Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR FEBRUARY 4

Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson; AFT President Randi Weingarten; Jacqueline Moline, vice president of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention at Northwell Health; and Michelle Thoman, a nurse at University of Cincinnati Medical Center and member of the Ohio Nurses Association, will discuss the coronavirus outbreak’s impact on schools, hospitals and aviation security and will present a plan for people working in those industries to help keep safe the millions of members of the public they serve.

As workers serving on the frontlines of protecting the American public against this rapidly growing public health emergency, nurses and healthcare workers, educators and flight attendants are joining forces to call on the Trump administration to provide Americans with the most up-to-date information on precautionary measures needed to prevent contraction of the virus, and to put sufficient disaster-response resources in place to contain growth of the virus in the U.S.

WHO: Sara Nelson, Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO international president
Randi Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president
Jaqueline Moline, MD, vice president, Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Northwell Health
Michelle Thoman, nurse at University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and member of the Ohio Nurses Association

WHAT: Telephone press conference

WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 4
10 a.m. Eastern time

WHERE: Dial-in will be provided to media representatives who RSVP prior to the call.

AFA is calling on the administration to immediately comprehensive, transparent, proactive steps to engage stakeholders, prepare frontline workforces, marshal necessary supplies and provide real guidance to everyday people. That includes:

• Engaging stakeholders, especially unions and professional associations representing workers from frontline industries. Workers in transportation, healthcare, education and public safety bring expertise to the table and will be instrumental in crafting solutions that reflect the situation and needs on the ground
• Convening working groups that include stakeholders and relevant departments, especially the Departments of Transportation, Health and Human Services, Education, Labor, FEMA and the CDC, to coordinate delivery of recommendations, guidance and materials
• Issuing uniform guidance across relevant industries to ensure a consistent standard of caution. In aviation, for example, each carrier is currently determining individual policies regarding travel. Department of Transportation must issue consistent guidelines that apply equally to all carriers
• Distributing the necessary materials, supplies and information to relevant stakeholders, for example ensuring that workers in transportation industries are equipped with enough masks, gloves and sanitizing supplies, as well as with the information on how to assess potentially ill passengers and what to do if a passenger exhibits symptoms

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The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, (AFA) AFL-CIO represents 50,000 Flight Attendants at 20 airlines. AFA is the union that has advanced the Flight Attendant profession for 74 years, beating back discrimination and improving wages, benefits, working conditions, and aviation safety, health and security in the aircraft cabin. AFA also partners with the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at www.afacwa.org.