“We’re paying with our lives. We’re paying with our health . . . Cleveland Clinic Akron General is inundated with COVID patients right now, we don’t see any kind of lull in the positive cases. They keep coming. We don’t see any outside help.” - Tim O’Daniel, president of USW Local 1014L, who just days ago lost a colleague to COVID-19.
As COVID-19 continues to ravage our communities, we are counting on the Senate to pass the next much-needed stimulus bill, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act. The HEROES Act (H.R.6800) passed the House on May 15 and includes several of the provisions that we have been fighting for, like a temporary OSHA emergency standard and help paying for COBRA coverage for those out of work. The HEROES Act also:
- Provides needed assistance to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments to ensure necessary public services continue;
- Expands paid sick days, family and medical leave, and unemployment compensation;
- Establishes a fund to award grants for employers to provide pandemic premium pay for essential workers;
- Provides COBRA subsidies to laid off workers;
- Provides funding and establishes requirements for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing;
- Eliminates cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatments;
- Extends and expands the moratorium on certain evictions and foreclosures; and
- Requires employers to develop and implement infectious disease exposure control plans.
“They’re holding the whole country hostage,” observed Brad Greve, president of USW Local 105, which represents workers at Arconic’s Davenport Works in Iowa. The company laid off more than 100 of his members in July and they are continuing to struggle.
We Need Quick Action!
The Coronavirus Pandemic is showing no signs of stopping and our members’ jobs, and in some cases lives, are on the line.
Click here to tell your Senator to pass the HEROS act today.
Our union has seen the impacts of COVID-19 on our industries and our members.
We need meaningful legislation to protect the health and safety of workers who continue to go to work every day to provide us with our essential services, and to provide stability for those whose jobs have not yet returned.
We need Congress to pass the HEROES Act! Please take action today!