FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2020
March 16, 2020
Contact:
Tim Kauffman
202-639-6405/202-374-6491
[email protected]
Nation’s Largest Federal Worker Union: Administration’s Coronavirus Telework Guidance Doesn’t Go Far Enough to Protect Workers, Public
Categories:
Coronavirus
Guidance fails to address vast majority of federal workers who live outside nation’s capital, AFGE President says
WASHINGTON – In response to updated coronavirus guidance issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget on Sunday, American Federation of Government Employees National President Everett Kelley issued the following statement:
“The updated guidance issued Sunday evening by the Office of Management and Budget encourages federal agencies to offer telework to all eligible employees in the D.C. metropolitan area. While this is the most direct action taken to date by the administration, it still doesn’t go far enough to protect federal workers and the public.
“From the very beginning of this emerging health crisis, our union has been calling on the administration to immediately allow all federal employees to telework if they are able. Yet OMB’s guidance fails to address the 85% of federal workers who live and work outside the nation’s capital.
“The administration needs to take more direct action to protect federal employees and the public they serve by immediately ordering all federal employees nationwide to telework if the work they do can be accomplished at home. This also means ensuring that employees have the equipment they need to do their work remotely.
“We also need to be doing more to protect the workers who are reporting to duty every day at our nation’s airports, VA and military hospitals, federal prisons, and elsewhere. The jobs they do require their physical presence at the worksite, and they must be provided with the safety equipment and other resources needed to ensure their safety.”
For the latest news and information about the coronavirus, visit www.afge.org/coronavirus.
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For the latest AFGE news and information, visit the AFGE Media Center.
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