The Union for Professionals in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia

Important information for members and shop stewards regarding COVID-19. 

The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 2

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​OPEIU Local 2, represents about 8,000 working people in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We negotiate and enforce contracts, organize and train members, and develop leadership that extends beyond the workplace. We are constantly working to defend and advocate for not only our members' rights, but for the rights of all working people as well.

Working Together, In Union

Join us.

Do you want to empower your colleagues and have a stronger voice in your workplace? Do you need an equitable contract that ensures your rights? Contact our Organizer to find out how you can form a union and join Local 2.

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COVID-19 Information

All information released regarding COVID-19 can be found here [click link].
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    Furlough Form
    For those members who have been furloughed

    Have you been furloughed? As in, did your employer tell you not to come in to work for some period of time this month? Maybe you were told not to come in for one day. Maybe you were told to come in every other week. When you're not working, your employer does not pay you. Instead, your employer may give you the option to take your accrued leave. Or your employer may give you the option to apply for unemployment.
    Whatever your situation, please tell us so that we can ensure that your employer does not deduct OPEIU Local 2 dues from your paycheck. Please fill out the form for each month that you are furloughed. 

WorkplaceLeader, vol 1, no 3: The Workplace Fight Against COVID-19

Click here to see the most recent issue of WorkplaceLeader: The Workplace Fight Against COVID-19. The issue covers using online videoconferencing tools like Zoom for bargaining unit meetings (Local 2 uses it!), ElectionRunner for elections, and Coworker.org to petition employers on urgent issues. It also covers important questions related to COVID-19 that workplace leaders such as shop stewards should be prepared to answer.

WorkplaceLeader is a publication for leaders in the workplace focusing on technology, strategic planning, workplace tactics, and organizing. It's published six times a year by UnionBase, the world's first social networking platform for the labor movement with 30,000 union profiles.  

Concerned about COVID-19 exposure at work? OSHA has guidelines for that.

Early on in the COVID-19 outbreak, OSHA received complaints about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and possible COVID-19 infections in workplaces. On April 13, 2020, OSHA responded with guidance to area offices on how to respond to COVID-19-related complaints.
As a union member, here's what you should know: 

For members who have been laid off or are unemployed due to COVID-19

For members who have been furloughed due to COVID-19

Are you an essential worker?
(In Maryland, the Easter Bunny is)

The US Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) defined 14 sectors as essential: chemical management, communications and information technology, community-based government operations and essential functions, defense industrial base, energy, financial services, first responders, food and agriculture employees, hazardous material management, healthcare employees, manufacturing, public workers, transportation and logistics, and water and sanitation. CISA's definition guides US states and DC as they, in turn, define which sectors and employees are essential. 

Bargaining: workplace health & safety in the time of COVID-19

Your right to a safe workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that all employers need to consider how best to decrease the spread of COVID-19 and lower the impact in their workplace. This may include activities in one or more of the following:
​On April 13, 2020, the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published guidance for its area offices on how to prioritize, investigate and process COVID-19-related complaints at workplaces. As a union member, here's what you should know: ​ 
Early on in the COVID-19 outbreak, OSHA published interim guidance for most US workers and employers of workers unlikely to have occupational exposures to COVID-19. OSHA has stated that for most types of workers, the risk of infection with COVID-19 is similar to that of the general American public. However, workers at increased risk include those in healthcare, deathcare, laboratory, airline, border protection, and solid waste and wastewater management operations and travel to areas with ongoing, person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 should remain aware of the evolving outbreak situation. Regardless of which sector workers are in, employers should adapt infection control strategies based on a thorough hazard assessment, using appropriate combinations of engineering and administrative controls, safe work practices, and personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent worker exposures.
Click here to read OSHA's Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. 

​Sources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)​
​US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19
US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, COVID-19
US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Interim Enforcement Response Plan for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), April 13, 2020.

