Public Employees are Now Eligible for the COVID Vaccine

It has been one full year since we changed our way of life due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In March of 2020 most of our members were sent home due to the statewide shutdown. We have learned a lot from this experience, but there is still more to be done to remain prepared for the times ahead. We hope that if everyone continues their efforts to stop the spread and gets vaccinated if they so wish, we can have a healthier summer and return to some kind of normalcy in the fall.

 

On March 9th, Governor Cuomo expanded the scope of eligibility for public employees. Please consider making an appointment to get vaccinated.

 

Under this new expansion of eligibility, the following essential workers will now be eligible to begin receiving the COVID-19 vaccine on March 17:

 

 

This includes workers such as public works employees, social service and child service caseworkers, government inspectors, sanitation workers, DMV workers, County Clerks, building service workers, and election workers - the everyday heroes who have been showing up day in and day out throughout this pandemic. 

 

We plan to have in-person local meetings starting in April 2021 as long as the COVID positivity cases percentages are at a low enough level. The STL meeting will be held on April 5th, BG on April 6th and CEC on April 7th. This will be the first attempt to have an in-person meeting since November 2020. Please plan to attend, practicing social distancing and wear your mask. We will send out communication if anything changes.

 

We will once again have the BJ’s Wholesale Club renewal drive for current and new BJ's Wholesale Club members. The union office will send out an email the first week of April to all active members and retirees. Please be mindful of the dates in the email and on the flyer. Keep in mind that we only run the renewal drive in the spring and again in the fall.

 

We have received an informative link from IBEW Director of Safety & Health regarding “What Utility Workers Need to Know about COVID-19”.  A lot of the information is what we already know, but it is a good idea to refresh the mind regarding the symptoms, how it spreads, and how to protect yourselves.

 

Course schedules for the apprenticeship program were sent out last week to all participants and committee members. We hope to have a more detailed schedule with the locations of the classes shortly. If you have any questions, please contact your local Apprentice Committee Members or the union office.

 

Please note that if you would like to obtain a copy of the Benefits Book to contact your HR Representative.