December, 16 2021, 11:19am EDT
Unions, Public Health, and Occupational Safety Organizations Call For Permanent OSHA COVID-19 Standards for Health Care and Other Workers
More than 40 unions and organizations representing more than 14 million people signed a petition urging immediate action.
WASHINGTON
More than 40 unions and other organizations signed a petition, along with more than 6,300 individuals, to urge the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to adopt a permanent standard on Covid-19 in health care workplaces, building on the emergency temporary standard (ETS) OSHA adopted in June and set to expire on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The petition also encouraged OSHA to work expediently to issue a separate, broader standard to protect all workers from workplace exposure to Covid-19 and other aerosol transmissible diseases. The petition was delivered to OSHA today, announced National Nurses United (NNU).
NNU, along with six other national unions, plus the AFL-CIO and North America's Building Trades Unions, several state and local unions, and dozens of public health, occupational health and safety, and nonprofit organizations across the country signed the petition. Earlier this month, NNU called on OSHA to adopt a permanent standard before the current temporary standard expires. The Covid-19 health care ETS has imposed mandatory requirements for health care employers on infection control protections, with penalties for those who violate those requirements.
"The Covid-19 health care ETS helped ensure safe working conditions for frontline health care workers by mandating optimal PPE and other protections, but now we need to make these lifesaving protections permanent," said NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN. "We must ensure that nurses and other health care workers can protect patients and protect themselves."
"Nurses in hospitals in a large swath of states are once again being overwhelmed by Covid-19 patients and it is critical that the vital protections instituted last June are not allowed to lapse," said Castillo. "This is essential to protect frontline caregivers and to ensure that our hospitals do not become disease vectors."
"OSHA must act swiftly to extend life-saving protections for health care workers and to create new Covid-19 safety rules for all workers," said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH). "We're facing a highly contagious new variant and hospitals in many communities are again overwhelmed with Covid-19. We can't afford to let our guard down, because workers and families still face grave risk from a deadly infectious disease."
"NELP stands in solidarity with National Nurses United and our nation's health care workers in urging OSHA to issue a permanent standard to protect workers from Covid-19," said Rebecca Dixon, executive director, National Employment Law Project. "Health care workplaces must have permanent protections to keep our communities healthy and safe as we continue to work toward a just and inclusive recovery."
Supporting Organizations (in alphabetical order):
AFL-CIO
AFSCME 1526 - Boston Public Library Employees Union
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO
American Public Health Association, Occupational Health Section
Arts, Crafts & Theater Safety
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Government Accountability Project
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
International Union, UAW
Jacobs Institute of Women's Health
Labor Occupational Health Program
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health (MassCOSH)
MDC Consulting and Training
Migrant Clinicians Network
Miller Children's Diabetes Center
National Council for Occupational Safety and Health
National Immigration Law Center
National Nurses United
New England Complex Systems Institute
New York State Nurses Association
NJ Work Environment Council
North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU)
NYS Public Employees Federation
Oakland County Parents for Safe In Person School
Occupational Health Clinical Center, Syracuse NY
Occupational Health Management Services inc.
PhilaPOSH
SafeWork Washington
Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust Inc.
Shriver Center on Poverty Law
Union of Concerned Scientists
UNITE HERE International Union
Utility Workers Union of America
WisCOSH, Inc.
"OSHA's ETS requiring PPE and other infection control protections for health care workers has been one of the more effective aspects of the Covid-19 response; for the sake of the health care workers and all the patients they will serve, we can't afford to let it lapse," said Peter Lurie, MD, MPH, executive director and president of Center for Science in the Public Interest.
"Covid-19 is not expiring on Dec. 21, neither should OSHA's ETS. That's why we are demanding a permanent OSHA standard," said Debra Coyle of the NJ Work Environment Council. "Our healthcare heroes deserve workplace protections."
"Nurses are there when we need them, helping us through many of the most difficult times of our lives," said Yaneer Bar-Yam, professor and president of New England Complex Systems Institute and founder of the World Health Network. "OSHA represents all of us. Please do the right thing now and protect them when they need us."
As of this week, 476 RNs have died of Covid-19, among 4,670 health care worker deaths overall, according to NNU tracking data. Since the data has not been collected in many places, a full accounting may never be known. To date, more than 1 million U.S. health care workers have been infected.
National Nurses United, with close to 185,000 members in every state, is the largest union and professional association of registered nurses in US history.
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If the president's policies are struck down, the administration may have to repay billions of dollars in duties, which customs and trade experts warn "would be a logistical nightmare."
Aug 29, 2025
As working-class Americans endure the pain from US President Donald Trump's tariff war, the Republican signaled that he plans to keep fighting for the levies after a loss at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Trump is the first president to impose tariffs by citing the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. In a 7-4 ruling, the appellate court's majority found that most of his tariffs are illegal.
The court said that "tariffs are a core congressional power" and "we discern no clear congressional authorization by IEEPA for tariffs of the magnitude of the reciprocal tariffs and trafficking tariffs."
The decision affirms a May ruling from the US Court of International Trade, which also found that Trump exceeded his authority.
