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Some unions feel sense of power amid pandemic, but not everybody's happy

The Santa Fe New Mexican - 9/7/2020

Sep. 7--Firefighter paramedic Eutimio Ortiz sacrificed family life and the comforts of home after the coronavirus pandemic infiltrated New Mexico's fresh air in March.

Fearing he would spread the contagious and sometimes lethal virus to his wife and two young children -- a girl, 5, and a boy, 3 -- if he became infected on the job, Ortiz moved into his travel trailer in his front yard and lived in isolation for about a month.

"It's hard to see your kids playing in the yard, and they don't understand. Like, 'Why can't you come play, Dad?' " said Ortiz, who has worked for the Santa Fe County Fire Department for nearly 11 years.

While Ortiz, 31, is once again living under the same roof as his family, showering and washing his work clothes before he goes home, the pandemic has taken a toll on just about every American worker -- from bartenders and waitresses who suddenly found themselves out of a job because of government-ordered shutdowns to nurses and doctors who faced a shortage of personal protective equipment to care for the sick.

For union workers in New Mexico who today may be recognizing a holiday that honors the American labor movement, officials say the pandemic has been a mixed bag of challenges -- furloughs, bigger workloads and hiring freezes for some; successful legal battles and extra pay for others.

"It's 50-50," said Vince Alvarado, president of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, an umbrella organization of labor unions in the state.

"The ones that were considered essential have done well, and the ones that were not considered essential, they suffered," he said. "Like our members with IATSE [International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees], the film crews, those suffered because they shut those productions down until we were able to bring the contamination rate down."

But even essential workers say they haven't gotten everything they've requested.

Advocacy in a COVID-19 pandemic era

Ortiz, president of the Santa Fe County Firefighters Association, said he lobbied County Manager Katherine Miller to provide firefighters paid administrative leave if they didn't go to work and were experiencing possible symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever or diarrhea.

"We had to implement rules to make sure that nobody came to work sick, which meant that we had to tell our people, 'If you have a fever, you have to go home, you can't be at work,' " he said, adding his fellow firefighters in the cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque and Bernalillo County receive paid leave under such circumstances.

In instances of an exposure to COVID-19, Santa Fe County firefighters have to use their own leave while they get tested and await results.

At the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County fire departments, "they would just be on administrative leave until they sorted it out," Ortiz said.

The county said in a statement Friday "a new leave entitlement" was deemed unnecessary and fiscally imprudent, "since Santa Fe County offers generous paid leave benefits to its employees, which has allowed our employees, as a group, to accumulate adequate leave to cover anticipated COVID-19-related absences."

But changes could be looming. The county said a decision on whether to offer a new leave entitlement "could be re-evaluated as we develop more data on COVID-19-related leave usage and based upon the availability of funds from the recent CARES Act/Coronavirus Relief Fund award to the County."

The state announced Wednesday the county was awarded just over $10.5 million in pass-through funding from the federal CARES Act.

Ortiz said when Miller rejected his request, he didn't begrudge her decision. He said he understood the county government was dealing with an unpredictable economy, and the pandemic was "one of those weird times we have to be reasonable and grateful for what we have."

Though he called her decision "unfortunate," he said firefighters didn't make a fuss.

"I think it speaks volumes to how good the intentions are of the firefighters in the county because that has happened," he said, referring to colleagues using their leave to stay or go home as a precautionary measure.

"Nobody really has made a big deal about it," he added. "They know that it's something that we have to do."

Union clashes with Webber administration

But at the city of Santa Fe, which is considering a major reorganization championed by Mayor Alan Webber, representatives of Local 3999 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are anxious about the proposed restructuring.

The union claims the Webber administration is using the pandemic and its economic downturn to push the proposal through.

"They're crying wolf with it," said Gilbert Baca, president of Local 3999.

Webber and his staff have said the proposed restructuring, which has sparked discord among city councilors, had been in the works months before the pandemic spread into New Mexico.

