BlueGreen Alliance’s SafeJobChecklist.org Will Give Workers Access to Safety Information, Confidential Method to Report Conditions

The BlueGreen Alliance and partners wrote to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, thanking them for their leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and urging them to implement policy recommendations to keep workers as safe as steps are taken to reopen the economy.

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed the HEROES Act, a bill responding to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Meanwhile in the Senate, Senator McConnell has called for a “pause” on legislative response action.

Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives today introduced the HEROES Act, the next phase of legislation to address the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today release its April jobs report, which found that 20.5 million American jobs were lost last month and the unemployment rate has soared to 14.7%.

As outbreaks of Covid-19 continue to intensify throughout the notoriously unsafe meatpacking industry, the administration and others have made claims indicating the largely minority workers in the industry are at fault.

The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee today marked up two bills, the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2020 and the Drinking Water Infrastructure Act of 2020. Included in the bills is language making permanent Buy America for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF).

By Charlotte Brody, RN, Vice President of Health Initiatives for the BlueGreen Alliance

President Donald Trump announced today that he intends to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to keep meatpacking plants open during the COVID-19 crisis. Meatpacking plants have become hotspots for the virus. According to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting there have been at least 18 reported worker deaths due to COVID-19 in the meatpacking industry and at least 4,400 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities at 80 plants in 26 states.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today joined leaders from the BlueGreen Alliance and former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) David Michaels to honor workers who have died on the job this year—including those who lost their battle with Covid-19—and to call on OSHA to protect workers during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, the Michigan AFL-CIO today announced they are joining the Michigan BlueGreen Alliance state table.

It is critical we ensure the safety of workers on the job in the face of COVID-19, whether they are nurses on the frontlines, workers in warehouses, utility workers keeping the lights on across the country, or manufacturing workers building essential products. Congress has taken significant steps to protect workers, and must continue to prioritize the most vulnerable; safeguard working peoples’ jobs, homes, and livelihoods; shore up essential public services; and protect the health and safety of frontline workers.