Pennsylvania Unions Doing Their Part in Voluntary Retooling, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Reports

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania faces major shortages in our healthcare system response.  Pennsylvania workers are ready to do their part.  Now, unions are working with companies, to ensure a successful and swift transition in manufacturing to produce the personal protective equipment and ventilators in short supply.

The officers of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO are proud of the work unions and their members are doing in response to the COVID-19 crisis. President Rick Bloomingdale and Secretary-Treasurer Frank Snyder made the following joint statement:

"Workers on the frontlines across Pennsylvania are facing an extraordinary crisis in the oncoming days and weeks. Healthcare workers and first responders are desperately lacking the personal protective equipment they need in order for them to do their jobs and keep people safe. Unions are stepping up to do their part in response.

"SEIU Workers United Joint Board, which represents the workers of Fanatic/Majestics in northeast Pennsylvania, has exemplified what can be achieved when unions and management work together in a positive labor-employer relationship. Majestic and the union worked together to secure the needed specifications to turn the manufacturer from the supplier of MLB uniforms into a producer of personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. In the next week, they will begin producing much needed protective gear such as masks and gowns. Labor unions across Pennsylvania and the State Federation are doing our part to ensure we do everything we can as a community to mitigate this public health crisis. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO was proud help facilitate their connection with the Department of Community and Economic Development."

SOURCE Pennsylvania AFL-CIO