Maine front-line workers highlight priorities for next federal stimulus bill
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Bridget Cervizzi of Westbrook, a letter carrier and vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 92, said her union supports a new $3 trillion supplemental aid package introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 12.
Union members representing Maine firefighters, nurses, state employees, postal workers and construction workers are calling on Congress to provide more funding to protect worker safety and bolster a cross-section of the state's industries.
The unions held a press conference convened by the Maine AFL-CIO on May 13.
Rick Caillier, president of Lewiston Firefighters IAFF 785, said Lewiston is projecting a 12% decrease in revenues, which is forcing the city to leave 12 positions vacant, including two police officers and a fire inspector.
“I have witnessed the impact of reductions to city services,” Caillier said in a news release. “They predominately impact the poor and vulnerable. The loss of an inspector will have a serious impact ... We will be going back to the '90s and early 2000s, when it was common to find buildings with families living in them with no one claiming ownership."
Speakers said they supported a new $3 trillion supplemental aid package introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 12.
The act closes a loophole in the Families’ First Coronavirus Response Act that prevents many health care workers, first responders and other front-line employees from accessing paid family leave to protect themselves and their families from exposure to COVID-19.
Health care workers make up nearly one-quarter of Mainers who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
“We’re put in the position of either losing our job or losing the ability to care for our children properly,” said Portia Judson of Bar Harbor, a registered nurse at Mount Desert Island Hospital and member of the Maine State Nurses Association/National Nurses United. “We’re being held up as heroes on one side, but second-class citizens on the other.”
A representative of National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 92 called on Congress to provide an emergency injection of funding to the U.S. Postal Service to ensure that it can continue to process and deliver the mail.
"With a decline in revenue due to COVID-19, [USPS] will run of cash by the end of the fiscal year," said Bridget Cervizzi of Westbrook, a letter carrier and vice president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 92.
"We are asking for $75 billion in direct funding to ensure that we can continue to deliver lifesaving drugs, lab tests, mail-in ballots and other critical mail. It is an absolute must that funding for the Postal Service be included in the next federal stimulus package."
Members of the Maine State Building and Construction Trades Council called on Congress to include funding for rebuilding infrastructure and employing Maine residents. The Heroes Act includes funding for highway construction and improvement.
“This crisis presents us an opportunity to rebuild our infrastructure in a way that helps Maine communities, puts people back to work with good wages and benefits and decreases our carbon emissions," said Portland resident Mike Isgro, a member of Ironworkers Local 7.
"The Heroes Act takes a step in the right direction and we hope Congress will push for a more robust infrastructure package with labor and climate standards as we move forward.”
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