8 • January 6, 2022 - January 12, 2022
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Union Matters AFL-CIO and nurses’ unions take DOL to protect workers over COVID-19 By STEPHON JOHNSON Amsterdam News
(Photo courtesy of insta_photos via iStock)
The AFL-CIO and nurses’ unions around the country petitioned a Court of Appeals to make a temporary standard protecting healthcare workers permanent. The AFL-CIO, National Nurses United (NNU) and other unions petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to make a temporary Occupational Safety and Health AdminisHealthcare workers want OSHA to make tration (OSHA) rule requiring healthcare employees to COVID protection guidance permanent. protect their workers against COVID on the job. your loved ones in danger. Bonnie Castillo, RN, National Nurses “It is time for OSHA to issue a permanent United executive director, stated that OSHA standard and protect nurses and healthcare needs to get to work as soon as possible to workers who are on the front lines working protect American workers. to save the lives of others.” “OSHA is charged with ensuring that emThe temporary standard mandated that ployers create and maintain safe workplac- employers strongly encourage their workes, and this delay in issuing a permanent ers to get vaccinated. Now, OSHA expects standard puts the lives of nurses and other employers to work in good faith with emhealthcare workers, patients, and our com- ployers and handle COVID. munities, in jeopardy,” said Castillo. “We In June, when OSHA officials issued the have seen far too many of our fellow nurses temporary stay, it was noted that as of late die during this pandemic. As of today, we May, the CDC tallied 491,816 healthcare have recorded the deaths of 476 nurse workers who had contracted COVID redeaths from COVID. Going to work should sulting in 1,611 deaths. By the end of 2021, not mean putting your life and the lives of 803,454 healthcare workers contracted
COVID resulting in 3,063 deaths. In early November, that rule was extended to private businesses. That extension, according to OSHA officials, protected more than 84 million workers from the spread of the coronavirus on the job. In a statement, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, whose union is a part of the petition, wanted to remind the public, and OSHA, that the fight against COVID-19 isn’t over. “We are still in the midst of a deadly pandemic, and healthcare workers are facing dangerous exposures to COVID-19 and need the strongest possible protections in their workplaces,” said Shuler. “We must treat the surge in new cases as the crisis that it is. That means retaining and enforcing the emergency standards originally set by OSHA. COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased nearly sixfold in the last six months. In the face of the Omicron variant, it is not the time to roll back protections, but to fully enforce and make them permanent. “We have no choice but to turn to the courts to ensure that our healthcare workers are protected as they provide such critical care throughout this pandemic.” Recently, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance for quarantining healthcare workers. According to the CDC, healthcare workers who contract COVID-19 but are asymptomatic can come back to work after 7 days with a negative test. Also, healthcare workers who have been vaccinated with a booster, but still contract COVID-19, don’t have to
quarantine once exposed. “As the healthcare community prepares for an anticipated surge in patients due to Omicron, CDC is updating our recommendations to reflect what we know about infection and exposure in the context of vaccination and booster doses,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, in a statement. “Our goal is to keep healthcare personnel and patients safe, and to address and prevent undue burden on our healthcare facilities. Our priority, remains prevention— and I strongly encourage all healthcare personnel to get vaccinated and boosted.” AFSCME President Lee Saunders stated that healthcare workers should be treated just like they were treated at the beginning of the pandemic. “Nurses and healthcare workers are the heroes who got us through the worst of the pandemic—but we’re not through with COVID-19 yet,” said Saunders. “Just this week, the U.S. hit a record single-day number of COVID-19 cases: over 1 million. Now is not the time for OSHA to remove the lifesaving protections that have allowed those in our healthcare settings to do their essential work safely and effectively. “To save lives and protect our frontline heroes, OSHA must not rescind the emergency temporary standard and instead promulgate a permanent healthcare standard to protect the lives and health of millions of nurses and other healthcare workers in grave danger from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic,” continued Saunders.
Millions of workers quit their jobs, particularly low-wage ones The U.S. Department of Labor announced this week that 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November. Job openings, however, have decreased from 10.6 million to 11.1 million. That number is still a record high. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, this could be looked at from a positive perspective. “Large numbers of hires and separations occur every month throughout the business cycle. Net employment change results from the relationship between hires and separations,” read the bureau’s report. “When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises, even if the hires level is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines, even if the hires level is steady or rising.” In December, One Fair Wage (a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of tipped restaurant workers), warned of “severe disruptions” when dining out during the holidays with workers not willing to risk their lives due to the easily transmissible Omicron variant of
the coronavirus. The organizaa future. We as an industry have to tion said workers aren’t willing change to be the best we can be. to risk their lives for tips. We’re trying to make that a reali“Hundreds of thousands of ty as much as we can here at The service workers across the state Queensboro.” of New York are fed up with the One Fair Wage’s own report, low wages and poor working titled “Closed Due to Low Wages: conditions in the restaurant inThe Ongoing Exodus of Workdustry, including the subminiers From the NY Restaurant Inmum wage for tipped workers dustry & The Looming Impact that persists in New York, which on Consumers,” showed that is a direct legacy of slavery,” stated since December 2019, New York Saru Jayaraman, president of State made up 12% of all restauOne Fair Wage. “The industry is rant workers who left the indusin crisis. Unless wages go up imtry with a 18% overall decline in mediately statewide, thousands the overall workforce of any U.S. of workers will continue to orgastate or territory. The report stated nize and many more will continas of May 2021, 53% of all restauue to leave.” rant workers still in the industry A lot of this ire could be diplanned on leaving. rected to Albany. New York And job shortages aren’t only Workers are leaving the restaurant industry in State Gov. Kathy Hochul has droves. Some see that as a good thing. found in the restaurant industry. touted her experience as a According to Pew Charitable Trusts, former tipped worker and called for the boro and leader in RAISE High Road Res- Missouri’s social services are in dire straits. elimination of subminimum wage for taurant, said, Communications Workers of America those kinds of employees. “Long before I owned a restaurant, I Local 6355 officials told Pew that the state’s According to Jayaraman, the ball is in her worked in a restaurant as a busboy, dish- child welfare workers are being assigned court. “She has the power to do so right now, washer, bartender, server. I think it’s impor- as many as 50 cases, which is double the before the end of the year, through a simple tant for us to have a kind of industry that normal amount. Citizens with questions executive action,” Jayaraman said. good people want to stay in. regarding public assistance are on hold for Michael Fuquay, owner of the Queens“With low wages, people don’t feel there is hours before speaking with a worker. (Photo courtesy of Prostock-Studio)
By STEPHON JOHNSON Amsterdam News Staff
