Our Perspective
Workers Need
Protection and Relief
as Pandemic Rages
By Stuart Appelbaum, President
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW
Twitter: @sappelbaum
Caribbean L 32 ife, October 16-22, 2020
Workers bump fi sts in a gesture of agreement.
Does your workplace
share these qualities?
By Laura Brinton
What makes a great place to work?
These qualities are worth noting. They
are the critical difference between company
that is thriving one that is simply
staying afloat.
Leadership is involved and engaged:
When leaders show they understand
what’s going on in their organization
and hold themselves to the same standard
as everyone else, it’s easier for
employees to get behind the company’s
mission.
Communication is a top priority:
Open and timely communication builds
transparency and trust that goes both
ways. It unites employees and leadership
under the same goals. Employees
are able to share concerns and feel
heard. Feedback also can help leaders
navigate decisions with the employees’
best interests in mind.
An intentional culture: A great place
to work is about more than just fun
employee perks; it’s about building an
intentional company culture by consistently
improving employee engagement,
communication, and trust. A
healthy company culture is a powerful
way to stand out, promote your unique
brand, and make a statement to potential
recruits.
Leadership identifies areas for
improvement: Top workplaces use
employee feedback to better understand
what makes a great workplace
and also pinpoint areas where more
effort is needed to create positive
change. Transparency is often what
makes a great workplace in the eyes
of top talent. Employees appreciate an
organization that is committed to honesty
and growth rather than denial and
stagnation.
Innovation is critical to success:
Innovation keeps an organization at
the top of its game, allowing it to flex
its competitive muscles and take pride
in the work. Innovation also inspires
employees to do great work and contribute
toward the greater good of the
company.
Individuals are empowered to grow:
Employees who are happy in life also
are happy at work. Great companies
offer plenty of opportunity for employees
to learn and grow as individuals.
This investment in people not only
increases an organization’s talent pool,
it makes it easier to retain those skilled
individuals long-term while attracting
new talent.
Competitive compensation and benefits:
Organizations that are truly people
focused compensate their employees
appropriately and offer compelling
benefits. This might include two-way
performance reviews, a living wage
based on your location, a profit-sharing
program, or wellness offerings such as
free gym membership, free counselling
sessions, and dedicated spaces for rest
and renewal.
In today’s competitive marketplace,
organizations often have to get creative
to stand out in a crowd. Earning a
Top Workplaces award not only attracts
prospective employees that might have
not otherwise been drawn to your
organization, but can also impact business
outcomes, as companies may favor
working with an award-winning company
over the rest.
Nominate your company as a New
York City Top Workplace at NYCTop-
Workplaces.com . Laura Brinton is content
marketing director at Energage, a
Philadelphia-based research and consulting
firm that surveyed more than 2
million employees at more than 7,500
organizations in 2019. Energage is the
research partner for Top Workplaces.
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
/www.rwdsu.org
/Workplaces.com
/www.rwdsu.org
