With no clear direction from our country's executive branch, SMART Union president Joseph Sellers took action in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic to ensure the organization's union workforce will be sheltering in place under the best-case scenario. For many union Locals, this meant quickly getting their members on unemployment to begin collecting benefits rather than having their work habitually cut short by outbreaks.
"Layoff is a familiar term in the construction industry, but not in all sectors," says Sellers. "It is too early to tell what part of the stimulus packages that employers have access to, but displaced workers need and deserve to collect unemployment. There are so many scenarios out there; a worker can show up in the morning only to be told the job has been shutdown due to a confirmed case."