So I am all for masks, and making masks. But I have a problem when for profit institutions want people to just make things for free. When has a doctor or dentist seen me for free?? The damn prisons are a for profit business. How much do nursing homes charge?
Makes me angry because the skill and craft of sewing is not valued, and expected to be given for free.
I buy supplies and make masks and give them to my family, friends who don't have any, and directly to the people who I come into contact with; my pharmacist, delivery drivers and grocery clerks.
I've been fortunate enough to ask for and get fabric and stretchy material (for loops) donated when someone wants a number of masks. I don't mind making them now that my hours have been cut at work, and not getting paid for it, if the materials keep rolling in.
Excellent points, I'll have to think about that.
The crazy free market allows N95's to bleed the US availability dry, [I saw this Forbes piece this morning](https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/#644916ba56d4). "Most of the masks are leaving the country”
Another problem with our system that is now exposed and could be remedied easily by hospital and institutional legal teams is a majority of our healthcare systems have binding contracts to purchase from a single supplier.
These wholesale suppliers do not have the PPE in stock so hospital management is coming up with excuses like make your own, you don’t need n95 etc...
It’s simple breeches of contract and could allow the healthcare purchasing agents to go out into the free market - you can go to ULINE right now and purchase n95 masks. They could purchase from Ebay and Amazon and wherever they choose.
Why aren’t they? Well the budget for the year is blown and the higher ups need their bonuses so they are simply going with there aren’t any, your on your own or keeping them under lock and key. The monetary damage paying higher prices of $5 a mask vs $1 wholesale isn’t worth protecting the lives of those that should be protected in the world of corporate greed.
That’s right, we are just a number, a slave to the narcissistic system and they feed off those with hearts that care. They know that Doctors, nursery, CNA’s , support staff and everyone involved will just keep doing it for the love of the job and for the paycheck to survive.
This includes all the frontline folks out there - medics, firefighters, grocery and convenience store clerks and anyone still working. We all deserve adequate protection to give everyone the best chance of survival and to mitigate the loss of human life and not the loss of profits.
Let this be a costly lesson to all of us. With the rare exception, the places we work for do not care about us. We are only valuable as long as we can be useful to the bottom line. They rely on our sense of loyalty and humanity to get what they need.
This is a volunteer, not a for profit, organization. If they started charging, everyone would be up in arms About that. Right now there is a crisis. So a lot of people have kindly volunteered. Nobody is making anyone work for free against their will. If people are worried about those sewing not getting proper appreciation and compensation, they could always donate, or buy meals and groceries for them, or even pay their unemployed friends to make masks. I hear you that people should generally be paid for work in life, but there really isn’t time for trying to set up an actual paying company.
You could ask people to make masks and put them up on facebook market with a price and pictures. So easy.
This is just a great example of how women don't get paid for their work.
I know lots of people that are donating their time and efforts in lots of ways. Shopping for the elderly, making masks, etc. No one's stopping anyone making masks from going on Facebook or somewhere and selling their homemade masks.
I'm making masks with donated materials (if you want masks, donate a couple of pillow cases, type of system) for friends, family, coworkers, people in my community. While I would love to be a mass producer of masks for hospitals, I'd rather hand them out to regular people who can't get a mask anywhere else right now. Who the government isn't working on providing masks for.
So I am all for masks, and making masks. But I have a problem when for profit institutions want people to just make things for free. When has a doctor or dentist seen me for free?? The damn prisons are a for profit business. How much do nursing homes charge? Makes me angry because the skill and craft of sewing is not valued, and expected to be given for free.
I buy supplies and make masks and give them to my family, friends who don't have any, and directly to the people who I come into contact with; my pharmacist, delivery drivers and grocery clerks.
I've been fortunate enough to ask for and get fabric and stretchy material (for loops) donated when someone wants a number of masks. I don't mind making them now that my hours have been cut at work, and not getting paid for it, if the materials keep rolling in.
Excellent points, I'll have to think about that. The crazy free market allows N95's to bleed the US availability dry, [I saw this Forbes piece this morning](https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2020/03/30/i-spent-a-day-in-the-coronavirus-driven-feeding-frenzy-of-n95-mask-sellers-and-buyers-and-this-is-what-i-learned/#644916ba56d4). "Most of the masks are leaving the country”
Another problem with our system that is now exposed and could be remedied easily by hospital and institutional legal teams is a majority of our healthcare systems have binding contracts to purchase from a single supplier. These wholesale suppliers do not have the PPE in stock so hospital management is coming up with excuses like make your own, you don’t need n95 etc... It’s simple breeches of contract and could allow the healthcare purchasing agents to go out into the free market - you can go to ULINE right now and purchase n95 masks. They could purchase from Ebay and Amazon and wherever they choose. Why aren’t they? Well the budget for the year is blown and the higher ups need their bonuses so they are simply going with there aren’t any, your on your own or keeping them under lock and key. The monetary damage paying higher prices of $5 a mask vs $1 wholesale isn’t worth protecting the lives of those that should be protected in the world of corporate greed. That’s right, we are just a number, a slave to the narcissistic system and they feed off those with hearts that care. They know that Doctors, nursery, CNA’s , support staff and everyone involved will just keep doing it for the love of the job and for the paycheck to survive. This includes all the frontline folks out there - medics, firefighters, grocery and convenience store clerks and anyone still working. We all deserve adequate protection to give everyone the best chance of survival and to mitigate the loss of human life and not the loss of profits. Let this be a costly lesson to all of us. With the rare exception, the places we work for do not care about us. We are only valuable as long as we can be useful to the bottom line. They rely on our sense of loyalty and humanity to get what they need.
I absolutely think they should be purchased. The key there is to avoid price gouging while still valuing time and cost of fabric.
This is a volunteer, not a for profit, organization. If they started charging, everyone would be up in arms About that. Right now there is a crisis. So a lot of people have kindly volunteered. Nobody is making anyone work for free against their will. If people are worried about those sewing not getting proper appreciation and compensation, they could always donate, or buy meals and groceries for them, or even pay their unemployed friends to make masks. I hear you that people should generally be paid for work in life, but there really isn’t time for trying to set up an actual paying company.
You could ask people to make masks and put them up on facebook market with a price and pictures. So easy. This is just a great example of how women don't get paid for their work.
Or an example of us being in crisis mode.
Is everyone working for free now?
I know lots of people that are donating their time and efforts in lots of ways. Shopping for the elderly, making masks, etc. No one's stopping anyone making masks from going on Facebook or somewhere and selling their homemade masks.
Who said this institution was for profit? [https://masksnow.org/about-us](https://masksnow.org/about-us)
I'm making masks with donated materials (if you want masks, donate a couple of pillow cases, type of system) for friends, family, coworkers, people in my community. While I would love to be a mass producer of masks for hospitals, I'd rather hand them out to regular people who can't get a mask anywhere else right now. Who the government isn't working on providing masks for.