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Mall owners, officials angry at Phase 4 delay

Newsday
Nellie Brown speaks with Newsday on the difficulty of opening shopping malls due to the mindset of shoppers at indoor malls, where people congregate in groups and sit on benches together.
Malls will not be allowed to reopen when the region reaches Phase 4, but large retailers with exterior entrances are operating.  Credit: James Carbone
Mall owners, officials angry at Phase 4 delay

How will schools enforce social distancing? Baldwinsville superintendent weighs in

CNY Central
Nellie Brown speaks with Central NY News about reopening schools and says that each school must have a customized plan.
Central NY News News Story on Reopening Schools
How will schools enforce social distancing? Baldwinsville superintendent weighs in

Occupancy limits and no fitting rooms: Shopping in the COVID-19 era

Newsday
Nellie Brown tells Newsday that temperature checks on employees will likely be commonplace, even though it is a “coarse screen” that won't pick up asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections.
Christine Lyons, left, and Angela Vomero, co-owners of Bella Bridesmaids in Huntington village, will change their protocols when they reopen.
Occupancy limits and no fitting rooms: Shopping in the COVID-19 era

Experts: COVID-19 outbreaks at processing plants affect the whole community

CNY Central
Nellie Brown speaks to CNYCentral about making processing plants safe during the Covid-19 outbreak, "you tend to have people working literally shoulder to shoulder doing their processing. So that makes protecting individuals far more difficult. You're going to have to really look at putting barriers between people."
Nellie Brown speaks with CNYCentral on Covid-19 outbreak in meat processing plants.
Experts: COVID-19 outbreaks at processing plants affect the whole community

Cornell expert follows hierarchy of controls when looking at ways to eliminate COVID-19 from spreading

WENY
Nellie Brown speaks with WENY News about the hierarchy of controls and ways to eliminate the virus from coming into the workplace.
Face Mask
Cornell expert follows hierarchy of controls when looking at ways to eliminate COVID-19 from spreading

Workers have filed 4,775 complaints to OSHA about exposure to Covid-19 on the job.

Nellie Brown, speaking to The Counter, says the threat of OSHA citations, whether in the form of fines or public notice, can motivate employers to make safer workplaces.
Worker with a mask pushes grocery store carts.
Workers have filed 4,775 complaints to OSHA about exposure to Covid-19 on the job.

Businesses are reopening. If you’re older or sick, what happens to your job?

Los Angeles Times
Nellie Brown speaks to the LA Times about older and vulnerable populations returning to the workplace amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
Federal law provides protections for disabled or older workers, but ultimately they can be recalled to the workplace, even if it can’t be made 100% safe.
Businesses are reopening. If you’re older or sick, what happens to your job?

As carmakers restart factories, they look at steps to protect workers from COVID-19

Marketplace
Art Wheaton speaks at Marketplace about precautions that car manufacturers can take, "you may have some staggered start and stop times, you may have people arriving at different intervals or different places and they may have more than one entrance."
Cars in a car factory
As carmakers restart factories, they look at steps to protect workers from COVID-19

Health Experts Say Schools Can Reopen in the Fall — But With Some Big Changes

Nellie Brown speaks with EdSurge on schools reopening and says that Schools will also need to wade through a morass of individual concerns around cafeteria and classroom seating, transportation and, in some cases, retrofitting bathrooms and other facilities.
Students Social Distancing
Health Experts Say Schools Can Reopen in the Fall — But With Some Big Changes

As Americans Return to Work, How Will COVID Change the Workplace?

Nellie Brown speaks with Health Day News about how companies will take advantage of automation to further protect workers' health -- automatic doors, automatic lighting, automatic water fountains, automatic dispensers for sugar and creamer at the coffee stand.
Worker in an office.
As Americans Return to Work, How Will COVID Change the Workplace?

NY, lifeguards wrangle over safety issues as beaches prepare to open

Newsday
Nellie Brown speaks to Newsday cautioning about the use of PPE for lifeguards on New York beaches, "as always, the equipment needs to be provided, fitting the wearer properly, and properly donned and doffed and decontaminated."
New York Empty Beach
NY, lifeguards wrangle over safety issues as beaches prepare to open

Casos de covid-19 na Casa Branca complicam mensagem de Trump de que é seguro voltar ao trabalho

BBC News
Nellie Brown speaks to BBC Brazil about positive cases of Covid-19 in the White House and challenges for other workplaces.
'Pode acontecer. É o inimigo oculto', disse Trump ao comentar os diagnósticos dos dois funcionários da Casa Branca
Casos de covid-19 na Casa Branca complicam mensagem de Trump de que é seguro voltar ao trabalho

How Employers Can Make Workplaces Safe to Open

Spectrum
Nellie Brown speaks to Spectrum News about being realistic about what life will be like as regions reopen, "at first it's going to be awkward and difficult and we're not going to be happy and we’re going to long for the good old days."
Spectrum News Story on Making Workplaces Safer
How Employers Can Make Workplaces Safe to Open

Nellie Brown Transcript Interview with Don Lemon, CNN

CNN
Nellie Brown speaks with Don Lemon live on CNN about what safely reopening businesses will look like and what measures will need to be put in place.
CNN Tonight with Don Lemon
Nellie Brown Transcript Interview with Don Lemon, CNN

