Month: December 2020

By: Johanna Alonso | Daily Record business reporter, December 8, 2020 — Members of unions representing Maryland’s frontline workers gathered on Tuesday to launch Protect Maryland Workers, a coalition advocating for legislation that would protect grocery, health care, transit and other essential employees during pandemics and other emergencies. The proposed legislation, called the Maryland Essential Workers Protections Act, would require employers to provide increased support and safety protocols to essential workers during an emergency — the definition of which is outlined in the bill. These protections include providing personal protective equipment at no cost to the employee, paying essential employees hourly hazard pay on…

By PAMELA WOOD | BALTIMORE SUN |DEC 08, 2020 AT 7:28 PM — Maryland labor unions are making a push for essential workers to get greater protections and hazard pay not only during the coronavirus pandemic, but also in future health emergencies. They’re drafting a bill called the “Essential Workers Protection Act” that would guarantee those workers enhanced pay, safe working conditions, free testing, sick and bereavement leave, and the right to refuse to work in dangerous conditions. “Essential workers are willing to show up for us and we have to show up for them,” said Ricarra Jones of the 1199 SEIU union, which…

By Hannah Gaskill - December 8, 2020 — Sophia Atu has been a nurse at Prince George’s Hospital Center for over 20 years. She knew that the job would be challenging when she started, but didn’t imagine fighting her way through an unprecedented pandemic like COVID-19.  “It’s like going to war,” she said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “When you say bye to your family you are gone. You either come back alive or you come back in a body bag.” As a healthcare worker constantly exposing herself to the virus, Atu worries about having enough personal protective equipment to shield…