On April 27th, the National Treasury Employees Union released the health and safety conditions that must be met before federal employees are required to return to the workplace. “Most federal employees have never missed a beat during this pandemic, either successfully teleworking from home or continuing to report to duty because their job is not eligible for telework,” Reardon said. “But before those away from the office are required to return, NTEU will insist that some basic steps be taken to reduce the risks to their health and well-being.”
Read MoreDC Declares a State of Emergency over Coronavirus
Today, at approximately 4:30 PM, DC declared a state of emergency and a public health emergency and recommended that “non-essential mass gatherings, including conferences and conventions” be postponed or canceled. Mass gatherings are defined as events with 1,000 or more people in one location. These declarations allow Mayor Bowser to make use of a broader array of authorities to prevent further spread of COVID-19.
Read MoreNTEU Launches Coronavirus Webpage
The ongoing outbreak of coronavirus has understandably raised many questions and concerns for federal employees. NTEU, on your behalf, is pursuing answers. Just last week, the union launched a special section on the NTEU website that will be constantly updated with the latest information about your workplace safety.
Read MoreReagan Building Air Quality Concerns
NTEU Chapter 280 helps employees with many concerns. Most recently we worked to ensure safe and healthful working conditions were restored after a floor in the Reagan Building due to a leak in a water pipe.
Based upon our inspection, we discovered that either the new carpet, new paint, or carpet glue was off-gassing. Here's the email we sent to EPA facilities asking them to adopt remedial measures....
Read MoreFlooded Reagan Building Offices to Reopen Monday
NTEU Chapter 280 and AFGE Local 3331 completed their final of three safety checks of the recently-flooded Reagan building offices. We wrote about the flood in a recent post. The office spaces have been cleared to re-open by the unions and facilities, and should be fully open to employees on Friday, April 13.
GSA replaced wet carpeting and wet ceiling tiles. They also steam cleaned the fabric cube walls of flooded cubes and wiped down all desk surfaces. Employees returned to the 5th floor last week, and the 4th floor earlier this week, and will re-occupy the still-closed 3rd floor tomorrow.
During its safety walk-through, NTEU....
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