WNYCOSH Issues REVISED Guidance for Grocery Stores

Grocery stores across Western New York have made significant changes to encourage social distancing and hand washing. Additionally many stores have gone beyond our recommendations by issuing PPE and installing plexiglass shields. However, these changes require additional training and procedures to protect worker and customers alike and limit community spread. WNYCOSH is releasing the revised guidance to include the additional recommendations

Direct Federal Support of Individuals Pursuing Training and Education in Non-degree Programs

[Excerpt] This report provides an overview of existing federal programs and benefits that support individuals engaged in the pursuit of training and education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. It informs consideration of additional or revised policy approaches aiming to support pursuit of training and education through non-degree programs. The report begins with a brief description of employer demand for individuals who have completed non-degree programs. This is followed by a discussion of the landscape and key characteristics of non-degree programs, from those offered through work-based learning to those offered through more formal instructional means. The report concludes with a detailed description of six federal programs and three tax benefits that currently provide direct financial support to students pursuing training and postsecondary education in non-degree instructional and work-based learning programs. Each program and benefit description highlights potential gaps and limitations in the scope and extent to which the program or benefit supports individuals pursuing non-degree programs, as well as student eligibility requirements and federal administration and oversight

Federal Workforce Statistics Sources: OPM and OMB

[Excerpt] According to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the federal workforce is composed of an estimated 2.1 million civilian workers. Several federal agencies collect, compile, and publish statistics about this workforce. Sources may vary in their totals due to differences in the methods used to compile these statistics. For example, some sources rely on “head counts” of employees (OPM), some on total hours worked (such as the Office of Management and Budget [OMB]), some on surveys of employing agencies, and others on self-identification by workers surveyed in their homes. In addition, federal civilian employee databases may exclude particular departments, agencies, or branches of government. Some may also account for temporary or seasonal employees (such as those employed by the U.S. Census) depending on the time of year the statistics are generated. This report describes these sources and identifies key differences in methodologies, including data collection used by OMB and OPM. Understanding these sources and their differences will facilitate selecting appropriate data for specific purposes

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) and COVID-19

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not currently have a specific standard that protects healthcare or other workers from airborne or aerosol transmission of disease or diseases transmitted by airborne droplets. Some in Congress, and some groups representing healthcare and other workers, are calling on OSHA to promulgate an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from exposure to SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) gives OSHA the ability to promulgate an ETS that would remain in effect for up to six months without going through the normal review and comment process of rulemaking. OSHA, however, has rarely used this authority in the past—not since the courts struck down its ETS on asbestos in 1983. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), which operates California’s state occupational safety and health plan, has had an aerosol transmissible disease (ATD) standard since 2009. This standard includes, among other provisions, the requirement that employers provide covered employees with respirators, rather than surgical masks, when these workers interact with ATDs, such as known or suspected COVID-19 cases. Also, according to the Cal/OSHA ATD standard, certain procedures require the use of powered air purifying respirators (PAPR). Both OSHA and Cal/OSHA have issued enforcement guidance to address situations when the shortage of respirators may impede an employer’s ability to comply with existing standards. H.R. 6139, the COVID-19 Health Care Worker Protection Act of 2020, would require OSHA to promulgate an ETS on COVID-19 that incorporates both the Cal/OSHA ATD standard and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) 2007 guidelines on occupational exposure to infectious agents in healthcare settings. The CDC’s 2007 guidelines generally require stricter controls than its interim guidance on COVID-19 exposure. The provisions of H.R. 6139 were incorporated into the version of H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, as introduced in the House. However, the OSHA ETS provisions were not included in the version of legislation that passed the House and the Senate and was signed into law as P.L. 116-127. A group representing hospitals claims that because SARS-Cov-2 is primarily transmitted by airborne droplets and surface contacts, surgical masks are sufficient protection for workers coming into routine contact with COVID-19 cases, and that the shortage of respirators may adversely impact some hospitals’ patient capacities. H.R. 6379, as introduced by the House, also includes a requirement for an OSHA ETS and permanent standard to address COVID-19 exposure

