Our Perspective
Workers Need
Protection and Relief
as Pandemic Rages
By Stuart Appelbaum, President
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
Twitter: @sappelbaum
With the White House a bona fide
Coronavirus hot spot, and case numbers
rising in dozens of states, one thing is
abundantly clear – we are still in the midst of the
pandemic, and experts say we may well be entering into a second wave of
the biggest public health crisis in a century. It’s been a long year and we’ve
made progress; but with infection rates climbing in New York City, now is
not the time to let down our guard.
Working men and women remain on the front lines of this pandemic. It’s
a battle they did not choose, but it’s a responsibility they have accepted; and
we owe these frontline workers a great debt. Essential workers in health care
and at our supermarkets and retail stores as well as others have been there
for us throughout this crisis – often at great personal cost to themselves and
their families.
We need to continue supporting one another as we cope with the
rising numbers and continuing pandemic. And that means continuing to
follow the protocols and guidelines as established by health experts – even
if President Trump and his short-sighted allies continue to flout them as
the virus steam rolls the White House. New York needs to lead by example,
as it did in the early days of the pandemic.
Right now, the legislature is considering the NY Heroes Act. The bill
would codify enforceable COVID workplace health and safety standards,
rather than just guidelines. Businesses would be directed to protect all
workers in New York through protocols including testing, facemasks, PPE,
social distancing, and disinfection, under possible penalty of strong fines.
The most egregious violators may face injunctions from the Department of
Labor, and enforcement mechanisms will be strengthened to protect workers
and make sure all businesses are providing safe workplaces.
Employers would also be required to allow workers to form workplace
health and safety committees with the power to raise complaints and report
violations. We enthusiastically support this legislation, and we look forward
to the governor signing it. We also support the proposed New York
Billionaires tax, a tax on the wealthiest New Yorkers which would raise up to
$25 billion annually to cover a new unemployment insurance fund for
workers impacted by COVID-19.
But these proposed protections and legislations are only part of the
story.
The economic damage we are experiencing is deep and will linger for
some time. Retail in New York has been hit particularly hard; and as a result,
countless thousands of retail workers are unemployed or working severely
reduced hours. Working people need continued economic support to get
through these trying times. And that includes the thousands of hard-working
undocumented workers who cannot access any government support
because of their immigration status.
We can and should change that. It’s clear our federal government has
abandoned New York, and it’s up to us to do something about this. No one
should be left behind because of the incompetence of the federal response
and the refusal of the President and Republicans in Congress
to negotiate an economic relief bill in good faith. New
Yorkers have proven since the start of the pandemic
that we can look out for each other and band
together in the face of adversity. We can all get
through this together.
www.rwdsu.org
BRONX TIMES REPORTER,18 OCTOBER 16-22, 2020 BTR
Outstanding debt for
MTA could reach $50B by
2024: DiNapoli report
BY MARK HALLUM
An audit by the state Comptroller’s
offi ce confi rms what the MTA has
been saying for months: the agency
has few options for fi nancial redemption
in the ongoing pandemic with a
little cash from Uncle Sam.
About $12 billion worth over the
next four years, as the agency has
long been campaigning for after their
fi nances were ravaged by the effects
of COVID-19 on society and state
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says
borrowing is an option, but federal
stimulus funds are the best way out
the massive defi cits in the offi ng.
If the MTA turns to borrowing $10
billion, DiNapoli said, debt service
could rise by $675 million and the
payments could be represented by every
quarter of every dollar of revenue
the agency makes in 2023. That’s on
top of what the MTA already owes
which is $35.4 billion, bring the total
amount debt to $50.4 billion by 2024.
“The MTA’s fi nancial condition is
dire,” DiNapoli said. “With ridership
down, debt burden rising and no additional
help likely from New York
state or New York City, the MTA desperately
needs an infl ux of federal
funds or unheard of service cuts and
workforce reductions will happen.
Failure to fund the MTA now could
disrupt maintenance and repairs
and increase the MTA’s debt to suffocating
levels that could take multiple
generations to recover from.
More than a reliable subway or commuter
train ride is at stake. Washington
needs to step up to help the MTA
if our regional economy is going to
fully recover.”
According to Stringer, the MTA’s
fi nances were already dire with a
projected $3 billion defi cit expected
by 2021 at the time former Chairman
Joe Lhota resigned in 2019, which
was followed by the adoption of a $51
billion capital plan in January of
this year.
Now, as the ridership on subways,
buses, Metro-North and the Long Island
Rail Road being slow to make the comeback
from a 90% drop, DiNapoli confi rms
what agency leaders have said again and
again since they received $4 billion from
the CARES Act: 40% service cuts, fare
hikes of up $1 and reductions in staff
through attrition are the next steps.
According to DiNapoli, at the
rate ridership is returning, the MTA
is on a course to lose $10 billion between
2021 and 2023. But even this is
a conservative projection based on
“risky assumptions.”
DiNapoli’s report also noted that:
The MTA’s transformation plan
should be reported on at least quarterly
through its gap-closing
monitoring report. Delayed until
2021 due to the pandemic, it is now
expected to save
$430 million in 2021, growing to $475
million by 2023.
The MTA’s gap-closing program
planned to reduce overtime by more
than $200 million annually
starting in 2021, but the July Plan
does not refl ect this. It has not detailed
how it will achieve this reduction.
Also not refl ected in the MTA’s July
Plan are details on how it will achieve
the $2.2 billion in cost
reductions it has identifi ed for
2020-2024.
Debt service is projected to reach $4
billion by 2024, an increase of 55 percent
since 2019.
The MTA’s $54.8 billion capital plan
for 2020-2024 – along with the revenue
it would generate for suppliers and the
construction industry – remain at risk
with the plan halted and capital funding
being reallocated to cover operations.
Read this story and more every
day at bxtimes.com and every week
in the Bronx Times.
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