On July 9th, Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent the letter shown below to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expressing their opposition to plans requiring many federal workers in the National Capital Region and around the country to return to their worksites given the increase in the number of cases of COVID-19. The Senators expressed concern that the OMB and OPM guidance only supports sustained maximum telework for certain workers deemed to be high risk and believe that reopening too quickly and ending maximum telework for all eligible employees threatens the health and safety of federal employees and the community at large. They also expressed concerns about federal employees who are recalled to their worksites having to take public transportation and how that could increase the spread of COVID-19.
NTEU applauds the efforts of these and other members of Congress in looking out for federal workers during this difficult time. As more agencies begin to ask employees to return to their worksites, NTEU will continue to push for return plans that provide employees flexibility, ensure rigorous cleaning and protective equipment, and include widespread testing and contact tracing. We will keep you posted as Congress continues its oversight efforts in this area.
The full PDF of the letter is available here.