in the US this is not the case *because profit*. The US is (no offence) a bit of a third world country when it comes to things like this. Unlike in the UK, t here are either no unions or corrupt unions. Legislation to protect the rights of individuals against c orporations is not well developed in the US .

Blaming this on race is rather far fetched, and one could argue makes people numb against actual institutional racism .

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 07:00

Missed a bit...

“Ultimately, the union lost. At the time, workers predicted that the union effort was far over.”

It never ceases to intrigue me as to how ‘old school’ many American working conditions are in this day and age. Especially with respect to the pay and legal rights of casual workers.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 07:09

I work for a supplier, everyone here is still working unless they might be sick or have kids who can’t be otherwise left alone . Salaried individuals (like myself) were told to be ready to work from home just in case, but at least 50% should still be on campus working. As someone without a laptop, I ’m pretty much forced to come in.

Kat Callahan > duurtlang
03/18/2020 at 07:09

I’m not the writer, just the editor, but a couple of points:

1) I was under the impression that the UK was trying some weird herd immunity thing where it was trying to get everyone sick and so not shutting down everything, greater good or not.

2) Not sure the UK has much of a leg to stand on after the Brexit nonsense.

3) ...I think you’re painting American unions with an overly broad brush. I mean, you wouldn’t p ut GMG Union in that category, would you?

4) Actually, you have to ask yourself, why would Nissan choose to put its plants in Tennessee and Mississippi and not other states? Out of 43 plants, only those two are non-unionised. And both are part of the American South. Mississippi in particular is part of the “black belt” and in general labor rights and unionisation has been significantly slower in those areas... because of a certain type of labor that once existed there.

Kat Callahan > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
03/18/2020 at 07:13

I might have, yes. Although actually, I think he might have gone back and modified that line after my last run through. I’ll mention it though, he can go back and edit it. It took me a good hour or so, because it was collaborative. There are some phrasings in there that are me. But I’m sure I missed something. So thanks for the heads up.

Kat Callahan > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
03/18/2020 at 07:15

My primary employer is mostly telecommuting here in Japan. I’ve only been in the office today and no other time this week. I have to run some paperwork for our new intern (currently coming from Europe) to immigration tomorrow (which may not happen, he owes me one more signed document, and it’ll have to wait until Monday, since Friday is a holiday, if he doesn’t return it before early tomorrow morning JST).

I am trying to social distance and isolate as much as possible.

vondon302 > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 08:03

G ood piece. I work in a union shop and the vibe this week is weird. Still working tho.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 09:15

Or because there is a significant work force there where you can build a plant and pay above-market (for that area) wages to get employees but below what it would cost to staff a plant in Michigan, Ohio, etc.

I can’t imagine why any manufacturer would want to avoid dealing with the UAW. /s

boredalways > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 09:33

I remember loosing my shit over their non-union vote. I understood their fears, but couldn’t stomach their short-sightedness in respect to their future and the racist history of the South. It makes me wonder if these folks will learn the lesson now and turn out to vote for unionizing, vote for local, state, and federal offices, and fill out the Census now and in the future.

Fingers crossed.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 09:37

I’m a federal employee and in a situation where I can’t telework due to the sensitive nature of my work. Things are strange, to say the least. I posted a mini-rant about this yesterday, because there’s no clear direction from the top.

Our sister organizations are all shutting down and going to telework only, even though they are in the same boat we are - most people can’t do it due to the nature of the work. They told everyone do what you can, and then work on online training, or do “personal and professional development, ” in other words read a book or something.

But in my work center we are getting mixed messages - they were going to shut down, then they were going to be open. Then you could self-isolate if you felt uncomfortable (but you’d still get paid) , then that was rescinded (come in or you don’t get paid, or take your leave). We have a lot of people who travel for this job, and while all future travel is canceled, we still have people filtering back. Some were sent home, some were allowed to stay with no real rhyme or reason as to why. Then yesterday they flipped and sent some people home who originally stayed, and called some of the ones they sent home back in.

The good news is they are at least accommodating the people who really need it. I’m on a team project and half the team is home because they have childcare issues, one guy has a pregnant spouse who he doesn’t want to risk transmitting it to, etc. I’m happy for them but it also means the project has ground to a halt and I’m finding little reason to be here myself .

