USW Public and Non-Profit Employees Council
The Council’s mission is to give a stronger and more unified voice to tens of thousands of our members who work in many diverse occupations in the public sector and other non-profit organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
The Council assists in coordinating education, training and research work in the public and other non-profit sectors of our Union, focusing on collective bargaining, organizing, training and political action.
To learn more about the Council, contact Tara Widner at 412-562-2589 or at twidner@usw.org.
H1N1 Influenza (formerly known as Swine Flu) Updates
The USW has released a series of fact sheets and other information related to the H1N1 virus, formerly known as the Swine Flu. Click here for the latest information.
They call it a pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) panel of experts examined the evidence and concluded that novel H1N1 influenza is infecting people around the world at a rapid rate.
We are all at risk – ourselves, our families, and co-workers. Entire healthcare systems are in danger too. As healthcare workers, we are the frontline where the danger is greatest.
But don’t panic: we can increase our chances of avoiding H1N1 influenza (formerly know as Swine Flu) by arming ourselves with the facts and by acting on them now.
The USW has developed and recently updated factsheets on the H1N1 flu. These resources will help you understand the steps you and your local must take to protect our members against H1N1 so that we can stay healthy and provide the care that will be so greatly needed in our communities. An ounce of prevention now is truly worth a pound of cure.
The fall has always been the flu season. But the novel H1N1 flu virus is capable of spreading much more quickly than common influenza because people have little natural immunity to this pathogen. And while young children and the elderly have always been at risk of complications from the seasonal flu, the H1N1 flu virus can cause medical complications for young and middle age adults who are usually less at risk.
That’s why it is so important that each local educate our members and build member involvement in the local’s efforts to get protections that health care workers will need. Unions have the right to bargain over the elements of employer policies and plans regarding the H1N1 flu virus, and how these plans get implemented. Please download these factsheets and share them with your local – and particularly with your local’s Health and Safety Committee. For sample letters requesting to bargain, sample information requests and related items, or if you have any questions, please contact Tara Widner, USW Health Care Workers Council at twidner@usw.org or call 412-562-2589.
The fall is upon us, so much is at stake, there’s no time to lose. Thank you.
