COVID-19 presents a monumental challenge to the health of our campuses and communities, particularly regarding our workplaces. North Dakota University System employees and students deserve assurances that campuses are held to the highest standards when it comes to our health and safety while on the job and in the classroom in order to continue providing the quality education we value. This pandemic is an immediate, new and little-understood workplace hazard for many of us, and puts our families at risk as well.

1. Faculty and staff must have a say in decisions regarding opening campuses and pandemic planning at every level: building, campus, and system-wide.
2. Decisions must be based on prioritizing worker and student safety, and guided by sound science.
3. Strong, clear, and enforceable workplace health and safety standards must be in place.
4. Workers must have stronger protections against retaliation to encourage the sharing of concerns and experiences.
5. There must be a massive increase in adequate levels and types of personal protective equipment, sanitizing materials, and spacing requirements in the classroom and public gathering places.
6. There must be a massive increase of rapid and reliable coronavirus testing.
7. There must be a system of recording, reporting, and tracking worker and student infections.
8. Campuses, in coordination with local and state public health departments, must trace the contacts of infected faculty, staff, and students and remove exposed workers from work with pay and without retaliation.

Visit ND United's website to read more about the principles proposed above.