COVID-19 and County Worker Safety Update
Dear OCEA member,
As our state and nation continue to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, worker safety is your union’s top priority. At our urging, the County took some steps on Friday, March 13 in an effort to protect workers, including enhanced telecommuting options and more flexible uses of time. Friday afternoon, we demanded in writing to CEO Frank Kim that the County take much more aggressive steps to protect workers and mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus.
Today, the County has taken the additional steps of closing public counters, ordering some workers who are over age 65 or health compromised to stay home on paid administrative leave, and other agency specific actions. Each agency is making operational and safety plans daily in order to best serve the public and their employees. We have requested a comprehensive list of facilities and programs experiencing some level of closure. We will distribute that as soon as it is available.
OCEA is also taking steps to limit exposure; we are closing our building to the public beginning tomorrow. We will, however, have staff working to service all of our members’ needs as usual.
Protecting you and your family is part of OCEA’s core mission. While the County has taken significant action, we know that it’s workers like you who often know best how to stay safe. In this time of crisis, be proactive and communicate to your chain of command whenever you have concerns or recommendations. The OCEA Board of Directors and Staff have been and will continue to tirelessly advocate on your behalf, with Human Resources, the CEO’s office, members of the Board of Supervisors, and our elected representatives from the state and federal government.
The more voices of front-line workers the County hears, the more County leaders will listen. If you communicate a concern that isn’t addressed, contact your OCEA staff rep or workplace Steward.
In this unprecedented environment, we must look to each other for support and protection. That’s what union members do, and that’s how we’ll continue to compel the County to make wise decisions to protect us in the coming days and weeks.
Together, we will get through this.
In Solidarity,
Charles Barfield
OCEA General Manager
RELATED NEWS
OCEA member safety and COVID-19
March 13, 2020
Over the past few weeks, OCEA has monitored the rapidly-evolving COVID-19 pandemic in the context of OCEA member safety and financial security. Your and your co-workers are on the front line routinely interacting with members of the public.
March 12, 2020
Our union is a special place that brings us together as workers. OCEA’s greatest strength is its strength in numbers. This has been the foundation of our union since OCEA’s formation in 1937. In recent weeks, we have monitored the rapidly changing events related to the global spread of the COVID-19 virus. We have taken, and will continue to take, the necessary steps to comply with Federal, State and local recommendations to protect OCEA members and staff from exposure to the virus.
Publication Date: March 17, 2020