Oh well, the wheels of government continue to grind, slowly.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 09:43

Do they just think this is paid vacation, or something? There are serious economic consequences for shutting things down, especially if it is not necessary to do so.

This is the wonderful world of elite central planning. Other people telling you what you must or must not do, because they say so, and they purport that they know better than you.

Shutting half the businesses down, and putting people out of work, and possibly out of business indefinitely, and curtailing almost all social activity.

Not shutting the other half down, but getting complaints from those employees who still have a job, because they don’t want to be at work....

All for a disease that has an infection rate in the 5 figures, and death rate in the 4-figures, among a population many orders of magnitude larger.

I get that there needs to be common sense practices... but this is fear mongering and a lot of government over-reach, which is meeting pretty much no resistance from people who are being told to be scared, and trusting that the government is right in telling everyone to shut a LOT of things down, regardless of consequence.

I hope it is valid, because if it isn’t, the next time the government wants to grind everyone’s life to a halt by crying “Wolf on fire! ” in a crowded country , it won’t be met nearly as peaceably.

Kat Callahan > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/18/2020 at 09:53

Sure, but at $12.75 an hour are they actually doing that?

Doesn’t have to be the UAW. They could create their own union and build relations with Nissan’s Japanese union or the unions in other units. I believe the workers have a right to democratically decide how they proceed. They don’t have to affiliate with the UAW, as long as they are united.

Kat Callahan > Snuze: Needs another Swede
03/18/2020 at 09:55

I was told I was supposed to be mandatory telecommuting from Tuesday. Yet I had to come in today, and hopefully will not have to do so tomorrow or for a while yet.

Kat Callahan > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 10:01

...I’m going to disagree.* I won’t go line by line , only because I am incredibly terrified of the numbers I’ve been seeing and I’ve already had this discussion numerous times today.

I’ll just say this is a huge threat because so many otherwise healthy people become carriers. Lots of people seem asymptomatic/immune. But that doesn’t mean they can’t infect others. Yes, it does mean most of humanity will likely survive as herd immunity builds. But it also it will mean letting a significant (and in my opinion entirely unacceptable and preventable) number of people die.

Or we could all just agree to stay the fuck away from each other for a few weeks, globally, and our governments could actually express interest in providing for the public welfare during that time with all the resources and currency points they have at their disposal.

We’re also seeing how much of our daily tasks are made up bullshit and how many actually matter. Funny how it seems the former are perhaps the highest paid and the latter are the lowest... hmmmemoji.gif

*disclaimer, we probably would, I’m practically a pinko commie compared to many :3

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 10:04

For unskilled labor? Yes. $5 above minimum wage in MS as well.

Kat Callahan > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/18/2020 at 10:09

I sure as hell couldn’t build a car. “Unskilled” sure is doing a lot of work there.

nerd_racing > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 10:26

UK announced they are abandoning the “herd immunity” plan yesterday.

nerd_racing > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 10:28

There are tons of aspects of building a car that can be considered unskilled labor. In a lot of cases, automation makes operations as simple as loading materials, pushing buttons, and reloading. If it were a hand crafted low volume vehicle? yes that is different. I’ve ridden in modern nissans, not the case.

Textured Soy Protein > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 10:43

The economic impact is going to be painful but this disease is HIGHLY contagious and there might not be a vaccine for 18 months. This is not the time to downplay these facts in the name of trying to maintain the economy.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 10:56

I hope you don’t have to either. Good luck and stay safe and healthy .

And they just came around and spun us up some more. It’s good times!

DipodomysDeserti > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 11:00

“ All for a disease that has an infection rate in the 5 figures, and death rate in the 4-figures”

Five figure morbidity rates and and four figure mortality rates, huh? What sort of units are you using there, champ, because that sounds fucking terrifying.

DipodomysDeserti > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/18/2020 at 11:04

Well, definitely won’t ever be buying a Nissan. In and Out Burger pays high schoolers about the same to build my double double.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Textured Soy Protein
03/18/2020 at 11:12

There are a lot of contagious diseases. Is it worth causing a depression, and killing the livelihood of potentially millions of people for that?

Who is going to pay this many people to stay home and not be productive?

Are the bills that businesses, and their employees are required to pay... like RENT or a mortgage, and operating supplies, debt payments, and everything else that operates from day to day, and month to month, just going to be forgiven?

