Kitchen Table Issue

“Hundreds of workers who’ve contracted silicosis are suing the artificial stone industry for billions. While California weighs a ban on fabricating the product, the manufacturers’ defenders in Congress are trying to ban the lawsuits.” Businessweek (Gift Article): Death Sentences: Crafting America’s Favorite Countertops Is Killing Workers. “Once an athletic stonecutter, Tyler Jordan found in 2022 he could no longer take a full, deep breath, and he hasn’t since …. While Jordan’s parents worry about him, he worries about them. Over the summer, Jimmy, too, was diagnosed with silicosis. But they’ve got bills to pay (he and Tina are only in their 50s) and customers are still demanding artificial stone, so he’s still in the shop, fabricating it himself. ‘That’s just who you are,’ Tina says to Jimmy during a September evening phone call with Businessweek, and he agrees. ‘I’ve always been in the shop,’ he says. ‘The alternative is to quit the business, but then what do you do?'”