Two White House Coronavirus Cases Raise Question of if Anyone Is Really Safe

The New York Times
Nellie Brown speaks to the New York Times about understanding the limitations of testing and what can happen in the time immediately after a test is taken.
Reporters listening to Larry Kudlow speak on Friday outside the White House
Two White House Coronavirus Cases Raise Question of if Anyone Is Really Safe

For retailers, reopening means rethinking everything about a store

Marketplace
Nellie Brown advises that retail stores consider adding a sign saying, “Please don’t touch an item unless you truly are interested in buying it. Or if it’s a piece of clothing, you know, if you’re truly interested in looking at it.”
A reopened mall in Franklin, Tennessee, on May 2. Going shopping is likely to look quite different for awhile.
For retailers, reopening means rethinking everything about a store

COVID-19 impact: Nellie Brown on workplace consequences

Cornell Chronicle
Nellie Brown speaks with the Cornell Chronicle on Covid-19 and discusses the need for sick leave for all types of workers, and predicts we’ll see an increase in collective bargaining for safer workplaces.
What will be the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic?
COVID-19 impact: Nellie Brown on workplace consequences

Stores want shoppers to wear masks. But some customers refuse

CNN
Nellie Brown tells CNN that for grocery stores, a "mask requirement of customers would protect employees, as well as other customers."
Whole Foods, like other grocers, is requiring all workers to wear masks. It has not extended that policy to customers.
Stores want shoppers to wear masks. But some customers refuse

Distancing at Reopened Offices Will Mean Long Elevator Lines

Bloomberg Law
Nellie Brown recommends to Bloomberg News that employees returning to the office should wear masks when they’re moving from floor to floor on elevators.
People with masks wait for an elevator.
Distancing at Reopened Offices Will Mean Long Elevator Lines

Ask the Expert - Hand Washing, with Nellie Brown & Lisa Saunders

Nellie Brown gives an interview on communicable diseases in the workplace and hand-washing techniques to Baldwinsville Public Access Station.
Nellie Brown gives a Zoom interview on hand-washing.
Ask the Expert - Hand Washing, with Nellie Brown & Lisa Saunders

How Should I Do Laundry Now?

The New York Times
Nellie Brown speaks to the New York Times about how to handle clothing and contamination during the Covid-19 crisis.
Super Jumbo Laundry Machine at a Laundromat
How Should I Do Laundry Now?

Grocery stores take steps to protect cashiers and customers

Newsday
Nellie Brown advisers that retailers’ measures should also include scheduled hand-washing breaks for employees, finding ways to reduce the use of paper coupons, and encouraging customers to pay with credit/debit cards instead of cash.
Stew Leonard Jr., president of the chain, in the Norwalk, Conn., store on Tuesday, behind one of the Plexiglas barriers. Credit: Stew Leonard’s  By Tory N. Parrish
Grocery stores take steps to protect cashiers and customers

Buffalo-area cashiers, stores receive guidance amid coronavirus outbreak

WGRZ 2
WNYCOSH offers guidance for cashiers in retail establishments, specifically in relation to the outbreak, Nellie Brown who worked on the report speaks to its specifics.
WGRZ Report on Covid-19
Buffalo-area cashiers, stores receive guidance amid coronavirus outbreak

Cornell experts view coronavirus via multidisciplinary lenses

Cornell Chronicle
The Worker Institute's Nellie Brown is interviewed in the Cornell about communicable diseases in the workplace.
Scientist with test tubes
Cornell experts view coronavirus via multidisciplinary lenses

How College Students Can Keep Themselves & Others Coronavirus-Free

The Worker Institute's Nellie Brown speaks with the University Network about how college students can keep themselves and others safe during the COVID-19 crisis.
Students on Campus  Wearing Masks
How College Students Can Keep Themselves & Others Coronavirus-Free

Worker Institute Welcomes Fall 2019 Student Fellows

The fellowship program’s goal is to provide ILR students with a unique opportunity to contribute to important projects concerning workers and unions, expand their research skills, learn about potential career paths, and form connections with faculty.
2019 Workers Institute Student Research Fellows
Worker Institute Welcomes Fall 2019 Student Fellows

For Kids’ Sake

Worker Institute program empowers New York City nannies to better care for children—and themselves.

Zoltan Antal, MD, speaking at a nanny workshop
For Kids’ Sake

New York State Announces First Major Offshore Wind Energy Awards

This afternoon at Fordham Law School, Governor Cuomo, with former vice-president, Al Gore, announced that Equinor and a joint venture of Orsted and Eversource Energy are the successful bidders in the State’s first-ever offshore wind solicitation conducted by the New York State Energy Research and Development Corporation.
Gov. Cuomo and Al Gore Offshore Wind Announcement
New York State Announces First Major Offshore Wind Energy Awards

The Worker Institute is deeply saddened by the passing of Hector Figueroa.

Hector was a tireless advocate for working families and immigrants in New York. Our thoughts are with Hector’s family and the entire 32BJ family during this sad time.
Hector Figueroa
The Worker Institute is deeply saddened by the passing of Hector Figueroa.

In NYS, Gig Economy Workers Lack Basic Employment Rights: Worker Institute Research

Public policy could curb abuse of exploited workers, according to NYS AFL-CIO.

Missing alt
In NYS, Gig Economy Workers Lack Basic Employment Rights: Worker Institute Research