This is live coverage of the hearing on cspan3. The country is returning to work here. Many of us here in washington having this hearing while the spearer pelosi and House Democrats continue to stay at home Holding Virtual hearings. We have got to get back to doing the real live work that the people sent us here to do and i would urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to come back to washington and do what we have been elected to do. And with that, madam chairwoman, i yield back. Thank you. Thank you so much. Now were introduce our witnesses. First we have rita bigot, an essential worker who died from coronavirus. Next is john costa, the International President of the transit union. Next we have anthony mark perone, who is the unit food and commercial Workers Union and with us Bonnie Castillo who is the executive director of National Nurses united and California Nurses Association and the National Nurses organizing committee. We also have clint odum from policy and advocacy and the executive directly of the Washington Bureau of the National Urban league. Last but not least we have avick roy, the president of the foundation for research on equal opportunity. The witnesses will be unmuted so we could swear them in. Please raise your right hands. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony youre about to give is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. Yes. Let the record show that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. Thank you. Without objection, your written statements will be made part of the rourke. With that, mrs. Bigot, youre recognized for your testimony. Hi. My name is anita bigot and i work at a Medical College in new york in the Pediatric Administration department and i im here today to tell you about my family and how we lost our guiding line edward on april 9th. Im also here to speak on behalf of what the family left behind, our elected representatives know how important it is that you pass the pandemic heroes compensation act to help the family with essential workers who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country that america has been engulfed in this pandemic. First let me tell you about my husband ed. Ed was one of the strongest, kindest, dedicating and loving persons ive ever known. We met in the Brooklyn Hospital center where he was employed until the day he passed away. He was a incredible father and a loving husband and a best friend to anybody that crossed his path. He was just as dedicated to the patients who he served as a patient transporter for over 20 years. Edward wasnt just getting a paycheck, or he loved his job and he, he felt responsible for all of his patients and made sure to give every one of them the same level of care and attention that anyone would want from our family members. He loved to tell jokes and had the biggest smile that would light up the room. He used that gift to make patients feel comfortable as he would taking them to surgery or for tests knowing the anxiety at the moment. He was a loyal coworkers and devoted to the hospital serving as a union delegate. And he believed that everyone deserved to be treated equally and with dignity and providing good patient care at any health care setting. I said he missed his calling, he should have been a lawyer. He loved me an advocate and had a passion for the work that was an example for others. We lost ed on april 9th after he was hospitalized for three weeks. Within a matter of days my husband went to a fever to a ventilator and in the care unit. I will never forget the call that he passed away. Me and my childrens lives have changed forever. Erd was a big presence in our lives. He was our Guiding Light and our protector. He was a devoted pittsburgh steeler fan and he was our rock. I pray that as i make it through the days without him that every morning that passes by and seeing that hes not here. Ed was my partner. Together we were raising a family and billing our life. We worked hard to build our dreams and give our children the things we never had. Not ome have i lost my best friend by the man who worked alongside for me over 20 years to build our american dream. I urge you to pass this bill, not just for us, but for the tens of thousands of other families like us who not only lost their loved ones to this coronavirus and lost loved one who gave so much. And in addition to supporting the family left behind, we could honor here heroes like my husband by doing everything we can to stop the spread of coronavirus. We need to make sure that testing is widely available and much earlier. My husband didnt get tested until he was enough to be put in icu and on a ventilator. We need to make sure that every Health Care Worker gets the access to the personal protective equipment that could help save their lives. Over the last few months so many essential workers have played crucial roles in our Health Care System have gone unacknowledged. Housekeepers and patient transporters like my husband and the best way we as a nation could show our gratitude is to make sure they remain safe and healthy and able to return home to their families that they work so hard for. Our family members made the ultimate sacrifice. Help us honor the memory of protecting the families they left behind so others could fulfill their american dream. Thank you. Thank you so much. We extend our deepest sympathies for your loss. Thank you. Now we have mr. Costa. Youre now recognized for five minutes. Chairman and Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity to testify on hr 6909, the pandemic heroes compensation act of 2020. The atu strongly supports the critical legislation transit workers need a new program for those that are injured or impacted by the coronavirus. Modelled after the september 11th Victim Compensation fund. This is the