GE says employee’s safety is their number one priority. During the current pandemic crisis we hope they will respond to employee health and safety concerns at the River Works plant.
We have more than 300 employees over 60 years of age. Many people have underlying health problems. Doctors and scientists say that elderly people and those that have diabetes, heart conditions, asthma, high blood pressure, COPD and autoimmune diseases, and others, are more susceptible than others to Coronavirus.
Our members also have great concern about inadequate hand sanitizer, access to readily available protective equipment, and lack of sanitizing of machines and high touch areas between shifts. In some cases, members are not able to meet the social distancing requirement of six feet.
Additionally, our members are concerned about childcare issues. Schools and daycare centers are closed, so many of our parent members need to stay home with their children. We have members paying to hold daycare spots they cannot use, while paying a babysitter to watch their kids at home so they may get to work. The company has left these families to fend for themselves.
This is a crisis for our membership. When there is a problem within our community, our members, board members and officers help wherever they can. We as individual members and as a union donate to a wide variety of charities and causes throughout Lynn. We care about the well being of this community.
As GE is a Department of Defense contractor, our members at GE-Lynn are exempt from stay at home orders. We need protections to help stop the spread of virus in the plant, and to our families and community.
So now, we face a crisis of our own. We are simply asking GE to offer all of our members two weeks paid leave so they can address these health and family issues.
Adam Kaszynski
President, IUE-CWA Local 201
