So Mitch McConnell and the senate Republicans want blanket employer liability protection as the price of another round of economic support. They have this leverage because Democrats kept postponing their agenda until they were the only ones with a list of things they wanted to spend money on.(This illustrates classic bargaining theory to a T. Bargaining power depends on how much you think you will lose if the agreement is delayed [Rubinstein] or fails completely. Democrats feared economic damage to the public if bailout bills weren’t approved immediately. Once the financial markets were backstopped Republicans considered the rest to be low stakes. Hence the strong tilt to McConnell et al.)So here is a possible Democratic counter:OK, you want liability protection. Let’s give it to
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(This illustrates classic bargaining theory to a T. Bargaining power depends on how much you think you will lose if the agreement is delayed [Rubinstein] or fails completely. Democrats feared economic damage to the public if bailout bills weren’t approved immediately. Once the financial markets were backstopped Republicans considered the rest to be low stakes. Hence the strong tilt to McConnell et al.)
So here is a possible Democratic counter:
OK, you want liability protection. Let’s give it to any employer, large or small, that sets up a health and safety committee to oversee protections on the job, elected by the whole workforce, one person one vote. If protections are consensual, liability is waived. Otherwise proceed at your own risk.
This would be good policy, and it has the political advantage of placing liability within a larger, readily communicable frame about participation and consent.