Update: June 19 – July 2, 2023

• The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report, Meat and Poultry Worker Safety: OSHA Should Determine How to Address Persistent Hazards Exacerbated by COVID-19, that recommends that OSHA develops rules about COVID-19 prevention for the meat and poultry processing industries. According to the report,  because of risks particular to these industries, COVID-19 infections were up to 70% higher than in other workplaces.
• Great news! Beginning July 1, 2023, the state of Maryland will be expanding prenatal and postpartum healthcare access for pregnant people, regardless of their immigration status. The recently passed Healthy Babies Equity Act allows non-citizen pregnant people to access medical coverage through Medicaid, coverage for low-income individuals, during pregnancy and 4 months after the birth. Babies have coverage during their first year. Learn more about eligibility through these fliers, available in Spanish, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and English.

Download video in English and Spanish.

Download audio in English and Spanish.

• Legal Aid Justice Center is hiring! Open positions include leadership, legal assistants, lawyers, and an organizer. Click here to learn more and apply.
• The National Safety Council offers travel grants, cash scholarships, and tuition coverage for students pursuing degrees in occupational health and safety. Applications are being accepted until this Friday, June 30.

• A study based in Minnesota and Wisconsin found that people with a language preference other than English were not able to access COVID-19 vaccination as quickly as their English-speaking counterparts and were more likely to be hospitalized or die due to COVID-19. Thanks to our PPP partner MCN for the great summary!
• We’re delighted to share that CDM staff members Julia Coburn and Rebeca Rodriguez Flores were co-authors on a new publication, “Mixed messages and COVID-19 prevention: Why information isn’t always enough to protect meat processing workers.” Through interviews with 40 meatpacking employees, this study discusses the challenges that workers faced during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings reinforced the role of community organizations during the public health emergency in combating conflicting messages and in supporting workers to prevent infection in  their homes, workplaces, and communities.

• A Better Balance created a new educational resource about the right to reasonable accommodations (or temporary changes) at work when they are medically necessary pre- or post-partum. These new rights are tied to the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which went into effect this week on June 27.
• Sur Legal shared that they are launching a 6-part series about workers’ rights to workplaces free of discrimination and harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Follow their Facebook page to see the latest posts in the series.
• Learn about how line speed impacts safety for protein processing workers in our blog, Speed vs. Safety: The poultry slaughter line in the chicken industry.

• The Delaware Food Bank is holding mass drive-thru distributions in every county the last week of June. The last one is tomorrow, Friday, June 30, at 10 AM – Delaware Park Lot D. Preregister at https://June30NCCo.eventbrite.com
• The next One Stop Shop event will be held this Saturday, July 1, from 10 AM to 12 PM ET, in the Woodrow Wilson Community Center in Crisfield, MD.

• The Dorchester County Health Department (DCHD) will offer back-to-school vaccination clinics at the DCHD Satellite Center (10 Aurora St. in Cambridge).
  • every Wednesday until September 13 from 9 AM to 12 PM and 1 PM to 4 PM
  • Saturday, July 29, from 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Saturday, August 5, from 10 AM to 12 PM
  • Call 410-228-0235 for more information.

• CORE Georgia and the Georgia Department of Public Health offer $50 GIFT CARDS to anyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine at participating CORE Georgia mobile sites – additional details here. CORE Georgia publishes the vaccination schedules every Sunday on their Facebook page, so follow them for new vaccination opportunities every week.