Employment Related Emergency Corona Virus Bill Update

We help RN’s, Medical Professionals, and workers of all stripes to attain better pay, better working conditions, and to make their voices heard.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE PDF OF THE MEMO:
https://www.cwa1168.org/wp-content/uploads/updat-2.pdf

To:              All NYS CWA Local Presidents  

From:          Dennis G. Trainor, Vice President

Date:           March 21, 2020

Subject:      COVID-19 – Employment Related Emergency Corona Virus Bills

In the past days, the US Congress and the NYS legislature passed a flurry of emergency relief packages trying to address urgent needs due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

In this email, we’re providing some fact sheets on the laws that passed.

On the federal level, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act which was signed into law on Wednesday, March 18th,  gives many American workers short term (2 weeks) and long term (12 weeks) paid leave if they need to take time off work because of the virus, But the measure excludes nearly half of private-sector workers, because employers with over 500 employees are excluded from coverage. Congressional Republicans and Trump argued that those employers should be responsible for paying sick leave for their workers, even many low wage workers at employers like McDonald’s do not have any such coverage. The law will go into effect on April 2nd, 2020.

On the state level, Governor Cuomo signed a similar law on Wednesday which also provides 2 weeks of paid leave and other benefits to employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order or quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. The law immediately went into effect.

The federal bill is meant to be a floor and not a ceiling  meaning if the state bill is stronger, then the stronger language shall apply.  Where there are  collective bargaining agreements, the paid sick time applies in addition to whatever employer-provided paid sick time exists.

The state has also waived the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to closures or quarantines related to the Coronavirus, according to the State Department of Labor.

 Here are some useful links to share from the AFL:

COVID-19 Federal Benefit Grid 

COVID-19 NYS Benefit Grid 

COVID 19 Relief Summary

HR 6201-Families First

https://nysaflcio.org/covid-19-nys-agency-guidance

Dennis G. Trainor

Vice President

CWA  District One8

Ready to Unionize?

THE LOCAL IS OPEN MONDAY-FRIDAY, 8:00 AM- 5:00 PM

1900 SWEET HOME RD. • AMHERST, NY 14228

PHONE (716) 639-1168 • FAX (716) 636-9100

Recent News

Looking for news of recent victories and all the latest updates? Click here to read all about it!

Stewards

Resources for those who steward the unionization process. What you do is invaluable - let us help!

Contracts

Looking for our latest contracts, including those relevant to your group? Click here to get started!

For Members

All of your Member Resources - Contracts, FAQs, helpful online forms, etc. - are to be found here.