Friday's ruling is paused until October 14, to give the White House time to appeal to the nation's highest court. Trump suggested he would do so in a post on his Truth Social platform, writing:
ALL TARIFFS ARE STILL IN EFFECT! Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end. If these Tariffs ever went away, it would be a total disaster for the Country. It would make us financially weak, and we have to be strong. The U.S.A. will no longer tolerate enormous Trade Deficits and unfair Tariffs and Non Tariff Trade Barriers imposed by other Countries, friend or foe, that undermine our Manufacturers, Farmers, and everyone else. If allowed to stand, this Decision would literally destroy the United States of America. At the start of this Labor Day weekend, we should all remember that TARIFFS are the best tool to help our Workers, and support Companies that produce great MADE IN AMERICA products. For many years, Tariffs were allowed to be used against us by our uncaring and unwise Politicians. Now, with the help of the United States Supreme Court, we will use them to the benefit of our Nation, and Make America Rich, Strong, and Powerful Again! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Trump's latest legal loss on the tariff front follows various analyses and polling that show the harm his policies are causing. One Accountable.US report from this month highlights comments from grocery executives about passing costs on to consumers, and a recent survey found that 90% of Americans consider the price of groceries a source of stress.
Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee also released a related report earlier this month. As JEC Ranking Member Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said at the time, "While President Trump promised that he would expand our manufacturing sector, this report shows that, instead, the chaos and uncertainty created by his tariffs has placed a burden on American manufacturers that could weigh our country down for years to come."
Another mid-August analysis from the Century Foundation and Groundwork Collaborative details the surging cost of school supplies as American families prepared for the 2025-26 academic year. TCF senior fellow Rachel West said that "from his reckless tariffs to his budget law slashing food assistance and federal student loans, Trump's back-to-school message to America's families is crystal clear: Don't expect help, just expect less."
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The Trump administration said Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio "is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority" ahead of next month's United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The US State Department said Friday that "the Trump administration has been clear: It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace."
"Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism—including the October 7 massacre—and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO," the statement continues.
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"The PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the [International Criminal Court] and [International Court of Justice], and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state," the State Department added. "Both steps materially contributed to Hamas' refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks."
The ICC last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including murder and the forced starvation of Palestinians that is driving a famine that has killed at least hundreds of Palestinians and is starving hundreds of thousands more. The ICJ is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa—not the PA.
As for ceasefire talks, Matthew Miller, who served as a State Department spokesperson during the Biden administration, recently admitted that Israel habitually torpedoed ceasefire agreements each time they were nearing a conclusion in what he called a sustained effort to "try and sabotage" a deal. Miller repeatedly stood at his podium and told reporters that Hamas was to blame for thwarting a truce.
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This isn't the first time the US has blocked Palestinian officials from attending a General Assembly. In 1998, the Regan administration denied then-PLO Chair Yasser Arafat a visa and the General Assembly was convened in Geneva instead of New York. There have already been numerous calls to relocate this year's General Assembly to the Swiss city following the US move.
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Approximately 150 of the UN's 193 member states have officially recognized Palestine. Since October 2023, countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, and Spain have either recognized Palestine or announced their intent to do so.
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One critic said Texas Republicans' "reckless, partisan power grab will harm our democracy for years to come."
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Democracy defenders on Friday blasted elected Texas Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, after he signed a new congressional map gerrymandered for the GOP at the request of US President Donald Trump—and Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe, for launching a copycat effort.
"Gov. Abbott would rather do Trump's dirty work than help the people of Texas," said Brett Edkins, managing director of policy and political affairs at the progressive advocacy group Stand Up America, in a statement.
"For months, he has ignored the real issues affecting Texans, including flood relief, and instead pandered to Trump's demand that he redraw Texas' political maps to rig the 2026 elections and silence communities of color," he continued. "Texas Republicans have started a nationwide redistricting arms race with no end in sight. Their reckless, partisan power grab will harm our democracy for years to come."
Abbott and state lawmakers have been open about aiming to help the GOP retain control of Congress during next year's midterm elections by passing their so-called "One Big Beautiful Map." The governor—who called two special legislative sessions to force through the bill—posted a video of himself signing it on social media and declared that "Texas will be more RED in Congress."
During the first legislative session, dozens of Democrats in the Texas House fled to blue states in a bid to block the map, but they ultimately returned to Austin. After GOP legislators passed the bill, the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed a lawsuit over the map.
After the governor signed the bill on Friday, Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder said in a statement that "with a stroke of the pen, Greg Abbott and the Republicans have effectively surrendered Texas to Washington, DC."
"They love to boast about how 'Texas Tough' they are, but when Donald Trump made one call, they bent over backwards to prioritize his politics over Texans. Honestly, it's pathetic," he said. "I am proud of the Texas Democrats in the House and Senate who chose to fight, whether by a constitutionally protected quorum break, questioning these mapmakers, trying to pass amendments, or even attempting to filibuster."
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The contested map makes five Texas districts for the US House of Representatives that are currently held by Democrats more favorable to Republicans.
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Responding in a statement, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin said that "another Republican governor just caved to the demands of Donald Trump at the expense of Missouri families and American democracy. Time and time again, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has undermined the voice of Missouri voters."
"Now he is attempting to dilute their power altogether by removing the ability of Missourians to stand up against this power grab," Martin continued. "Make no mistake: This all started because Trump and Republicans passed a historically unpopular budget bill that wrecks the working class to reward billionaires. Now, instead of facing the consequences of their votes, Republicans think they can just choose their voters—that's not how this works."
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