A fitting conclusion to two decades of neglect
In one of her final acts, outgoing NC Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry declines to help protect workers from COVID-19
It shouldn’t and doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Some things in the world of 21st century policy and politics – President Donald Trump telling outrageous lies, State Sen. Phil Berger blocking the expansion of health coverage to hundreds of thousands of struggling North Carolinians, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr always making sure to look out for Number One – are as predictable as the sunrise.
And so when it came to light in recent days that North Carolina Labor Commissioner Cherie Berry – “the elevator lady” – was taking a hands-off approach toward protecting the state’s vulnerable frontline workers from exposure to the coronavirus (not to mention all the friends and relations with whom they come into contact), it felt utterly predictable.
Indeed, after two decades in which Berry has done little for the millions of people whom she’s supposed to serve as the state’s top enforcer of workplace safety rules, it seems fitting that she would end her career by telling workers that they are, as usual, on their own. Berry is retiring when her fifth term ends in a few weeks.
Read more: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2020/12/08/a-fitting-conclusion-to-two-decades-of-neglect/