With help from Susannah Luthi and Ian Kullgren
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— Congress will be out until May due to the coronavirus, and that could prolong disagreements over additional small business aid.
— The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says it will focus on inspecting reports of worker deaths and “imminent danger” exposures caused by the coronavirus.
— Amazon fired workers who criticized the company’s response to the pandemic.
GOOD MORNING. It’s Wednesday, April 15, and this is Morning Shift, your tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives and suggestions to [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @RebeccaARainey, @IanKullgren, and @TimothyNoah1.
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CONGRESS POSTPONES RETURN AS SMALL BUSINESS FUNDS DWINDLE: Previously, lawmakers were due back April 20, a timeline criticized by members of both parties as premature and even “dangerous,” given admonitions from health officials to practice social distancing. Now both chambers will conduct only pro forma sessions until May 4.
The delay comes as the GOP continues to press for a standalone $250 billion increase in funding for the Paycheck Protection Program while Democrats refuse to assent unless additional funding for hospitals and local governments is also included. The program, created by the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, provides loans to small businesses impacted by the pandemic — but it’s due to run out of money this week. An attempt by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to push additional money for the program through in a pro forma session was blocked last week by Senate Democrats, but Republicans have not ruled out trying again when the upper chamber meets next on Thursday.
More bad news for employers: Another emergency small-business program is on its last legs, Playbook reported Tuesday. Sources say the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is close to running out of lending authority.
READ MORE: “Pressure grows on Congress for more small business aid as banks pump out billions,” from POLITICO’s Zachary Warmbrodt
OSHA RELEASES NEW COVID-19 ENFORCEMENT PLAN: OSHA’s interim enforcement plan, announced Monday, follows calls from unions, worker advocacy groups and Democrats for the agency to develop emergency rules spelling out how companies must protect their workers from the virus.
Workers have filed complaints with OSHA about not having access to personal protective equipment such as respirators, gloves, and gowns, the agency said. “OSHA has also received complaints expressing concern about a lack of training on appropriate standards and about possible COVID-19 illnesses in the workplace.”
But OSHA under the Trump administration has declined to require employers to provide masks, gloves and other protective equipment to workers in grocery stores and other essential businesses, as the agency did during past health crises like the H1N1 flu epidemic.
Labor leaders are pushing the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act to centralize and increase production of protective equipment. In a letter to President Donald Trump last week, the AFL-CIO pressed the administration to further utilize the DPA, beef up the CDC’s infection control guidelines and provide coronavirus tests to health care workers. Take a look at the AFL-CIO’s asks on POLITICO Pro.
AMAZON FIRES WORKERS WHO CRITICIZED PANDEMIC RESPONSE: Amazon dismissed two tech employees who “had publicly denounced the conditions at its warehouses as unsafe during the coronavirus pandemic” The Washington Post’s Jay Greene reports. “The virus has spread widely, infecting workers in at least 74 warehouses and delivery facilities across the country, according to Amazon and media reports.”
“One of the fired workers, Emily Cunningham, a user experience designer who is part of the group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, had offered on Twitter to match donations up to $500 to Amazon warehouse workers,” Greene writes. “In that tweet, she wrote that a lack of safe and sanitary working conditions ‘puts them and the public at risk.’”
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka protested the dismissals on Twitter. “Amazon needs to stop retaliating and start making sure employees are safe, working in sanitary conditions with proper protections,” he wrote.
NEW YORK SUES DOL OVER EMERGENCY PAID LEAVE IMPLEMENTATION: New York Attorney General Tish James sued the Labor Department Tuesday, alleging its guidance governing emergency family leave and paid sick leave could have “devastating consequences for New York and its residents,” your host Eleanor reports. The final rule, published earlier this month, implements the paid family and sick leave requirements for small businesses mandated by the second coronavirus relief package signed into law last month.
DOL’s guidance placed certain restrictions on who can access the temporary program, including a requirement that workers first receive a diagnosis of Covid-19 or are told by a health care provider to self-quarantine. James’ suit alleges that the rule “conflicts with the plain language and purpose of” the new law and imposes “broad, unauthorized exclusions.”
