Statement Calling for Additional Support for GW’s Frontline Workers

The coronavirus pandemic has been raging on since March without a clear end in sight. Throughout the last 10 turbulent months, GW’s frontline staff have been consistently putting their lives at risk to ensure our education and the university proceeds without interpretation. While these crucial staff members have always been underappreciated, their efforts during the pandemic are especially worthy of praise and recognition.

Yet GW’s Administration has not taken the necessary actions to protect these worker’s safety. We have received several accounts from frontline workers that the university has refused to provide the necessary resources and protections to ensure their safety. While the administration has claimed that worker safety is among its top priorities, when we met with the administration on these issues we were met with apathy and dismissal. This unwillingness to hear worker concerns and work collaboratively to ensure the safety of frontline staff is unacceptable.
The Roosevelt Network at GW and the undersigned organizations demand that the University takes proactive action to ensure the safety of its workers. This action must include:

•Expanding Pandemic Leave- Pandemic paid leave must be expanded to 180 hours instead of the current 80 hours minimum mandated by the federal government. Several frontline workers we spoke to said that their pandemic leave has already been exhausted. This expansion will allow employees the flexibility to stay home if they have COVID-19 exposure and/or symptoms and comply with quarantine orders without the fear of losing needed income.

•Freeze Layoffs Till the End of Federally Recognized Pandemic- HR should freeze layoffs for all staff and faculty (except in the case of wrongdoing) until the COVID-19 National Emergency is ended by decree of the Federal Government. While in the short-term it may save the University money to lay off workers, these layoffs harm worker morale and will cause the University to incur additional long-term costs related to declines in worker morale, lower retention, and re-hiring workers. Accordingly, freezing layoffs will help the University reputational and financially.

•Requiring Negative Tests Before Returning to Work- The administration must work to require that all workers returning from quarantine or COVID leave, including contractors, provide documentation that they have tested negative before being allowed to return to work. While the administration claims this is already being enforced, we have heard several reports from workers that this is not occurring consistently in practice. Verification is necessary to ensure the safety of frontline workers and prevent further outbreaks.

•Performing Additional Due Diligence on Third-Party Contractors- Much of GW’s frontline workers are employed by third-party contractors rather than the University directly and are subject to different safety standards. While this distinction exists on paper, in practice workers directly employed by GW and contracting workers are in direct contact and work alongside one another. Ultimately, any differences in safety protocols put all workers on campus in harm's way. When we met with the administration, they claimed that they have limited control over the safety protocols implemented by companies with whom they contract labor. This is blatantly false. The administration has not only the ability but the duty to demand that third party contractors put in place safety protocols consistent for all GW workers.

•Create Whistleblower Protections and Reporting Mechanisms- The administration needs to take greater steps to facilitate active channels for frontline workers to report violations without fear of retaliation. The administration indicated they had not conducted any outreach specifically to frontline workers. While there is currently an ethics hotline for workers to report violations, the administration told us the hotline has received zero calls since the pandemic started in March. Frontline workers we spoke to said they fear retaliation from the administration if they speak out or report violations. Frontline workers also told us that communication with higher-level managers has become more limited during the pandemic, further reducing avenues to report concerns. The administration must rectify this problem to ensure worker safety.

•Release Information on the Workers’ Compensation Program- The administration claims that workers can receive workers’ compensation and are not required to use pandemic leave if they have had possible exposure to COVID on campus. However, frontline workers we spoke to were unaware that this program existed and had not heard of anyone who had been able to utilize this benefit. We brought this issue to the attention of the administration and asked how many workers have been able to use the program. The administrator we spoke with refused to provide this data. When asked what GW was doing to inform employees about this option and where they could learn more, the administrator only suggested that workers should google “workers’ compensation.”

We look forward to working with GW’s administration going forward to meet these demands and ensure the safety of GW’s workforce.

Sincerely,
The Roosevelt Network at George Washington University