People should be staying home and practicing proper health procedures ALL THE TIME, not just now... and not carry the cold, flu, gastro interitis, strep, or any other disease into a public place, let alone COVID, which is just a variant of the corona virus strains that are already circulating.

What happens with COrona VIral Disease 2020, (COVID-20) as it mutates and circulates again in a year’s time... will we all shut down again?

In showbiz, the show must go on . In life, it is actually more imperative that life must go on.

Chances are, grenading the economy and putting people out of work, may only prolong the situation, not avoid it... and could actually end up doing more long term harm economically, for only a delay in progression in terms of public health.

Panic and fear is not helping people, it is causing more trouble... and things like supply hoarding is actually potentially causing hygiene and health risk issues for the people unable to get the supplies, while other people stockpile more than they can use.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > DipodomysDeserti
03/18/2020 at 11:34

This is still less than Influenza infection and mortality per year, it is just getting much more publicity.

Evidently now the infection rate has crossed into 6 figures, a bit over 200,000.

Mortality is still reported at just over 8000.

That is world-wide, among a population of nearly 8,000,000,000.

8000 deaths is .000 1%

200,000 cases is .0025%

According to Health.com, Influenza has infected 31 million people, hospitalized possibly as many as 370,000, and possibly as many as 30,000 people died in the last year.

2018-19 - 34,000 died from influenza. Yet the world continued turning. Individually, those are tragedies.

In aggregate, they are a fact of life. Influenza combined with Pneumonia barely cracks the top 10 causes of death, reported by CDC, and influenza alone would not be in the top 10. Covid-19 may get worse, but as of now, is at least an order of magnitude smaller than Influenza.

Heart disease: 647,457

Cancer: 599,108

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936

Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201

Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383

Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404

Diabetes: 83,564

Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672

Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633

Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173

I absolutely am not trying to be callous or unfeeling about this, but nobody seems to be providing a context for these sorts of things right now.

There are all sorts of serious problems, but blowing one of them out of proportion, and creating a whole bunch of additional problems because of it, doesn’t seem prudent.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Kat Callahan
03/18/2020 at 11:38

And neither is anyone at that factory. They are adding pieces to something that will ultimately be a car. And it doesn’t take a lot of skill to align something and hit a button or tighten a bolt or any number of other tasks that eventually add up to a car. Certainly the factory has some skilled workers - they likely make more than $12.75. But if your choice is working at a fast food joint or working in the Nissan plant, you are unskilled labor.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > DipodomysDeserti
03/18/2020 at 11:44

Not in Mississippi. Not only because In-N-Out does not have locations in MS, but because the average salary for someone working at a fast food place in MS is substantially less than $10/hour.

E.g., https://www.indeed.com/cmp/McDonald%27s/salaries/Fast-Food-Attendant/Mississippi

Textured Soy Protein > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 11:47

Everything you’re saying is based on incorrect assumptions about how quickly this disease spreads. It is far more contagious than the other diseases you mentioned.

It is entirely possible for people to have mild to no symptoms and unknowingly spread it to people who are more vulnerable and at higher risk of dying.

The only reason the reported numbers in the US are as low as they are is because we don’t have enough testing capacity to get a correct number. Public health experts are cautioning that the real number of infection s is 10x the reported numbers. There are models predicting that if we do not take the necessary steps to mitigate the spread of the disease, 2 million Americans could die.

Until a vaccine is developed, business as usual simply cannot take place. The first priority is on minimizing the impact to public health and the second priority is to limit the economic damage. But the efforts to shore up the economy cannot come at the expense of the very real need to limit the spread of the disease.

The feds and states are already easing unemployment eligibility and looking at providing basic income support to EVERYONE. More support will be coming to various industries and sectors of the population with the worst economic fallout. Yes, the money has to come from somewhere.

But you can’t put people’s health second in the name of economically sticking a finger in a hole in a dam that’s about to burst.

DipodomysDeserti > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 14:49

You typed a lot of words, but seem to be unfamiliar with what a rate is.

DipodomysDeserti > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/18/2020 at 14:54

Jesus. Never good when a state makes Arizona look like it pays its fast food workers a lot. Undocumented workers make more than that here. Definitely not buying a vehicle made in Mississippi.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > DipodomysDeserti
03/18/2020 at 16:58

I know what a rate is, but nobody seems to be able to prove that tearing down the rest of the worlds operations is going to definitively reduce that rate enough to justify the tear-down, panic, fear, and other yet-unforeseen consequences.