Largest Union with over 200,000 members and it is 12 weeks now that this pandemic has been out there and unlike others our members have not had the opportunity to stay home and work from home. Were the workers out there that are moving the economy, keeping the cities going and unfortunately we are the workers that have been acted t have b infected the most with right now are over a thousand at 12 weeks later. Over a thousand confirmed coronavirus cases and 53 members have passed. And our concerns are it is only going to get worse as it reopens because it is obvious were overexposed. The sacrifices they are making to keep front lines moving like weve done before in 9 11 and sandy and katrina. Weve been out there. We know what our jobs are. We know these jobs are hard. We sit there. Our members are assaulted, spit at, are murdered. And now were dealing with an invisible challenge out of here and an enemy we cant see every day. And unfortunately its going to get worse, i believe, before it gets better. The lack of ppe, weve been dealing with many problems trying to get the ppe. We just did a survey 12 weeks later and midst of reopening, 50 of the agencies dont have the proper ppe. The mishandling of this from the getgo from our government and our cdc telling us we did not need masks, that there were certain things we didnt need and later on changed. We as the atu believe we cant count on our government and we need to make demands. So we have made demands of back door boarding, overcrowding, use of stop and the recommendations, unfortunately, the cdc has been ignored and made changes and unfortunately those changes i believe are going to put our members in harms way. So i urge the committee to look at this. It is funny you call us heroes. You call our members heroes. But when we get to the table, were zeros. It is just crazy here. Were in negotiations right now in some areas that see this happening. So i hope you remember our members out there and our fallen and i hope you help us keep our members safe moveing forward as we open the citying that need us out there and bring our cities back. Thank you very much. Thank you so much mr. Costa. Now id like to recognize mr. Perone for five minutes. Thank you. And id like to thank chairwoman mallony as well as you. Your Ranking Member and in front of the committee today, congressman hice and i would like to thank the other members of committee for the opportunity to testify on the experiences that workers in grocery meat packing Food Processing and health care have had to endure during this pandemic. My name is mark perone, im the president of the international union, the ufcw is americas largest retail and food Union Representing 1. 3 million hardworking men and women in the Grocery Stores, meat packing, Food Processing, health care, chemical plants, nonfood retail and senior care facilities. We have members that are republican, democrat, and independents from every state in this nation as well as every congressional district. All across this country, our health care, Food Processing, retail, food workers are risking their health and safety to ensure that the American People are taken care of. Our nations food supply is safe. Grocery store shelves are full and stocked and pharmacies are distributi distributing medication. These essential workers as many of you have called them deserve not only our gratitude but provisions for health and safety and financial security. Would you like to highlight the words of one of our grocery clerks out of ralphs in southern california, in san diego. She said every day we fear that you might catch the virus at work. You fear that you might take that virus home to your family. And we are working longer hours and under very stressful conditions. Our lives are on the line. Let me stress to you how real this issue actually is. Our internal estimates have firmed that 225 of our members have tragically died and over 29,000 have been sick or exposed to covid19 since the beginning. 70 of our packing house members and workers if the u. S. Have died with over 20,000 that have tested positive for covid19. These profound risks that rur members face is one of the reasons that we, the ufcw, supports the legislation to compensate the families of essential workers who die or are hospitalized as a result of covid19. While financial compensation cannot bring back what is lost, it is the least that we must do in order to support the families who have worked so hard to keep us fed and to take care of us. More importantly, it is about recognizing that we will never protect americas food supply unless and until we protect americas food workers. What is making things worse is that some of these essential workers have must endure the insult of having their hero pay and some of us have called hazard pay taken away. Listen to the words of a food worker in lawrenceberg, indiana. We put our lives on the line every single day and worry about taking the virus back home to my grandchildren and my husband and when kroger took away the hero pay it was like a slap in the face. The fact of the matter is our customers dont wear masks and it is putting us in jeopardy every single day. And so as long as the spread of the virus hasnt stopped, neither should the protections of the hero pay that our families so desperately need. In other words, this brave food worker exposed this. While some responsible employers like argyle and safeway have done some things right there are others like amazon and walmart and Union Employers like kroger to put profits over people. While we could all hope that companies do what is right, the brutal reality is that many will not do that until you and our other elected leaders do more. Now i know that legislative issues at times could be framed in a very partisan way. But this is not about being a