AMERICAN LABOUR:

LABOUR RIGHTS AND H1N1:

It seems now that the concern expressed earlier this year about the H1N1 flu virus was excessive. Still...millions of workers in the USA (and Canada) have no right to stay home when ill. This means that they can become disease carriers to the general public. The next pandemic may not be as mild. Here, from the UNITE HERE Union is an announcement about a video they have produced about the virus and the Disney Company.

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It’s a Small World: Disney and the H1N1 Virus:
by Tula Connell, Dec 17, 2009
For workers at Disney in Anaheim, Calif., getting sick—even with the H1N1 (swine flu) virus—means an awful choice: Stay home and risk being disciplined or go to work and spreading the illness to co-workers and the public.

Millions of hospitality industry workers in this country have no paid sick leave—like the more than 1,500 workers at Disney—and worse, actually could lose their jobs for staying home to get well. UNITEHERE! Local 11, which represents the workers at Disney, created this video, “It’s a Small World: Disney and the H1N1 Virus,” that clearly shows how Disney’s policy endangers workers and the public.

If you have information about cases of H1N1 among visitors or workers at Disney hotels or parks, send an e-mail with the story to disneyh1n1@gmail.com. And check out our resources on H1N1 here.