Why is panic justified now, when almost never justifiable otherwise?

What happens if the next thing is WORSE than this, and we’ve already diminished our capability of responding properly?

Just because this is the reaction that is happening, doesn’t mean it is the correct reaction to have, nor that contextual realism and pragmatism is being observed.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Textured Soy Protein
03/18/2020 at 17:12

That scares me more than the virus does.

This is pushing central planning and government control with almost no resistance.

Universal income, universal health care, and a police state to enforce social isolationist policy, which are all mere steps away now, are not good things, and once implemented, are very difficult to retract.

Socialist elite central planners love it.

But it sucks without basic supplies for a short time now while free enterprise balances a measured reaction to health concerns with increased production to re-stock scarce supplies, and there is a chance that things will return to normal.

There hasn’t been toilet paper in Venezuela for a LONG TIME, and not much prospect for more to come.... how well is socialism and government control over everything working for them?

If private entities (people and business groups) supposedly “own” the means of production, but are controlled by force of law under the government to do what they are told... that is the textbook definition of socialism. The only difference between that and communism, is the government dispensing with the illusion of private ownership.

The government is telling businesses they can’t do business. They are telling them how to do the business that they remain allowed to do. They are telling them how many customers they can have.

If hoarding continues, or the economy crashes much further, they will start to set prices and quantities, rather than businesses deciding that for themselves.

They are also telling the citizenry how they will behave... and how they will be allowed to assemble or not assemble.

Today it is for the greater good of public health... what about tomorrow?

Kinja'd!!!

Art imitates life, which in turn imitates the art again... this is how liberty dies, to the sound of thunderous applause of the people who think they are being protected and defended by totalitarians and oligarchs, who are all to eager to take charge, regardless.

This is becoming P avlovian. The crisis bell rings, and the populace habitually salivates in anticipation of being fed by the ‘benevolent and protective’ government.

Kat Callahan > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/18/2020 at 17:16

You say that like I could walk into the Nissan plant tomorrow and just start doing it. You probably also think waitressing or custodial work is unskilled labor--I happen to think both of those require that you learn how to do it, and both are hard work that takes time to get right, and I am not good at either. That’s skilled. It may be “unskilled” in some fucked up capitalist hellscape that we live in, but in truth, it is definitely skilled.

Textured Soy Protein > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 17:56

I’ve tried to keep it factual with you. I’m not going to engage in a discussion of your bullshit right wing conspiracy theory. Ideas like yours in response to a very real global health crisis are irresponsible and dangerous. Pull your head out of your ass.

DipodomysDeserti > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 20:03

Panicking is never justified or helpful. China did show that shutting everything down does help. Wuhan just closed its last temporary hospital this week.

Now, as far as whether it’s worth it or not. That’s a whole other, existential question.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Textured Soy Protein
03/18/2020 at 20:48

Because not discussing drastic social changes being made wholesale in the name of fear, makes those wholesale changes acceptable, either as permanent changes, or as set precedents for repetitive incremental social engineering.

Some of what I said is opinion about extrapolating trends into the future, which cannot be anything but speculation from ANY viewpoint ,

but the facts of what is being done now, are still facts, and progressives like you have used incrementalism to move governmental control, social norms, and cultural attitudes since the term “progressive” was applied those aspects, and the people who support and implement them.

If these social aspects continue beyond the next few weeks, and aren’t retracted, or otherwise recur again with the next crisis, will you discuss it then, or will you continue to lash out with personal insults instead?

Textured Soy Protein > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/18/2020 at 21:50

This is not some insidious attempt to set precedents of authoritarianism. It is a global health emergency, and it’s going to last WAY longer than the next few weeks. I’m not extrapolating. Look at China and Italy. It’s the same damn virus. We know how it will go because we’ve already seen it in other places. You need to change your fucking tune. I refuse to be respectful of your dangerous irresponsible bullshit. I will not dignify your nonsense with engagement. You are totally, completely, absolutely wrong. Don’t be a fucking idiot. Your line of thinking needs to be quarantined just as much as contagious people. You are the problem. Go crawl back into your incel hole. Don’t @ me bitch.

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > Textured Soy Protein
03/18/2020 at 23:00

The virus is going to do what the virus is going to do.

