AFGE Family,

AFGE has been steadfast in our push for immediate action to help protect our members and the public we serve.

In this week's newsletter we've included important updates in our fight for the health and safety of government employees.

WORKERS SUFFERING FROM COVID-19 STILL WAITING FOR THE SENATE TO ACT

We can’t afford to wait any longer. Lives have been lost. The Senate must come together to pass COVID-19 relief legislation now.

For months, America’s workers have been risking their lives and the lives of their loved ones by going into workplaces without enforceable safety measures.

The House has passed the HEROES Act and its less robust version to provide relief to those impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. We urge Senate leaders to pass legislation that includes protections for workers in the midst of a pandemic.

Click here to email your senators and tell them to pass COVID-19 relief legislation.

AFGE EPA COUNCIL DECLARES NO CONFINDENCE IN EPA'S ABILITY TO PROTECT WORKERS AGAINST COVID-19

The AFGE Council 238’s locals representing 7,500 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees nationwide recently voted that they have “no confidence” in the EPA leadership, including Administrator Andrew Wheeler, and their plan to reopen offices during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The Oct. 5 no-confidence vote reflected EPA employees’ concerns over their safety as the EPA continued to push to reopen offices when the coronavirus is still surging and the U.S. remains a virus hot spot that continues to lead the world in the number of people killed and infected. More than 8 million people in the U.S. have been infected while over 222,000 people have died.  

Click here to read more about this latest move from AFGE EPA Council 238.

REVISED ENFORCEMENT GUIDANCE FOR RECORDING CASES OF COVID-19

This OSHA memorandum provides updated interim guidance to Compliance Safety and Health Officers for enforcing the requirements of 29 CFR Part 1904 with respect to the recording of occupational illnesses, specifically cases of COVID-19.

Under OSHA's recordkeeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and thus employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if:

1. The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC);[2]
2. The case is work-related as defined by 29 CFR § 1904.5;[3] and
3. The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR § 1904.7.[4]

Click here to read more about this memorandum.

HOW TO USE THE RETURN TO WORK INFORMATION REQUEST TEMPLATE

We have developed a return to work information request template intended to help you check the boxes for the work the agency needs to do before drafting a return to work plan.  

If any number of employees were allowed to work remotely during the pandemic, your agency is contemplating returning them to work. Even if they don’t yet have a policy (or haven’t shared that one is being developed), they are planning for one. We will have a right to bargain over that plan. Some of the bargaining will be substantive, and some of it will just be procedures and appropriate arrangements —just like when we bargain a CBA.

The health and safety requirements for returning employees to work are significant. The amount of planning an agency needs to do to begin returning employees to work is substantial. The requirements set out by OSHA and OPM lay out the parameters of the sort of work an agency should be doing, and those represent the foundation for this information request.

Click here to download the Return to Work Information Request Template.

Please regularly check afge.org/Coronavirus to view important coronavirus updates.

Note: Information on this site is not intended to substitute for actual medical care or professional medical advice. If you believe you are, or may be ill, contact your primary care health provider immediately. Information on this website may change as the situation/recommendations/resources evolve. Please check back frequently.

Sincerely,

Dr. Everett Kelley
AFGE National President

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