For shop stewards: the union's right to information

Unions have the right to obtain information from an employer, which includes health and safety information. It's not written in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) - it's due to how the US Supreme Court interprets Section 8(d), which requires employers and unions to bargain collectively, to provide a union with the right to information in order that it be able to fulfill its responsibilities to negotiate, monitor, and enforce contracts. Since health and safety is a mandatory subject of bargaining, an employer's refusal to provide health and safety information, or unreasonable delays in doing so, constitutes an Unfair Labor Practices (ULP) and violates NLRA Section 8(a)(5).
Click here for an "Information Request and Request to Bargain" template specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic context.
Your employer may have set up a committee (or committees) to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Request to be on any and all committees. If you can’t get on a committee, arrange for briefings from management representatives, request any COVID-19-related written policies and emergency plans developed by management.
Working remotely? You should still meet with management via call/webex to keep updated. Ask about protection for people who are reporting to work in person, updates regarding any exposures to COVID-19 in your workplace, and any other health & safety issues specific to your workplace. Bring member health & safety issues to the employer as soon as you hear about them. Document in your notes all actions taken by management to address your concerns and save them. You made need this later if management does not agree to address documented safety concerns.

Sources 
New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, Union Rights to Health and Safety Information and to Access to Employer's Premises Under Federal Labor Law (October 2014)
Office and Professional Employees International Union, COVID-19 Bargaining Issues (March 30, 2020).

For shop stewards: bargaining

Bargaining over the impact of COVID-19
As mentioned above, health & safety is a mandatory subject of bargaining. So, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, your employer has a duty to bargain with OPEIU Local 2 over the following issues. Even if the union has waived the right in your collective bargaining agreement (CBA), your employer is still required to bargain over the effects of its decision. Even if your CBA has language on all of the issues below, initiate "What if" discussions with management. Note: Talk with your staff representative before talking with management.  
  • Layoffs. An employer must bargain with the union over layoffs. Even if your employer has a waiver in your collective bargaining agreement (CBA), your employer may be required to bargain over the effects of the layoff. 
    • Seek the employer's no-contest to affected workers’ claims for unemployment and other public benefits.
    • Try to get the employer to extend insurance benefits for the laid-off employees for 30-60 days.
  • Health and Safety Rules. An employer must bargain with the union over changes to existing health and safety rules, or implementation of new rules. 
  • Changes in Hours. Even if a layoff is not needed, an employer must bargain with the union over furloughs, a reduction in working hours, changes to employees’ schedules, or offering unpaid leave. 
  • Wage Freezes or Healthcare Changes. An employer must bargain with the union if it finds it necessary to reduce wages or change healthcare plans,  require the union to agree to engage in mid-term negotiations. 
  • Demand bargaining and seek special emergency agreements over COVID-19 related quarantine/closure/layoff/furloughs/reduced hours, etc.
Contract bargaining Grievances
  • If you and your staff representative can settle grievances now, do it. If the parties can’t settle satisfactorily, try to get management to agree to extend all timelines for at least 60 days.
  • For grievances involving a termination, remind management that it's better to settle now than allow the liability for back pay to pile up for the next months. In the meantime, try to get the employer to agree not to fight any claims for unemployment insurance.
Arbitrations
  • Some arbitrators are now conducting arbitrations via videoconference. Others are postponing. If you find yourself in a situation where you can’t settle a grievance in a fair and equitable way, and the Union decides to move to arbitration, you'll need to defer to the arbitrator’s wishes.
Note: Again, talk with your staff representative before talking with management about any of the above. 

​Sources
New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, Bargaining to Promote Safety and Health (October 2014)
​Office and Professional Employees International Union, COVID-19 Bargaining Issues (March 30, 2020).
Pryzbylski, David J. "Do You Have To Bargain With Your Union Over Your Coronavirus Response Measures?," The National Law Review (March 19, 2020). 

New paid sick leave and family & medical leave laws due to COVID-19
​effective April 1-December 31, 2020

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) consists of two Acts: The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). 

​Please ask your shop steward or staff representative to find out if your employer is covered by FFCRA (EPSLA and EFMLEA). If so, you and your bargaining unit members may qualify for paid sick leave or expanded family & medical leave.
Who it’s for
Public sector employees, including federal, state, and local agency employees are generally covered. The OMB has authority to exclude certain federal employees.
Private sector (including non-profit) employees whose employers have fewer than 500 employees.
 
