​Labor hails Biden’s COVID-19 relief package

Saying that “This is how a real president provides relief in a responsible way,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka on Thursday said that the economic package unveiled by President-elect Joe Biden is part of the AFL-CIO’s Workers First Agenda and includes the lifesaving elements America’s labor movement has been fighting for since last summer. 
Those include enhanced unemployment insurance, state and local government assistance, direct payments to individuals, COBRA subsidies, an eviction moratorium, expanded paid leave and a long overdue Occupational Safety and Health Administration emergency temporary standard for infectious disease. 
Trumka said that “Congress should pass this relief package at once so we can provide healing and hope to those suffering under this deadly pandemic, and then begin the important work of rebuilding America with legislation like the PRO Act and President-elect Biden’s Build Back Better plan.”