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
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ATTENTION:
Property Owners, Commercial Tenants
and Residents of Lower Manhattan
The Alliance for Downtown New York, Inc.
invites you to join us for our
2020 ANNUAL MEETING
November 19th, 2020 at 4 P.M.
The virtual meeting is open to the public and all
registered members are eligible to vote.
The meeting will take place virtually.
To register to attend please email
registration@downtownny.com.
120 Broadway, Suite 3340
New York, NY 10271
(212) 566-6700
www.DowntownNY.com
Schneps Media Oct. 15, 2020 7
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