Press Releases

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the House Government Operations subcommittee, released the following statement in advance of today’s House Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing, “No Worker Left Behind: Supporting Essential Workers.”

“No Worker Left Behind: Supporting Essential Workers”
Committee on Oversight and Reform
12:00 PM, Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-VA)

            The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated how much society depends on essential workers. Doctors, nurses, and health care workers are risking their own health to treat the millions of people who have contracted the coronavirus. We also cannot forget that essential work extends beyond health care and includes the millions of workers who cannot do their jobs from home. These people include janitorial workers, grocery store clerks, delivery people, factory and farm workers, restaurant staff, and transportation workers. Unfortunately, from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, delays and outright failures in acquiring even the most basic supplies needed to protect essential workers have had dire consequences, including lives lost.

            Among the essential workers who had died from the coronavirus is my constituent, Chai Suthammanont. Mr. Suthammanont was a federal employee who lost his life after contracting the coronavirus while working as part of the kitchen staff at a Quantico daycare center. He is one of many frontline federal employees whose jobs required them to continue working through the coronavirus pandemic. The Subcommittee on Government Operations will hold a hearing in the next few weeks to highlight the work of frontline feds and the risks they face to continue serving the American public. I have pushed for provisions and signed onto a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy to include in the HEROES Act a requirement that personal protective equipment be provided to all essential workers. I will continue to work to ensure that essential workers are protected during this global health pandemic.

Last week, the Subcommittee on Government Operations held a briefing with the Department of Labor Inspector General (IG) on much needed oversight of the Department’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The Department of Labor IG noted that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has failed to set out clear guidelines to protect workers. Even when OSHA has issued standards, it fails to enforce them. OSHA has received more than 3,000 worker complaints related to business operations during the coronavirus crisis since January 2020. However, OSHA has issued only one citation, which went to a nursing home in Georgia that delayed reporting the hospitalization of six infected workers. I am looking forward to a forthcoming report from the IG that assesses OSHA’s guidance and its efforts to protect employees as they return to the workplace.

I thank the Chairwoman for calling this important hearing to bring attention to the plight of essential workers and the need to better protect them and help them if they become ill while doing their jobs during this pandemic.

Essential workers are carrying a heavy burden for the rest of society during the coronavirus pandemic. They are doing jobs that require them to be physically present at their workplaces and engage in person-to-person contact even as the public health risks remain. Additionally, essential workers are disproportionately in low-income jobs while those able to work from home tend to have higher levels of education and higher incomes. Each time an essential worker shows up for a work shift, they are putting their health and the health of their family at risk. Yet, even if employers take every precaution to minimize employee exposure to the coronavirus, essential workers remain at substantial risk of becoming infected.

Several companies such as Starbucks, Walmart, and CVS provided temporary bonus payments or higher wages for those employees who continued to work during the coronavirus pandemic, but many of these temporary pay bumps have ended as the pandemic continues to have long term impacts on the economy. Congress has enacted several measures to help various industries weather the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, but the federal government has not yet provided targeted relief and protections for essential workers.

The HEROES Act, passed by the House of Representatives last month would provide hazard pay for essential workers during the pandemic. The bill would allow essential workers who make less than $200,000 a year to receive up to $10,000 in hazard pay. Essential workers making more than $200,000 a year would be eligible to receive up to $5,000 in hazard pay. The HEROES Act also includes $1 trillion for state, local, and tribal governments so they can pay vital workers like first responders, health workers, and teachers who are at risk of losing their jobs due to state budget shortfalls.

I am also proud to co-sponsor the Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act introduced by Chairwoman Maloney.  The bill, modeled after the September 11^th Victim Compensation Fund, would create a fund for all essential workers and personnel who have fallen ill or died as a result of COVID-19. Essential workers and those who live with them and become sick would be eligible to file a claim to receive money from this fund. Essential workers are most at risk of illness during the coronavirus pandemic, but in many cases, are least able to afford the financial setback that can result from any interruption in work. This bill would help essential workers pay for medical bills and lost wages if they contract the coronavirus.

            As our country continues to confront the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress must do more to protect essential workers, adequately compensate them for putting their health at risk, and ensure they are able to pay their medical bills if they do contract the coronavirus. The Senate must pass the HEROES Act and we must consider other proposals to boost essential worker wages during the pandemic.