Thanks to House and Senate Democrats, the legislation passed on March 27 to respond to the COVID-19 crisis is much improved for working families from the bills initially introduced by Senate Republicans that would have only been a bailout for corporations with no protections for workers, inadequate resources for hospital and healthcare providers, and no economic relief for struggling families.
Democrats fought hard to improve the bill to ensure that companies who take bailout money do not put that money into stock buybacks that don’t benefit workers, to protect workers’ collective bargaining agreements from forced changes, and more. While still insufficient, these added conditions make it more likely that the aid will actually protect workers and jobs.
“Senate Democrats have negotiated a much improved deal for working families, but more needs to be done to ensure that all workers can survive the crisis,” said CWA Senior Director for Government Affairs and Policy Shane Larson. “For example, many workers remain without paid sick leave and paid family leave, OSHA protections are inadequate for our health care workers and other frontline workers, more needs to be done to ensure that health care workers have the equipment they need, and we need more support to ensure elections go forward smoothly and safely if the crisis is still ongoing this fall.”