WEC Staff

This week 110 participants joined the discussion focused on access to affordable quality childcare. As child daycare and early childhood programs reopen, we must address the complex issues surrounding capacity, safety, staffing, economic viability, and program effectiveness under new, ever changing guidelines. Debra Lancaster, Executive Director, Rutgers Center for Women and Work co-moderated the following speakers: Meghan Tavormina. President of the New Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children and the Executive Director of the Learning Path in Chatham. Ms. Tavormina highlighted the importance of childcare as our NJ families head back to work and our childcare centers reopen. Meghan spoke about the intense demand for childcare, and the difficulties in providing it.  Attendance vs. enrollment pay, maintaining teaching staff due to poor pay and lack of benefits, understanding and meeting reopening guidelines and practicing social distancing while caring for infants and toddlers are just some of the struggle’s providers face. Cynthia Rice, an attorney and Senior Policy Analyst with the Advocates for Children of New Jersey works with local, state, and federal leaders to identify and implement changes that will benefit New Jersey’s children. Ms. Rice spoke of the uncertainty concerning the access and availability of childcare.  Cynthia pointed out that [...]

This week’s COVID-19 update focused on the NJ public transit system which puts hundreds of thousands of commuters and thousands of transportation workers at risk for sustained, exposure to the coronavirus and other pathogens, and what is needed to reduce risk. We had the opportunity to hear from Nick Sifuentes, Executive Director of Tri-State Transportation Campaign and he spoke about what riders need to feel safe in order to continue to use public transportation and how to help make public transportation as safe and effective as possible during the pandemic. Our second panelist, Orlando Riley, Chairman, Amalgamated Transit Union, NJ State Council gave insight into issues surrounding workers on their over 2000 buses and some of the steps that have been taken to increase protections.  These steps have included rear door boarding, digital ticketing, enhanced cleaning, reduced capacity, and masking. We also heard from Jerome Johnson, General Chairman of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transport (SMART) Local 60 (United Transportation Union [UTU]) who spoke to the need for a public campaign to support health and safety on public transportation.  More needs to be done to ensure that riders wear masks, as mandated by the Governor’s Executive Order.  Mr. Johnson called on NJ Transit, community leaders and the [...]

This week we were joined by Professor Aman Russom, head of the bionanotechnology division at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, who works on the development and delivery of low-cost medical testing and technology for public health. Since March, Sweden has been functioning more or less the way New Jersey will function when it reopens. Unlike the United States, Sweden never applied a total lockdown during COVID-19. Instead, relying heavily on voluntary stay at home protocols, hand-washing and recommended social distancing, Sweden focused on asking those who had even mild symptoms to stay at home and provided immediate income support to enable workers to do so. The authorities hoped thereby to prevent spread. Professor. Russom felt that Sweden’s approach had failed in regard to protecting the elderly, stating they should have done more to protect the elderly, and vulnerable populations, as 50 percent of those lost to COVID-19 were in eldercare.  Also, Sweden’s incidence of cases and death was much higher than their Nordic neighbors. The Swedish experience underscores the importance of being on guard for a resurgence of COVID as the state reopens. Professor Russom stated that while a vaccine is of course the “ultimate goal” in the fight against COVID-19, the self-collected, [...]

This week we were joined by 292 participants for an update which focused on K-12 schools. We discussed the impact of shutting schools down on teachers, staff, parents and students and the challenges of reopening our schools. We were joined by Cary Booker, Assistant State Education Commissioner, State of New Jersey who acknowledged the sacrifices of educators and their families to meet the needs of their students. Assistant Commissioner Booker spoke to the inequities that plagued our education system long before COVID-19, their effect on remote instruction and food instability, and the state’s efforts to address them. As we look to reopen, Assistant Commissioner Booker emphasized the importance of addressing students’ social and emotional needs, that measures are being taken to reopen safely and that “the way forward is together.” Rosie Grant, Executive Director. Paterson Education Foundation spoke to her organization’s efforts. Lack of internet and electronic devices have left many students behind in Paterson, 11,000 students still have no ability to access online learning. In addition, Paterson is addressing a 16-million-dollar loss in state aid, creating a budget shortfall that may tragically result in staff cuts in a time when we need more staff, not less. NJEA Organizational Development Field Representatives Michael Rollins and Robert [...]

This week we heard from Jerome Johnson, General Chairman  of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transport (SMART) Local 60 (United Transportation Union [UTU]) who gave an update about conditions on NJ Transit trains and buses. The transportation sector will be the exclusive focus of an update in the near future. PEOSH (DOH and DLWD) also joined the call with a report on their activities. During the first 11 weeks of the emergency, the agency has received approximately 60 COVID-19 related complaints. During the emergency, it is not conducting onsite investigations. Instead, it relies on initial virtual investigations over the phone, with onsite followup visits as necessary. PEOSH affirmed that a COVID-19 case is OSHA-reportable, but only if it is work-related, of which there is no presumption. If whether a case is work-related is disputed, the burden of proof falls on the victim or their representatives. It is worth noting that there are only four PEOSH inspectors for the entire state. Here is their presentation. More than 200 people attended this webinar.

This week we were joined by more than 165 participants, who heard from Marcy Goldstien-Gelb, Co-Director of National COSH and Nancy Lessin, retired United Steelworker and COSH fellow on the Safe and Just Return to Work report; a blueprint for opening the economy with worker protections and worker justice in the forefront. We were also joined by Lou Kimmel, Executive Director, New Labor to discuss a proposed Executive Order: COVID-19 Worker Protections that would implement a meaningful and enforceable right to refuse work in violation of mandated pandemic protections now before Governor Murphy.