News and Media

After months of sitting on his hands, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally released a proposal for COVID-19 relief. The package is called the HEALS Act, but unfortunately this poorly named bill will heal nothing and will only hurt working people and our families.

The relief package proposed by McConnell on July 27 is $2 trillion short and 73 days late. The bill drastically reduces the $600 in weekly unemployment benefits that thousands of America’s families are relying on right now. While the HEROES Act requires an emergency OSHA standard, McConnell’s proposal does nothing to keep workers safe and instead only protects corporations from liability. And during a time when millions of working people are without a job, health care or retirement security, the package also includes a bill from Sen. Mitt Romney that fast-tracks Social Security and Medicare cuts.

Please call your senator and tell them the McConnell bill is wrong for the country and that the HEROES Act is what we need

Working from home creates economic winners and losers. It can benefit highly skilled employees but depress others’ wages and make it hard to organize.

When the pandemic hit and tens of millions of American workers suddenly redeployed to their basements and living rooms, it was easy to imagine that their workdays would unfold roughly as before, with communication tools like Slack and Zoom substituting for face-to-face interactions (and maybe with slightly greater multitasking opportunities).