Chained. Shut. During a fire.

Let that sink in for a moment. We're not talking about a gray-area regulatory technicality or some OSHA paperwork that didn't get filed on time. We're talking about human beings trapped in a cooler while flames spread through the building. Labor groups and regulators have since accused Flying Food Group of a string of safety violations that put employees at serious risk.

Now, here at The Dissent, we're the first to push back on regulatory overreach. We don't love it when bureaucrats pile rules on small businesses trying to make payroll. But this? This is exactly the kind of situation that makes workplace safety regulations exist in the first place. You cannot chain people inside a refrigerated box and call it a workplace. That's not a free market — that's a trap.

Liberty means something. It means workers have the fundamental right to not be imprisoned at their jobs. It means companies don't get to cut corners on basic human safety because compliance costs eat into margins. Flying Food Group isn't some scrappy startup navigating confusing red tape — they're a major airline food contractor with the resources to know better and do better.

The employees who endured this deserve accountability — real accountability, not a fine that amounts to a rounding error on a corporate balance sheet. And regulators who already had evidence of a pattern of violations need to answer a simple question: why were workers still in danger?

Fiscal conservatism isn't about letting companies treat people like cargo. It's about responsible governance, and that includes holding bad actors' feet to the fire — figuratively, of course. Someone already tried the literal version.