Gil Martinez, vice president of Local 3999, said the union hasn't had any say in the mayor's proposed reorganization.

"Just like anything else the city has done, they're ramming everything down everybody's throat, and nobody knows what's behind it," he said.

While the union has had more influence under past administrations -- Webber is the city's first full-time executive -- Baca said the labor group lost power during the pandemic.

"They're using COVID-19 to get away with anything and everything that has to do with the contract," including failing to give a 90-day notice of proposed furloughs, he said.

At the end of April, a split City Council approved a plan to impose furloughs of four hours a week on 868 employees and 16 hours a week on 180 others as part of a cost-cutting measure for the fiscal year that ended June 30. Before the end of the fiscal year, the governing body approved a "Furlough Bridge Plan" that extended furloughs of four hours per week for a majority of employees.

The furloughs ended Friday.

Connie Derr, executive director of AFSCME Council 18, said everyone has been negatively affected by the pandemic.

"There are no exceptions," she wrote in an email. "But workers who are represented by a union have fared much better than unrepresented workers. Unions fight for their members to have proper [personal protective equipment], training on infectious diseases and toxic substances (disinfectants), negotiated policies and procedures for employees to report when they are sick or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 [and] basic infection prevention measures in the workplace."

But Derr also said labor unions have gained power during the pandemic "because they've been the strongest, loudest and most relentless voice" in advocating for funding for front-line workers, as well as to maintain public services to communities.

"During this extraordinary time where people are making extraordinary sacrifices, labor unions in New Mexico, and across the country, are gaining steam because lives literally depend on strong unions," she wrote.

Grace Mayer, president of NEA-Santa Fe, the union that represents most teachers in Santa Fe, agreed unions have gained power during the pandemic, which she said has exposed the importance of advocacy.

"Certainly, workers' rights have come to the fore of people's minds," she said. "I think that people understand that if you don't have collective bargaining rights, then you don't have a deed in the discussion, and you need unions to negotiate what's in the best interest of workers and working families.

"You know, sick leave and provisions of sick leave are really important right now."

On Thursday, employees of the artist collective Meow Wolf announced plans to become a local unit within the Communications Workers of America and asked for voluntary acceptance from management.

In a statement, Meow Wolf's top executives said the entertainment company is better off without a workers union.

"Meow Wolf recognizes and respects our employees' right to organize," they wrote. "The policies, practices and culture already in place make our company a great place to work and we value our ability to work directly with employees. As such, we feel Meow Wolf works best without a union."

In April, after a government-ordered shutdown due to the pandemic, Meow Wolf laid off 201 employees and furloughed another 58.

'A sense of power'

Alvarado, the head of the New Mexico Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, said employers are unions' best recruiters.

"I think people are getting tired of asking for raises or asking for certain conditions and not being given to them," said Alvarado, a third-generation sheet metal worker who also is the secretary treasurer and business manager for Local 49 of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.

"If they would treat those employees with dignity and respect and give them decent pay raises or increases and provide them with proper [personal protective equipment] or paid personal time off, you wouldn't see all of them trying to be organized or be represented," he said. "Workers are tired."

Though they couldn't provide specific numbers, some union leaders say they've seen an increase in membership since the pandemic hit.

"We have been able to use our voice to improve the betterment and the health and safety for our students, communities and educators," said Stephanie Ly, president of the American Federation of Teachers New Mexico, which represents 23,000 educators in the state.

"Whenever you can do that and use your voice and make change," she said, "that's a sense of power."

Ly said a labor-friendly governor and guidance from the New Mexico Public Education Department based on science and public health protocols made advocacy a little easier during the pandemic, though there were battles with individual school districts.

Ellen Bernstein, president of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, said the teachers union "never rested." She said she has been engaged in "nonstop problem-solving" since public schools first switched to online learning in March.

"We're fortunate that we continued to get our pay and benefits," she said. "We are even more fortunate that we suddenly went from disrespected to essential. But there's just an incredible amount of work still to do."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.

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