We’re now used to referring to grocery workers, nurses, and other exposed occupations as frontline workers. They’re heroes! And/or, they’re folks who simply are forced to do extremely dangerous work with badly-insufficient protections.
Nonetheless, Governor Baker is looking forward to getting us all back to work. And he’s put together a slate of seventeen (17!) leaders to get us ready for that. Who’s looking out for those frontline workers — or the expanded workforce that would gradually be exposed to danger upon “reopening”?
The Board brings public health officials together with leaders from the business community and municipal government from across the Commonwealth. This group is charged with advising the administration on strategies to reopen the economy in phases based on health and safety metrics. It will meet with key stakeholders and solicit input from a variety of constituencies over the next three weeks to develop a report by May 18th that will include DPH approved workplace safety standards, industry frameworks and customer protocols and guidelines, including enforcement mechanisms and coordination with municipal leaders.
Left off of this list of luminaries is anyone representing labor: Not United Food and Commercial Workers (grocery workers union); not 1199 SEIU (health care workers); not 32BJ SEIU (janitors, et al); not the MBTA Carmen. Wouldn’t you call these frontline workers key stakeholders? Why not just put them right on the board?
Reopening Advisory Board Members:
- Aron Ain, CEO, Kronos Inc & Ultimate Software
- Carlo Zaffanella, Vice President and General Manager, Maritime & Strategic Systems, General Dynamics Mission Systems
- Corey Thomas, CEO, Rapid 7
- Daniel Rivera, Mayor, City of Lawrence
- Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Massachusetts General Hospital
- Girish Navani, CEO and Co-Founder, eClinicalWorks
- Joe Bahena, Senior Vice President, Joseph Abboud Manufacturing
- Kathryn Burton, Chief of Staff, City of Boston
- Laurie Leshin, Ph.D., President, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- Linda Markham, President, Cape Air
- Mark Keroack, President & CEO, Baystate Health
- Dr. Monica Bharel, M.D., Commissioner, Department of Public Health
- Nicole LaChapelle, Mayor, City of Easthampton
- Pamela Everhart, Head of Regional Public Affairs and Community Relations, Fidelity Investments
- Stephanie Pollack, Transportation Secretary and CEO
- Steve DiFillippo, CEO, Davios Restaurants
- Wendy Hudson, Owner, Nantucket Book Partners
Boy. Start over again, Governor.
People forget our “moderate Republican” Governor stacked the DLR with anti-union appointees. This is one of the hardest states to get certified as a union in, I know having been on the frontlines of a unionization fight at my first teaching position. I would also add the nurses unions are conspicuously absent which is real slap in the face to the front line health workers on the part of the Baker admin.
FWIW, I do see at least a couple of people on that list I know to be active Dems who would probably at least consider the perspective of workers.