PPE FOR Frontline Health Workers Mass JWJ joined forces with the Western Mass Area Labor Federation and a fabricator/handyman based in Easthampton to distribute face shields to healthcare workers in dire need of extra PPE. In addition to issues of worker fairness, ensuring basic safety on the job is a key battle whose importance has only increased amidst the COVID pandemic. We have been happy to join this fight, and are very proud of all our partners across the Commonwealth.
UMASS Grad Employees fight for protections Mass JWJ proudly supported Graduate Employees at UMass Amherst in GEO-UAW local 2322 in their recent fight for labor protections. Grad students are some of the most overworked and least protected workers, while doing much of the research and education that brings money to their institutions in the first place. The COVID pandemic posed new risks, not only because these students face increasingly untenable housing prospects but also because they would be the first to go if colleges and universities were forced to cut back on their expenses.
Because of this, we wholeheartedly supported the GEO's efforts to secure greater job security, summer employment, and rent waivers and eviction stays for students living in campus-owned houses. We also commended their highlighting of the struggles international students faced, including the threat of deportation and greater hate crimes against the Asian community specifically. Mass JWJ joined caravans and letter-writing campaigns, and celebrated the agreement reached in September, winning PPE guidelines, expanded family and medical leave, and online work options for high risk employees.
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