This bipartisan bill is modeled after the successful September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. The Pandemic Heroes Compensation Fund would provide important financial resources for essential workers in all industries and their families who have suffered the effects of the coronavirus.
At the hearing, the Committee heard testimony from John A. Costa, International President of the Amalgamated Transit Union; Anthony “Marc” Perrone, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Bonnie Castillo, Executive Director, National Nurses United, California Nurses Association, and National Nurses Organizing Committee; Eneida Becote, wife of Edward Becote, an essential worker who died from coronavirus; Clint Odom, Senior Vice President for Policy and Advocacy at the National Urban League; and Avik S. A. Roy, President of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
Essential workers on the frontlines of this pandemic risk their health and safety.
Ms. Becote testified that her husband, Edward, died as a result of his job as an essential worker, and “if he had the PPE, he would have stood a chance.”
Ms. Castillo said that PPE provided to nurses is “woefully inadequate” and “insufficient” and that nurses have to reuse PPE including N95 masks.
Mr. Costa said that transportation workers passed away because of “PPE that wasn’t given” to them. He said it was “shameful this President, this Administration let so many people die for the fact of not having the protection that was needed.”
Essential workers are underpaid, lack essential benefits like paid sick leave, and deserve relief.
Mr. Perrone warned that “millions of workers face the devastating decision between risking their own health or risking the loss of a paycheck or job.”
Mr. Odom said that the lack of paid leave is “creating a crisis,” especially for women of color, and that paid sick leave is an “indispensable part of this equation” to help essential workers.
Witnesses expressed support for a federal compensation fund for essential workers and their families.
Ms. Becote said that “our family members made the ultimate sacrifice.” She testified: “Help us honor their memories by protecting the families they left behind so we may go to help others live their American dream.”
Mr. Perrone said that “financial compensation cannot bring back what’s lost, it is the least that we must do in order to support the families who have worked so hard to keep us fed and to take care of us.”
Mr. Costa stated in written testimony that because of the conditions that transportation workers face, he had “no doubt that our members and their families will desperately need to rely heavily on the Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act.”
The Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act is endorsed by National Urban League, DC37, Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Uniformed Fire Officers Association, Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA), National Rural Letter Carriers Association, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the New York Hotel Trades Council.
Related Articles
….
Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.
Blog: Workers ' Compensation
Twitter: jongelman
LinkedIn: JonGelman
LinkedIn Group: Injured Workers Law & Advocacy Group
Author: "Workers' Compensation Law" West-Thomson-Reuters
