Singapore Air Sets Sights on Fully-Vaccinated Workforce
The carrier’s goal is to be the world’s first airline to see all its employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine
2021-01-22T07:40:32-05:00
by Dan Booth
Singapore Airlines is urging all its employees to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The carrier’s goal is to become the first fully-vaccinated airline in the world.
In addition to the airline’s cabin crews, the vaccination effort extends to gate agents, baggage handlers and cleaning crews, security screeners, passenger service agents and cargo handlers.
“Since our first call for volunteers went out last week, more than 5,200 staff have signed up and will get their vaccinations in the coming days,” said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Phong Choon. “We hope more will do so in the coming days.”
Just as dozens of COVID-19 protections were set to expire, President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion stimulus package Sunday that extends unemployment benefits, continues the federal eviction moratorium, sends out another round of relief checks and provides assistance for states, among other things.
Here s what New Jerseyans will get from the COVID relief bill and what we know about when the benefits will arrive:
Extra unemployment benefits
Federal unemployment programs will now be extended through March 14, 2021, instead of the Dec. 26 deadline, and workers will receive an extra $300 a week on top of their usual benefits through mid-March. While I am relieved that the president signed the bill, because of his delay it is possible an estimated half a million New Jerseyans will not be receiving vital federal unemployment benefits this week because they lapsed on Saturday while the bill languished on his desk, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
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email No New Locality Pay Areas in 2022
The president’s pay agent declined to authorize a number of recommended changes to existing locality pay areas, overruling a federal advisory board.
The Trump administration last week rejected the recommendations of a federal advisory council on employee compensation to add locations to the list of locality pay areas despite not meeting all the criteria for inclusion in the program that accounts for the increased labor costs of high cost-of-living regions.
Last year, the Federal Salary Council unanimously recommended that Wayne County, Pa., be included as part of the existing New York-Newark, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa. locality pay area, despite the fact that it failed to meet the minimum number of General Schedule employees required for consideration due to federal agencies’ inability to attract job applicants.
NJ Transit gets $1.25B, but Port Authority struck out on second federal COVID-19 aid request
Updated Dec 23, 2020;
NJ Transit is expected to receive the $1.25 billion it requested from a second round of federal coronavirus stimulus funding, but the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey appears to be left out in the cold.
The second $900 billion CARES act bill, which is still awaiting President Donald Trump’s signature, was passed by Congress. The funding makes up for lost revenue due to ridership declines caused by the coronavirus. Trump tweeted a video Tuesday night calling for changes to the bill and suggesting he might not sign the legislation. The final text of the bill is not expected to be sent to Trump for his signature before Thursday or Friday.