WEC Staff

This week’s topic, Protecting and Celebrating Facility and Manufacturing Workers During Covid-19 welcomed a panel of guests who represent property service, essential manufacturing, and facility operations workers who have worked hard to keep public and private buildings functional during the pandemic. Aaron Jones and Carla Thomas, Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (SEIU); Mike Fisher, Sub-District Director, United Steelworkers (USW); and Frank James, Financial Secretary, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 68 (IUOE) spoke to the occupational safety and health challenges confronting workers during the COVID-19 health crisis. Our panelists shared their members’ struggle to access and maintain a stable supply of PPE as well as grave concerns regarding health and job security. These essential workers rose to the occasion from the start of the COVID-19 crisis, at times remaining quarantined within facilities to do the work necessary to keep buildings running. We learned how workers have adopted new health and safety protocols, including wearing PPE, intense cleaning, temperature checks and health screenings. Keeping these workers safe is essential to keeping our facilities operational. Here is the presentation from SEIU 32BJ. More than 60 people attended this webinar.

This week’s topic focused on student and worker safety in the tumultuous and ever-changing landscape of higher education. We heard from three inspiring women who have been organizing higher education faculty and staff across departments and sectors for conditions where every single worker can work safe and receive just compensation. Christine O’Connell, President of the Union of Rutgers Administrators (URAAFT), began our panel with the story of the Rutgers Coalition of Unions, a network of all unions representing Rutgers employees which formed to help workers support one another across union lines. The Coalition has put forward a joint proposal that includes no layoffs, continued health benefits for furloughed employees, and hazard pay for those who worked through the crisis. Successes achieved so far, including the statewide closing of libraries, demonstrate the power of organizing around common demands that address the needs of all workers across union, department or sector. Here is the presentation. Rebecca Kolins Givan, Vice President of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT and Associate Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers, shared her experience organizing alongside Christine with the Rutgers Coalition of Unions. “We’ve made things non-negotiable by having a coalition of 20,000 workers rather than chipping away at things separately,” said Rebecca. Rebecca also emphasized the importance of organizing both at the bargaining table and in the political arena, pointing out that many recent victories have been signed off on not [...]

This week’s topic, Update on the Updates, we checked back in with several of our previous webinar participants for a roundtable discussion. We were joined by Marcia Kleinz, Field representative for Higher Education, NJEA, Barry Kushnir, President, IFPTE Local 194, and Hudson County Central Labor Council and Nancy Miller, membership assistance program coordinator, UFCW Local 1262. They gave updates on the continued challenges COVID-19 presents for their members in higher education, Turnpike toll takers and retail. Nancy discussed UFCW’s ongoing campaign to support Covid 19 Hazard Pay for essential grocery store workers, and encouraged attendees to let management at their local union supermarkets know that they support stores’ continuing hazard pay for workers. We also wished Mike Merrill, PH.D, director at Rutgers LEARN a happy retirement, and heard touching stories about Mike’s career from a few colleagues. Mike stressed the importance of continued labor education and the importance of forums like this to bring workers and community members together to have conversations and learn from each other. Thank you, Professor Merrill and best of luck to you!  More than 96 people attended this webinar.