Chicago Teachers Want Better Covid Rules, Could Walk Out Starting Monday
If members approve the walkout, teachers could continue to teach their students remotely. Meanwhile, union leaders in Pennsylvania say workers should be paid while under quarantine.
AP:
Chicago Teachers To Vote On Walkout Over Reopening Dispute
The Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates on Wednesday approved a resolution that would have its members stay out of the classroom until it reaches an agreement on health and safety protocols with the school district. The resolution now goes to the union’s 25,000 members for a vote. If a majority approve the resolution by Saturday, teachers would stay at home Monday. However, they could continue to teach their students remotely. (1/21)
Kansas City Star:
Bonner Springs, KS School Teachers Get Coronavirus Shots
Bonner Springs teachers are among the first in Kansas to receive COVID-19 vaccines, district officials said Wednesday. About 200 have gotten their shots since Monday, including all high school teachers who requested it as well as teachers at two of the three elementary schools. (Williams, 1/21)
In news from Pennsylvania, Missouri and Florida —
Philadelphia Inquirer:
Essential Workers Exposed To COVID-19 Are Reporting To Work When They Can’t Get Paid To Quarantine
Union leaders and workplace health and safety experts say that not paying workers to quarantine creates a disincentive to speak up about infection or exposure. “If they’re not going to get paid, they’re not going to come forward,” said Peg Seminario, who served as the director of occupational safety and health for the AFL-CIO for three decades before retiring in 2019. “It’s critical to quarantine and pay those individuals so the community can be protected.” Barbara Rittinger Rigo, an attorney at employer law firm Littler Mendelson P.C., said that if employees were exposed to COVID on the job, employers would be more likely to be generous about employees taking leave. But if they were exposed because they flew somewhere for Thanksgiving or because they were going to gatherings without a mask, that’s another story. Still, she noted that it’s difficult to prove how someone has been exposed. (Feliciano Reyes, 1/20)
Kansas City Star:
GOP Legislators Refuse To Wear Masks In Missouri Capitol
Masks are not required at the Missouri State Capitol. But they should be. While COVID-19 continues to sicken and kill Missourians, there is no screening process for lawmakers to enter the statehouse. Daily testing isn’t an option either. Social distancing is impossible in certain areas of the venerable building, which remains open to visitors. (1/21)
AP:
Missouri Republicans Move To Limit Health Officials' Power
Republican senators in Missouri on Wednesday debated ways to check health officials’ power in response to their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. One proposal would ensure there are no government-imposed occupancy limits on churches and other places of worship during public health emergencies. Another bill would take the authority to make public health rules away from county health boards and instead leave those decisions to county commissioners. (1/20)
KHN:
Door To Door In Miami’s Little Havana To Build Trust In Testing, Vaccination
Little Havana is a neighborhood in Miami that, until the pandemic, was known for its active street life along Calle Ocho, including live music venues, ventanitas serving Cuban coffee and a historic park where men gather to play dominoes. But during the pandemic, a group called Healthy Little Havana is zeroing in on this area with a very specific assignment: persuading residents to get a coronavirus test. (Zaragovia, 1/21)
Also —
The New York Times:
A.S.L. Interpreter Who Gave Coronavirus Updates Dies Of Covid-19 Complications
Patty Sakal, an American Sign Language interpreter who translated updates about the coronavirus for deaf Hawaiians, died on Friday of complications related to Covid-19. She was 62. Ms. Sakal, who lived in Honolulu, died at Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego, where she had gone last month to visit one of her daughters, according to Ms. Sakal’s sister, Lorna Mouton Riff. (de Leon, 1/20)
AP:
Louisiana Police Chief Recovering, Fire Chief Dies Of COVID
A Louisiana police chief is recovering from COVID-19 while a longtime fire chief has died of complications from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Bruce Cutrer, who led Tangipahoa Fire District #1 in Amite, died Tuesday of COVID-19 complications, the Louisiana State Fireman’s Association said. (1/20)