Completely shutting down society, culture, and the economy may slow it slightly, but even that remains to be seen whether isolation will actually have enough of a margin of a health benefit to justify the non-health-related catastrophe a protracted economic shutdown will cause...

Might help slow the spread a bit , vs. WILL damage everything else... is not necessarily a great trade off, when common sense response would likely have similar response in slowing the spread.

Nobody is suggesting no response at all, but some are questioning the degree to which the huge impact on hundreds of millions, possibly billions of people is, for a disease affecting only thousands.

It is not a binary choice between no reaction at all, and complete and total over-reaction, and nobody but you is operating on such a premise that a LESS impactful reasonable reaction means doing nothing at all.

And all your nasty vitriol insulting anyone and everyone who disagrees with your single-mindedness and blind acceptance of what you are told, and complete lack of contextual analysis, and welcoming and invitation of governmental control (which you have been a proponent of LONG before this crisis) doesn’t change the facts, or the trends.

Your attitude of your point of view being unassailable, and anyone else’s who disagrees with you being any and all manner of malicious, and justified in treating your neighbor as an enemy, rather than as a person with a differing view point is showing your colors AGAIN, as you always do.

The world doesn’t turn on one single issue, and it doesn’t STOP turning on a single issue, either, not even disease.

How many people’s health is potentially negatively affected by the effects of the REACTION to this? How many people are possibly going to be unattended and sequestered by social isolation, which could prevent response to things like heart attack or stroke in time for rescue? Heart disease and cardio-vascular issues are a much wider health issue. Suicide is also on the top-10 CDC causes of death... How does social isolation help that? What about accidental injury response if no one is around?

If all you have is insults, and verbal viciousness, you have nothing of value worth contributing, and you have no grounds to accuse anyone else of anything. You invalidate yourself.

haveacarortwoorthree2 > Kat Callahan
03/19/2020 at 07:49

No, you probably would be getting paid while you learn how to run the machine or turn the wrench or whatever. That doesn’t turn unskilled labor into skilled labor. Similarly, one may be skilled at being a waitress, but that doesn’t mean waitressing is skilled labor. Similarly, whether work is “easy” or “hard” has nothing to do with it being skilled or unskilled - digging ditches is hard, backbreaking labor, but that doesn’t mean it is skilled . The people who packed the semi when we moved were like the ultimate real-life Tetris players - that doesn’t mean that loading trucks is skilled labor, even though they also worked their asses off . I would think an editor/writer would be able to grasp these pretty simple concepts.

But it is nice that you continue to show your true colors. “Capitalist hellscape.” lol I am sorry that workers at McDonald’s do not make the same money as architects, engineers, auto mechanics ( skilled labor in the automotive field), etc. But they shouldn’t, and they never will.

Textured Soy Protein > BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
03/19/2020 at 10:42

I’m not going to address the individual points in your paragraphs worth of idiocy. You have it completely wrong.

“You insulted me so I’m right” is not a valid defense of stupid ideas. They’re still stupid and incorrect.

Have fun when you catch it and get put on a respirator.

Kat Callahan > haveacarortwoorthree2
03/19/2020 at 19:20

See, but that’s the thing, I understand how you’re using the word , I just disagree, and I’m telling you why I think differently. I’ve tried my hand at a lot of so-called “unskilled” labor. Turns out there was an awful lot to learn (you know, the definition of obtaining a skill) and sometimes I was really, really bad at it. I have jobs which are the epitome of so-called skilled labor: communication (journalism/PR) , IT, secondary school teaching. I’ve got degrees, diplomas, certifications, etc. I don’t think that makes me better or inherently more valuable than the supposedly “unskilled” workers around me. Especially since I can’t do their jobs. Something this pandemic is showing to be true.

“Show my true colors”? I’ve been on the Gawker family of websites as a commenter since before Kinja even existed . Then I was a Jezebel writer. Then I was a Jalopnik writer (after my side pieces on driving in Japan were shared from Oppo). The thing about Gawker and its websites is that it has always been editorial. When have I ever tried to hide my opinions? I’ve joked repeatedly about practically being a communist. I’m not actually a communist—I am actually a democratic socialist, a collectivist, etc though, and have been since before Bernie Sanders made it more popular and well known in American consciousness. I’ve never tried to hide it.

Could it be that we just disagree--and that’s ok?