Unions Representing 500k+ Nurses, Health Professionals Demand Trump’s OSHA Stop Unconscionable Delay and Issue Workplace Protections Against COVID-19, Influenza, Ebola, and More
Trump’s OSHA Neglects Responsibilities as Flu Season Looms and COVID-19 Rages, Infecting 190k+ and Killing 750+ Healthcare Workers
San Francisco, CA — Today, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA), and the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) sued Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for unlawfully delaying rulemaking on an occupational standard to protect healthcare workers from infectious diseases transmitted by contact, droplets, or air — like influenza, COVID-19, and Ebola. In 2017, the Trump administration tabled work on an Infectious Diseases Standard. It has refused to move forward with the standard amid a catastrophic pandemic — and despite the pleas of healthcare professionals. The administration’s unreasonable delay violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).
In today’s filing, the unions, represented by Democracy Forward, petitioned for a writ of mandamus compelling OSHA to advance rulemaking on an Infectious Diseases Standard, which would require healthcare employers who run hospitals, clinics, school nurse offices, drug treatment programs, and similar workplaces to protect their employees from exposure to harmful infectious diseases.
Read directly from frontline nurses affected by OSHA’s lack of a standard here.
“In times of national crisis, the government’s job is to protect people — and in the case of protecting workers on the front line of this pandemic, the federal government has failed,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. “Doctors, nurses, respiratory techs, and other healthcare professionals have been treating COVID-19 patients for the better part of a year without basic workplace protections, including adequate PPE, robust testing, and, most importantly, an Infectious Diseases Standard that would require employers to establish a comprehensive infection control program to protect frontline workers who are facing daily exposure. OSHA has failed to regulate employers, which in turn have failed to protect the people caring for COVID-19 patients. As a result, healthcare worker infection rates remain troublingly high. This immoral treatment of the healthcare heroes carrying us through this crisis must end, and both OSHA and employers must be held accountable to make hospitals safe for the people who work there.”