Defining and Advancing High Road Policy Concepts, Strategies, and Tactics

[Excerpt] This Special Edition of High Road Policy (HRP) outlines a vision that opponents of the status quo can choose to stand for. It does so by proposing succinct answers to three basic questions: What is the High Road? What is High Road Policy? Through what means can High Road Policy be advanced? By answering these questions, this Special Edition of HRP aims to provide readers with a clearer understanding of what “High Road Policy” – both the concept and the journal – is all about. Concerning the latter, HRP’s Aims and Scope state that the outlet is committed to publishing on “policies, proposals, campaigns, governance arrangements, and other practical strategies for advancing a more democratic economy.” What follows is: (1) an overarching conceptual framework onto which those “policies, proposals,” and so forth can be mapped to determine how compatible they are with a High Road agenda; and (2) a plan of action that (a) articulates a theory of change and (b) introduces three interdependent strategies for implementing that theory of change, thereby supplanting the status quo with a democratic, fair, High Road system over time

Milking Outdated Laws: Alt-Labor as a Litigation Catalyst

Even though alt-labor does not have significant labor market power when compared to labor unions, its impacts are manifold. Alt-labor has given rise to novel state and local legislation improving wages and working conditions for low-wage workers across the country. It has fostered new collaborations with government enforcement agencies to improve the implementation of rights on the books—to “make rights real.” It has promoted new bargaining and worker organizing strategies, outside of traditional models. This article highlights another achievement of alt-labor. Alt-labor has served as a catalyst for creative litigation efforts that argue for application of existing workplace protections to non-traditional populations of workers and their organizing efforts. In this way, it has pushed to reinterpret, and thus to revitalize, what many perceive to be outdated labor and employment laws. We focus on initiatives that reimagine the interpretation of these laws in light of new organizing strategies and new global economic realities, all the while staying true to the existing laws on the books. Along with raising questions, and proposing new interpretations of New Deal and civil rights era gains, sometimes alt-labor’s litigation efforts are successful and lead to case law “wins.” To build its approach, the article draws from literature on litigation as a social movement strategy and provides an in-depth analysis of the ways courageous dairy workers in upstate New York have inspired innovative litigation theories and successes. Alt-labor’s achievements as a litigation catalyst are laudable—given the challenge of enacting federal legislation to address income inequality and the decline of labor union power—in the current era

The Contribution of the Latinx Immigrant Workforce to Staten Island’s Economy Before and During the Pandemic

[Excerpt] New York City workers and communities have been weathering the impacts of a public health and economic crisis of unprecedented magnitude in U.S. history of the last 100 years. This report focuses on the experience of working- class immigrant workers in the County of Richmond, also known as Staten Island, as they endured the human costs of the COVID-19 crisis. This report provides the first analysis of the working and living conditions of working class immigrants in Staten Island, identifying their unique vulnerabilities, and highlighting their efforts to engage in mutual aid-support systems to weather the crisis. The research presented in the report results from the joint efforts of The Worker Institute and La Colmena Staten Island Community Job Center. La Colmena is a community-based organization working to empower day laborers, domestic workers, and other low-wage immigrant workers in Staten Island through educational, cultural, and economic development efforts. The findings of these report are based on worker surveys conducted by La Colmena organizers before and after the onset of the COVID crisis. The Worker Institute researchers provided technical assistance, analyzed survey and census data, and co-authored the report with La Colmena

Tips on Working From Home When You are on the Autism Spectrum

In the COVID19 world, we have additional need and expectation to be able to work remotely. For many on the Autism Spectrum (AS) who have been adjusting to work environments this change can be a big disruption. Below are some tips for those of you on the spectrum working from home, to assist you in remaining calmer and being more productive. These tips may also prove helpful for those support AS people

Keeping Members United in Contentious Times

[Excerpt] In contentious times, members often don’t see eye to eye, generating division and rivalries that undermine solidarity. Increasing membership diversity can lead to misunderstandings, which can escalate to disrespect. As a steward, you play a critical rol