State workers rate MD DOL pandemic response "poor"

Sean Santmyire, an AFSCME Council 3 union member and job specialist for the Maryland Department of Labor, said Tuesday that the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been “poor.” “Shortage of equipment, training and staffing has placed our membership in dangerous positions,” he said. For months, AFSCME Council 3 has been pushing for protections for its members — from unrestrained access to personal protective equipment to adequate staffing at agencies straining from the burden of COVID-19. “To this day, unfortunately, there are departments and institutions that have still not addressed many of the basics that need to happen in order for the state to successfully move forward and take on the pandemic to ensure safety in the workplace and for the employees,” AFSCME Council 3 President Patrick Moran said.
- Excerpted from Maryland Matters; photo: AFSCME Council 3 workers drove in a caravan recently in an appeal to the Board of Public Works for safer workplaces during the pandemic. report/photo by Hannah Gaskill

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