Contact your Senators TODAY!
Last week we sent out an InfoAlert and released a video on reconciliation, a unique legislative vehicle Congress is using to pass a new COVID-19 relief package.
Early Saturday morning, the House of Representatives passed the bill,219 to 212. It is now headed to the Senate for a vote.
We continue to do our part to end this pandemic; Senators must do theirs and pass this bill.
The COVID Relief Package will:
- Provide direct payments of up to $1,400 to Americans who need it the most.
- Extend COBRA coverage for uninsured workers with an 85 percent subsidy, many of which are our Steelworker siblings.
- Extend Unemployment Insurance benefits for up to 48 weeks and increase the minimum weekly benefit to $400.
- Grant $150 million for COVID-19 worker protections, with $75 million dedicated to OSHA enforcement in high-risk sectors. This has been a USW priority since the pandemic began.
- Directly benefit the 10,000 members at USW Local 8888, who build ships for our military, and others who qualify for the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act by giving presumption that COVID-19 is work-related. This presumption will authorize eligibility for medical benefits, lost wages, and survivor benefits.
- Provides for $130 billion to help schools. This funding will allow recommended steps by the CDC to go forward that will ensure students, educators, and employees can return to the classroom safely.
- Provide $200 million for infection control support for the skilled nursing facilities where many USW members work..
Also included in the package is the “Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021.” It will protect the pensions of 120,000 active USW members and retirees by ensuring they are fully funded for at least 30 years. It would also allow healthy plans to better account for the pandemic and help to ensure their solvency for the future. Protecting our pensions has been a Steelworker priority for years, and Butch Lewis is necessary to help the thousands of workers (including many paperworkers) in these plans.
Here is how you can help:
Click HERE to send an email to your Senators asking them to pass the COVID Relief Package, as is, without amendments.
Call your Senators at 877-607-0785, tell them who you are, where you are from, and that you are counting on them to Pass the COVID Relief Package.