Letters to Maryland Gubernatorial Candidates re Worker Safety. Read a letter from CPR's Rena Steinzor and Katie Tracy to Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous calling for a strengthened Maryland Occupational Safety and Health division, September 21, 2018.

'Michael Patoka's Testimony on Maryland's SB 774, Occupational Safety and Health Prequalification for construction firms before entering bids for public contracts

In the Baltimore Sun: President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to order meat and poultry plants to continue operating despite COVID-19 outbreaks, exposing Maryland's poultry workers to enormous risks. Poultry processors haven't demonstrated they're able to keep workers safe and healthy, but they know that many of these low-wage workers will be forced to return. To top it all off, one of the president's goals with this order was to provide legal immunity to companies, so that they can't be sued by employees who are infected as a result of unsafe working conditions.

CPR joined unions, public health professionals, advocates, workers, faith leaders, and Maryland residents across the state calling on Governor Hogan to issue an executive order requiring the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) division of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation to adopt an emergency standard to protect workers from the novel coronavirus.

CPR joined with 70+ organizations in a joint letter to Maryland legislative leaders calling on them to convene a special session of the Maryland legislature in order to adopt legislation to protect the state's farmworkers from COVID-19.

CPR Senior Policy Analyst M. Isabelle Chaudry testified to the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) Division of Labor and Industry about heat stress protections for Maryland workers. She provided the agency with recommendations to ensure that its forthcoming standard is effective, strong, and worker-centered.

Although vaccination rates continue to rise and coverage on COVID-19 is fading away from prominent news dashboards, our rates are still higher than in summer 2020. While we still adapt to living and working with COVID-19, we must prepare for future public health emergencies so we do not lose another year figuring out our response.