What it is
It’s 2 weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis;
- OR -
It’s 2 weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work because of a need to care for an individual subject to quarantine, or to care for a child (<18 years) whose school or childcare provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor.
​Who it’s for
Public sector employees, including federal, state, and local agency employees are generally covered. Federal government employees subject to Title I of FMLA are covered. The OMB has authority to exclude certain federal employees.
Private sector employees whose employers have fewer than 500 employees.
The employee must have been employed for at least 30 calendar days immediately prior to taking the leave.
Employees must not have already used their 12 weeks as allowed under FMLA.
 
What it is
This is leave for when an employee is unable to work due to a need for leave to care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
It’s a max of 12 weeks of job-protected leave while maintaining health insurance: 2 weeks of unpaid leave; or 2 weeks of paid sick leave under EPSLA; or 2 weeks of accrued vacation, sick/medical or personal leave (an employer cannot force an employee to use their accrued leave, though). This is followed by up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at no less than 2/3 the employee’s regular rate of pay.

​Stay-at-Home Orders, COVID-19 testing and statistics for DC/MD/VA

Deadline Extended: OPEIU Free College
open to unemployed, furloughed and laid off OPEIU members

Did you know that through OPEIU, you can earn an associates degree FOR FREE? Unemployed, furloughed, and laid off union workers and their extended family are all eligible to enroll. Following are the start dates for the 2020 academic year.  Students can enroll up to the start date of classes:
Summer start: June 1
Fall 1: August 17
Fall 2: October 12
Learn more here.

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Unions in the News

"Rising wage inequality and sluggish hourly wage growth for the vast majority of workers have been defining features of the American labor market for nearly four decades, despite steady productivity growth."

Elise Gould outlines the important, and deeply troublesome, trends observed in American wages over the past several decades. While those in the highest income brackets have seen some of the greatest wage growth, low-income workers have seen very little real increases. In essence: wage inequality is increasing at a much faster rate than we've seen in the past. Read more and learn about the differences across gender, race, age, etc.

The Growth of Non-Profit and Social Service Org Unions

Staff at progressive organizations across the country recognize the benefits of forming a union in their workplaces. Read more about some of the work Local 2 is doing with groups like the National Democratic Institute in Washington, DC.
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​What's the union benefit?

Read George Long's takeaways from a ten-year study titled "Differences Between Union and Nonunion Compensation, 2001-2011." Long uses extensive statistical evidence to demonstrate that not only have unionized employees continued to earn more both in wages as well as benefits, but the differences between union and nonunion employees have widened--the benefits for union employees are even greater now than they were at the start of the century.

Local 2 News

Ideas for Women's Committee

The OPEIU Local 2 Women's Committee is seeking input so that it can better meet the needs of Local 2 members. Please take a moment to fill out this short survey and provide your thoughts [click link].
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The Women's Committee is also looking for some strong union women to join us as we continue to move an agenda that centers around the best interests of women, our families and the communities where we live. Please let us know if you're interested in becoming involved in the activities of the Women’s committee and send any ideas you may have by emailing Yvonne Ellis, Chair at yellis@opeiu-local2.org. 

2020 OPEIU Local 2 Quarterly Membership Meetings

1st Quarterly Membership Meeting of 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
5:30pm
Capital Hilton (1001 16th St, NW, Washington, DC 20036)

2nd Quarterly Membership Meeting of 2020
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
5:30pm
Conference call

3rd Quarterly Membership Meeting of 2020
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
5:30pm
Location TBD

4th Quarterly Membership Meeting of 2020
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
5:30pm
Location TBD

"​We’re working people. We don’t sit around. We take action."

We have incredible union members. Click on any of the photos to learn about them.

Spotlight Your Shop.

OPEIU Local 2 has some amazing shop stewards and union members. We want the world to know about you, so let us highlight your shop on this website and profile you in our e-newsletter.

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