More California state workers should get coronavirus benefits, union says in prison grievance

A California state union on Tuesday formally challenged a decision by the state corrections department to exclude painters, plumbers, locksmiths and other maintenance workers from new coronavirus benefits provided by the federal government.

A federal law that went into effect April 1 provided up to two weeks of paid sick leave and 10 weeks of family leave for most American workers affected by the virus, including public and private employees.

The law excluded health care workers and emergency responders.

State departments in California have been submitting lists of job classifications to the Human Resources Department for exclusion.

On Tuesday, the International Union of Operating Engineers filed a grievance with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation over what the union calls an overly broad application of the law’s exemptions.

“These (benefits) were put in place to help people, and now they’re taking it away without any justification,” said Steve Crouch, the union’s director of public employees.

Crouch said just because workers have been deemed “essential” doesn’t mean that whole job classifications should be exempted from the federal benefits.

He said the blanket exemptions mean younger workers with children stuck at home have no more options than older workers in the same job classification without child care responsibilities.

As of Monday, 128 corrections departments employees and 181 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The corrections department didn’t immediately provide a response to the grievance.

Crouch said he plans to file more grievances with other departments that are excluding maintenance workers from the federal benefits.

This story was originally published April 29, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "More California state workers should get coronavirus benefits, union says in prison grievance."