Tag: Workers’ Rights

I am happy to report a minor victory today! I finally got ahold of my Dad’s doctor to have him fill out the necessary forms for FMLA leave. This is one day after my Dad’s employer said he was considered out of work without approval — and that they would be charging him out-of-pocket for his medical insurance premiums (also meaning he could be terminated).

His leave due to being at high risk for COVID-19 has not yet been approved, but at least he has the proper documentation to submit.

It’s the small victories right now… I’ll take ‘em.

I’ve been trying to help my Dad not lose his job for the past couple weeks. He is 67, with multiple underlying conditions (including a recent lung infection he was hospitalized for). He is a truck driver, who delivers blood and plasma from hospital to hospital — and would be doing so without PPE.

My Dad is also on the less fortunate side of the “digital divide”, in a time where many HR functions, speaking to your doctor, etc. have moved online. So I have been trying to assist him by writing his doctor for regular notes via MyChart. For a while, while he had paid time off that he had accrued — so things were going okay. But once he ran out, he had to apply for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (basically this ensures you don’t lose your job, but are out on unpaid leave), and was rejected. I won’t go into the blow-by-blow of the whole Kafkaesque nightmare, but it has been hard seeing my Dad give up hope.

I am doing what I can, but the system is very, very broken. And COVID-19 has made all these incredible problems more apparent and palpable. Just wondering how to go about fixing it all…

Today was our very first department meeting since being sheltered in place… it only took us 57 days! Was good to hear from my co-workers and to be given a forum to discuss how we are coping, and what our job-related struggles and needs are.

A few things we talked about worried me… first was that my co-workers are still working out of our office. They are staggering days, but there is zero plan in place for how to socially distance in our office building (we have shared hallways, bathrooms, elevators and other common areas with other businesses). Then, even if things do start to open up, how would we accomplish social distancing that requires multi-business coordination and sanitation? I was also troubled by the amount of revenue we aren’t bringing in (and it doesn’t look like we will bring in this year). Does this mean we could potentially lose our jobs? My boss didn’t know the answer to that, but layoffs have happened at my non-profit in the past during times of economic downturn.

All and all a good meeting though. It was promising to hear my boss talk about our workplace (and businesses in general) becoming more compassionate.

I feel very lucky being able to work from home over the past couple weeks. It’s interesting that I have always thought (or been told that) my job wasn’t possible remotely – but here we are. The main reason why it has been difficult to work from home is that I do not have the proper equipment or materials here. So a task that should take a few minutes can end up taking hours – my crappy printer jams, I make a mistake because I misread something on my tiny laptop, etc. All of this could be easily resolved, however. I could bring in a workable computer and monitors, a functioning printer, my check scanner, and all that I would need to produce the best quality work in the least amount of time. The reason I don’t have these things, seems to be denial on the part of leadership.

Executives and managers are still running around with their quotas and fiscal targets, as though we are not in the middle of a global crisis. While I have accepted this new reality, it seems unclear as to whether employers will come to grips with the fact that many non-essential workers, especially immunocompromised folks, may be working from home for the indefinite future. It seems that the best course of action would be to radically accept this; giving employees the tools they will need to do their jobs and stay safe. Because, after all, how productive will we be if we get sick (or die)?

It has been truly inspirational to see workers from Amazon, Instacart, GM and Whole Foods organize in the face of the coronavirus. Any time I have caused a fuss at work about benefits being cut year after year, it has been sad to see my co-workers’ acceptance of our fate. They don’t seem to know their collective power and worth as workers, and that without our labor, the organization will cease to operate. But it is times like these that if we fight… we just might win.