republican or a democrat, this is about protecting essential workers in retail food, Food Processing, health care, as well as protecting our food supply. And that is why i would ask you to consider the following ensuring that all working people who are sick, who are acted by quarantine orders or who are responsible to take care of children who are, in fact, at home because schools have been closed should have job protections and pay sick leave for a minimum of 14 days. I would also ask that we compel osha to issue enforceable rules specific to koifcovid19, stand if you will, and to date that has not happened. And our members in health care and Food Processing are feeling the consequences from that and enforceable rules that slow line speeds, mandate social distancing and prioritize workers and provide ppe free of charge. Lastly, we must include strong antiretaliation protection to ensure that all workers are protected from being unfairly threatened or fires. For the sake of this country, that i know that we all love, i urge the committee and congress to Work Together to do what is right for these brave workers and i thank you again for your time and i would welcome any questions that you may have. Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. Now we have miss castillo. You are recognized for five minutes. Thank you. Good morning. And thank you chairman, chairwoman maloney, Ranking Member rice and members of the committee for inviting me to testify today. National nurses united is the Largest Union of registered nurses in the u. S. Our nurses are on the front lines of the covid19 response risking their lives to care for pashs throughout this horrific pandemic. Across the country nurses have been denied the protections they need to prevent exposure to covid19. As a result tens of thousands of Health Care Workers have been infected. As of june 5th, nnu knows of at least 914 Health Care Workers who have died and of which more than 134 have been registered nurses. These deaths could have been prevented if employers had prote protected their workers. Moment the outbreak began hospitals across the country started looking up ppe claiming shortages. Nurses have had to fight Hospital Management to unlock and allow access to ppe supplies. To protect against exposure to aerosol diseases we must be given a respirator, at minimum a n95 but instead nurses have been forced to use surgical masks and even their own bandanas and scarves. They do not provide protection against covid19. But the cdc has sanctioned use through guidance. Hospitals have run out of gloves and gowns. Nurses were forced to wear garbage ppe. They are forced to reuse them. Sometimes for days on end. N95 rz manufactured for single use only. Nurses are at risk of exposure every time they reuse one. Hospitals have begun to use decontamination processes for these masks, even though there is no Scientific Evidence that these methods are safe and effective. Many hospitals require nurses to continue to work after exposure. Some have required asymptomatic nurses to work after testing positive, putting patients and colleagues at risk. Many hospitals failed to communicate suspected or confirmed covid cases, leaving countless workers unaware of potential exposure. There are three main reasons why nurses have not been protected at work. First, there is no osha standard that enforces workplace standards during a pandemic. Second, federal and state efforts to distribute ppe from stockpiles have been ineffective and front line workers have not seen the equipment supposedly delivered. We do not have a National Medical supply chain that is coordinated, transparent or efficient. Third, there is simply not enough stock of respirators and other necessary ppe in the country. And the Trump Administration has refused to increase ppe production in the volumes required. These failures have created a deeply traumatic situation within hospitals across the country and our nurses are dealing with that trauma every single day. Nurses live with the fear that they will become infected and pass it on to their families, friends or patients. Many nurses are isolating away from their families. Some are sleeping in their garages or cars at times when families need comfort, at a time when families need to comfort each other, nurses are deprived of this support. Nurses knew that the pandemic was on its way, way back in january. Why werent the hospitals prepared . Why wasnt the administration or congress prepared . Now as plans on reopening now as plans on reopening in the country are under way, our nurses face increased risk. We could see and are seeing a second wave of infections. It is critical that congress immediately pass legislation that will protect nurses and other front line workers. Nnu applauds chairwoman maloney for introducing hr 6909 which would provide compensation for workers who contact, contract covid covid19 or for our families if we die from the disease. I have personally led online heart breaking vigils for registered nurses who have died, and i know that their families need our support. But we also need congress to take action immediately to prevent those infections and deaths from happening in the first place. Nnu applauds the house for passing the heros act. The bill includes a mandate that osha issue an Emergency Temporary Standard for covid19 as well as provisions that would ensure that defense production act is fully invoked to immediately increase the Domestic Production of respirators and other ppe. It is essential that these provisions are included in any compromised any compromise that is negotiated with the senate. Our country has failed to protect nurses during this pandemic. Without protections, more nurses will continue to die. On behalf of nurses across the country, i urge the members of this committee to ensure