STATES DEMAND SCOTUS HALT ‘PUBLIC CHARGE’ RULE: New York, Connecticut and Vermont asked the Supreme Court on Monday to put a major Trump administration effort to limit legal immigration on hold during the pandemic. The crisis has intensified criticism of Trump’s “public charge” rule, which makes it more difficult for immigrants who use government assistance programs like Medicaid to obtain a green card. This is no time, these states say, to shoo immigrants away from getting tested and treated for Covid-19. “The catastrophic Covid-19 pandemic has drastically altered the nature and magnitude of the irreparable harms faced by plaintiffs, their residents, and the nation,” the plaintiffs argued in their petition.
— The court, in a January decision along party lines, lifted a lower court’s freeze on the rule, and it went into effect Feb. 24 — just as Covid-19 became a major health threat. After pressure from health officials and Democrats, the Department of Homeland Security said it won’t include coronavirus treatment among the factors used to determine whether an immigrant is a “public charge.”
— “Furloughs and Pay Cuts Hit The Los Angeles Times,” from The New York Times
— “Vox plans to announce around 100 employee furloughs later this week, hoping to avoid layoffs, sources say,” from CNBC
— “A Second Round of Coronavirus Layoffs Has Begun. Few Are Safe.” from The Wall Street Journal
— “Layoffs Hit Valence Media: Hollywood Reporter, Dick Clark Productions, Billboard, Vibe Affected,” from Variety
— “ArcelorMittal announces layoffs of both hourly and salaried workers,” from The Times of Northwest Indiana
IMMIGRANTS MAKE UP ESSENTIAL WORKFORCE, LEFT OUT OF AID: More than 130,000 workers deemed “essential” during the coronavirus pandemic are Temporary Protected Status holders from Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti, according to a Center for American Progress analysis released Tuesday. That includes an estimated 11,600 health care workers, most of whom work as home health and personal care aides, nursing assistants, orderlies and psychiatric aides. Some 17 percent of all health care workers in the United States are immigrants, according to the National Immigration Forum, an immigrant advocacy group.
But most immigrants, including TPS holders, are excluded from receiving the benefits provided by coronavirus relief legislation, including the $1,200 stimulus check expected to hit many Americans’ bank accounts as soon as today.
Thousands of Dreamers, or people who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children and are granted legal status and work permits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also work in health care. Almost 280,000 undocumented people worked in the health care industry in 2018, according to an estimate by the New American Economy, including 62,600 DACA-eligible individuals. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on whether the Trump administration can wind down the DACA program, a decision that is expected to fall in the administration’s favor.
POLITICO Pro is here to help you navigate these unprecedented times. Check out our new Covid-19 Coverage Roundup, which provides a daily summary of top Covid-19 news coverage from across all 16 federal policy verticals as well as premium content, such as DataPoint graphics. Please sign up at our settings page to receive this unique roundup sent directly to your inbox every weekday afternoon.
— “Appeals court sides with feds on Jeffrey Epstein deal,” from POLITICO
— “Coronavirus Leaves Cruise Ship Workers in Limbo: Out of a Job but Still at Sea,” from The Wall Street Journal
— “With millions unemployed, hotel industry lobbies to spend stimulus on other needs,” from The Washington Post
— “Exclusive: Democrats have a new plan to keep millions of laid-off workers insured,” from Vox
—“McDonald’s Owners, Company Spar Over Assistance,” from The Wall Street Journal
— “Dems propose expansion of benefit program for public safety officers killed or disabled by coronavirus,” from POLITICO
— “11 surprising industries the coronavirus downturn is affecting,” from POLITICO
— “Airlines ink agreement in principle on billions in payroll assistance,” from POLITICO
— “Fauci: ‘We’re not there yet’ on key steps to reopen economy,” from The Associated Press
— “Bloomberg pledges $6M to feeding workers in city’s public health system,” from POLITICO
THAT’S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT!
Congress skips town until May
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