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COVID-19 Exposure Survey
Legislative Updates
S2384/A4129 requires healthcare facilities to report certain COVID-19 data related to health care workers and certain first responders.
Drafted by HPAE, the bill is now under consideration in Trenton, requires healthcare facilities in the state to report coronavirus (COVID-19) infections related to healthcare workers and certain first responders. The purpose of the bill is to collect data that would show what is going on now for analysis of what to do and not to do in future outbreaks. The bill is currently undergoing amendment in the State Senate to make it more meaningful.
AAUP Action Alert: Rutgers healthcare heroes deserve a contract
Rutgers University Biomedical Health Science (RBHS) faculty are on the front lines of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Yet throughout the COVID-19 crisis – in fact, for nearly two years – the 1,400 RBHS faculty and staff represented by the AAUP-BHSNJ, an affiliate of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, have worked without a contract.
After almost two years, Rutgers has failed to reach a contract with the heroes’ union, the AAUP-BHSNJ-NJAFL-CIO. This contract would support the faculty heroes in many ways, including revamping health and safety measures, clarifying the role of family leave/parental leave, and reducing gender pay inequity. Many of these common-sense solutions are already contained in many other Rutgers union contracts.
HEROES Act
COVID-19 is triggering state and local budget crises across the nation. State and local governments are incurring huge new costs as they seek to contain and treat the coronavirus and respond to the virus-induced spike in joblessness and related human needs. At the same time, they are projecting sharply lower tax revenues due to the widespread collapse of economic activity brought about by efforts to contain the virus’ spread.
Tell the U.S. Senate to Pass the HEROES Act!
H.R. 6800, the HEROES Act, was proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives by New Jersey’s Donald Payne Jr. and Bonnie Watson-Coleman for inclusion in the next round of stimulus legislation. Among other provisions, it would pay frontline healthcare workers an additional $15 an hour hazard pay on top of their regular pay. The overall bill faces considerable opposition from some in the United States Senate.
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, which is now before the U.S. Senate, includes an emergency workplace infectious disease standard; gives aid for state and local governments, public schools, the U.S. Postal Service, and pension funding relief; keeps workers on payrolls to avoid mass layoffs; extends unemployment insurance; provides more direct payments to working people; extends health care coverage; provides housing and food benefits; and much more.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO urges Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to bring the measure to the Senate, and for the Senate to pass the HEROES Act and send it to the president for his signature.
Get patched through to your Senator’s Office NOW by CLICKING HERE. The bill passed the House of Representatives on May 15, 2020. To see how the New Jersey Congressional Delegation voted, CLICK HERE.
Get patched through to your Senator’s Office by clicking here.
To see how the New Jersey Congressional Delegation voted, click here.
HPAE Jersey Shore and Southern Ocean Members Vote Overwhelmingly to Authorize Strike
Nurses at Jersey Shore University Medical Center and Southern Ocean Medical Center, part of the Hackensack Meridian Health System, voted overwhelmingly this week to authorize their bargaining committees to call a strike or another form of concerted activity if they are unable to reach an agreement.
The more than 1,500 nurses at the two hospitals are members of Health Professionals and Allied Employees, New Jersey’s largest health care union. The current contract expires on May 31.
As economy reopens, many parents face tough childcare choices
As a social worker, Kristin Tatulli’s been working from home since mid-March. But her office is set to reopen June 30 and she needs to find child care for her two girls.
“Currently our options are daycare,” she said. “However, there are safety concerns with that. I just don’t know how you keep a 5 and a 3 year old safe at a child care center. The other thing is that even when my children were going to daycare, or potentially going to summer camp this summer, it wasn’t going to be full time.”
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Union Plus Benefits. Learn about the many consumer discounts and insurance benefits available to HPAE members through our national union, the AFT.
HPAE Retiree Medical Trust. Learn about the benefits provided by the HPAE Retiree Medical Trust, a medical reimbursement program for HPAE retirees.