(WWJ) In one of the strange paradoxes of life under coronavirus, many health care workers are working precariously long hours under scary conditions while thousands of others lose their jobs due to the influx of COVID-19 patients and the cancellation of many other types of medicine.
Those in the first category at McLaren Macomb hospital started a petition asking for more sick time, hazard pay and personal protection equipment.
And now they have support from above: Congressman Andy Levin, state Rep Bill Sowerby and Mount Clemens Mayor Laura Kropp joined a video conference this week with members of the union at the Mount Clemens hospital.
"The frontline workers work countless hours at great risk to themselves and great risk to their families to help save the lives of our neighbors, and in many cases, our own loved ones," Levin said. "That's why I've called on President Trump from Day One to use the full powers of the Defense Production Act to procure, produce and distribute everything we need to test, to protect and to treat. And we're still not doing that," Levin said, per the Macomb Daily.
Two weeks ago, a petition signed by more than 1,200 was delivered to the President and CEO of McLaren Macomb hospital.
In response, McLaren said in a statement it has purchased a U-V light system to decontaminate masks while working to secure additional equipment and lobbying the federal government to extend hazard pay to all healthcare workers.
But that's not stopping the healthcare workers' union, who say job actions to protest are being considered against the Mount Clemens hospital.
In the meantime, Dina Carlisle, Local 40 vice president and a registered nurse at the hospital, told the Macomb Daily that hospital staff are working under conditions "like Third World countries," wearing the same masks and gowns all day, and re-using masks to the point they're so thin they're concerned about effectiveness.
