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Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

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Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#91

Post by mrob »

pixl97 wrote: post #7
dmbche wrote: post #2

"Nearly half of the workers suffering silicosis in the UCLA and UCSF study said their workplaces were using water to control dust. Roughly a quarter said they always had respiratory protection. Fazio said studies have found that in many shops, dust is so thick in the air that respirators cannot filter out a sufficient amount. Metzger argued that the kind of sophisticated and costly measures that would be needed to re…

>dust is so thick in the air that respirators cannot filter out a sufficient amount This is not a technology problem, this is an 1880s "Safety devices are too expensive problem" along with paid under the table workers problem. All kinds of other industries manufacture 'dangerous' products with regulations that protect the workers. Housing and agriculture are both industries that do not and fight ever further for anti…

Specifically, the problem can be solved with a supplied-air respirator:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supplied-air_respirator

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#92

Post by duped »

lm28469 wrote: post #61
morelisp wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like what?

Like giving people an incentive to illegally come to your country ? If there are no difference between coming legally or illegally the choice is easy. Like I could just book a one way flight to LA and become a US citizen because reasons ?

Like how most of our ancestors got here, you mean?

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#93

Post by swagempire »

Tao3300 wrote: post #80
DoreenMichele wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I checked, Canada doesn't share a border with Mexico and some portion of these Latino "day workers" are illegal immigrants. Day workers are often paid under the table and when I have read other stories about them, they tend to include medical horror stories like "So, this guy cut 3 of his fingers off and they didn't even take him to the ER. They just returned him to the place where they had picked him up." This…

More policy preaching from ultra-white northern countries that don't let anyone in. It's such a tired trope...

Canada is pretty heavy on immigration I hear-- its how they partially make up for a declining birthrate.

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#94

Post by jmvoodoo »

echelon wrote: post #77
pydry wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel great about slapping a tax on the profits of companies that sell highly processed, sugary, addictive foods so that the market selects for healthier alternatives. Maybe subsidies for selling fresh fruit and veg also. I guess you could tax their victims instead though... they don't have a lobby so theyre probably easier to take advantage of.

> I guess you could tax their victims instead though... they don't have a lobby so theyre probably easier to take advantage of. Nobody is the victim of choosing to eat a cake.

We aren't talking about cake though. We are talking about inexpensive highly processed foods made predominantly from ingredients that are subsidized specifically because of their caloric density. I.e. corn.

High caloric density is what you want if you need to be able to feed your country in war, so we subsidize these foods.

No one wants to eat just plain corn though, so companies process it into other foods that are then sold cheaply because they are receiving these large subsidies.

People end up consuming large quantities of these foods because they are cheap, and our brain reward centers a pre-wired to love lots of cheap easy calories.

Knowing all of this, it makes perfect sense to tax the living crap out of highly processed foods that are made from subsidized ingredients. You're just taking back the subsidy you put there in the first place, and shaping consumer behavior for the greater good (which is a common use case for taxation).

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#95

Post by willcipriano »

dcow wrote: post #37
aaomidi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing the availability of cheap labor by providing more worker rights, and less/no criminalization of undocumented immigrants alongside an h1b reform would do wonders for the general health of this society.

Nobody is against cheap workers paying taxes. They’re against undocumented workers getting paid under the table and unfairly competing with documented workers that have to pay taxes and thus are more expensive. Gotta solve the documentation problem one way or another.

Once illegal immigrants gain citizenship and essentially basic civil rights (being a criminal federally isn't really freedom no matter if your state is sort of cool about it or not) they will no longer be willing to work in these conditions. They don't report or sue now due to their status, people fear deportation and it's often used as a threat by business owners and housewives employing cleaners and nannies.

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#96

Post by aaomidi »

dcow wrote: post #37
aaomidi wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Removing the availability of cheap labor by providing more worker rights, and less/no criminalization of undocumented immigrants alongside an h1b reform would do wonders for the general health of this society.

Nobody is against cheap workers paying taxes. They’re against undocumented workers getting paid under the table and unfairly competing with documented workers that have to pay taxes and thus are more expensive. Gotta solve the documentation problem one way or another.

Have you seen how people talk about “others”? “Nobody” is a very absolute term in a society that has people out for blood for “others”

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#97

Post by sologoub »

Tao3300 wrote: post #80
DoreenMichele wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I checked, Canada doesn't share a border with Mexico and some portion of these Latino "day workers" are illegal immigrants. Day workers are often paid under the table and when I have read other stories about them, they tend to include medical horror stories like "So, this guy cut 3 of his fingers off and they didn't even take him to the ER. They just returned him to the place where they had picked him up." This…

More policy preaching from ultra-white northern countries that don't let anyone in. It's such a tired trope...

26.4% of Canada’s population are first generation immigrants (foreign born): https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fo...

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#98

Post by guraf »

Tao3300 wrote: post #80
DoreenMichele wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last I checked, Canada doesn't share a border with Mexico and some portion of these Latino "day workers" are illegal immigrants. Day workers are often paid under the table and when I have read other stories about them, they tend to include medical horror stories like "So, this guy cut 3 of his fingers off and they didn't even take him to the ER. They just returned him to the place where they had picked him up." This…

More policy preaching from ultra-white northern countries that don't let anyone in. It's such a tired trope...

Canada will have imported over 1M immigrants in 2023 (for their population of only 40M!). Newsflash: most aren't white.

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#99

Post by sologoub »

bushbaba wrote: post #45
mabbo wrote: post #39

What I find interesting when comparing the US the Canada on topics like these is that in Canada, there is self-interest in demanding workers be protected. Like beyond the fact that it's a good thing you do. Because we have a public health care system, funded by taxes, having a large number of young men out of the work force (not paying taxes) and using the health care system effectively means my taxes, everyone's tax…

America offers Medicare so we still bear the cost. Just only if they live long enough to receive the retirement benefits. Yeah one heck of a perverse incentive.

Since the examples are in CA, there is Medi-Cal for those who are too poor to buy subsidized insurance and it’s not age-related unlike Medicare. It’s an expanded form of Medicaid. I’d bet CA taxpayers do shoulder the costs if the victims know to apply.

Re: Workers who cut countertops are dying of silicosis

#100

Post by guraf »

throwaway8378 wrote: post #84
rafaelmn wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not agreeing/disagreeing with this you but I wonder how you feel about obesity tax ? Low physical fitness tax ? There's plenty of evidence that exercise and diet significantly impact health (especially on population level) - like you said there's an incentive to keep those people healthy contributors instead of chronic burdens on the system. Sounds like a logical extension but doesn't seem popular/implemented widely.

What about all the other harmful activities? Recent studies about alcohol usage shows that even small amounts can be much more harmful than previous estimates. In addition to the health issues, we also need to consider all the accidents and violence that is connected to drunkeness.

Alcohol is not only heavily taxed in Canada, but most provinces also have a monopoly on selling spirits. That's right, the gov is selling the booze, pocketing both the tax and the profits.
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