Union proposal would keep COVID-19 Admin Leave, full-time telework, & other protections in place past April 23rd. Now it’s up to Director Chopra to decide

On Thursday, March 17, 2022, NTEU 335's Health and Safety Committee sent our union proposal on post-April-23rd pandemic safety policies to CFPB Labor Relations and COVID-19 Coordination Team Lead Marty Michalosky.

Download our NTEU Pandemic Safety Proposal here. Our union proposal keeps in place reasonable safety precautions such as indoor masking & maximum telework, and ties it directly to community transmission risk. [Previously: Download CFPB's proposal to remove most COVID-19 protections].

We are still waiting for a response from CFPB, who despite reports of multiple cases of COVID-19 in CFPB offices in the past 3 weeks, have indicated they still desire to remove indoor mask requirements and most other COVID protections after April 23rd if case rates remain at current levels. This would be in violation of our Collective Bargaining Agreement, which requires CFPB to protect workers from exposure to known health hazards.

Director of Facilities and leader of the Bureau's COVID-19 response, Marty Michalosky, has stated he will be making a recommendation to Director Chopra this week for COVID-19 safety policies after April 23rd; and that he will share that recommendation with the Union Health & Safety Committee ASAP. As of this update, we are still awaiting word from Marty on what he has recommended to Director Chopra. We are encouraging employees to email the Director to urge him to either extend the current operating status including max telework & COVID-19 Admin Leave, or to achieve a swift agreement with the Union on the pandemic precautions we have been fighting to get in writing since 2020.

Despite the rampant misinformation you may hear, and management's union-busting fear tactics, remember: Until an agreement on post-April 23rd policies is reached, all masking, social distancing, COVID-19 Admin Leave, and maximum telework policies are still in place through at least April 23rd and no changes to policies have yet been made.