Visitors to Hawaii Can Skip Quarantine Thanks to United’s COVID Testing

Visitors to Hawaii Can Skip Quarantine Thanks to United’s COVID Testing

Oct 19, 2020 | COVID, Featured News, Front Page, Page Four, Page Three, Page Two, Perusals, Row 2, Safety, Safety, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

United Airlines passengers traveling from San Francisco to Hawaii may bypass the state’s quarantine requirements by taking a rapid-result COVID test from the airline. 

In a collaboration with the San Francisco International Airport (SFO), United customers now have the option to take a rapid COVID-19 test before their flight, either at the airport or at a nearby drive-through location at United’s Maintenance Center. 

State authorities in Hawaii approved the program which will allow visitors to the islands to skip the mandated quarantine upon arrival. Previously, those traveling to Hawaii had to remain separated from the population for up to two weeks. 

United was the first airline to offer passengers COVID testing. 

United, working with the administration of the San Francisco International Airport, will make two tests available to customers traveling to Hawaii: a rapid test option taken at the airport on the day of travel or a drive-through test administered 48 to 72 hours before departure. Customers who produce a negative test result through either option will be exempt from quarantine requirements in Lihue, Maui, and Honolulu. Customers traveling to Kona will be required to take a second complimentary test when they arrive on the island to avoid quarantine.

“We are living in a new world with COVID-19,” said Erik Stenberg, District 141 Safety Chairman and Assistant General Chair. “Offering a rapid result COVID test to passengers is a great step for United Airlines to help restore travel to Hawaii safely after COVID-19 had essentially stopped it over the last 7 months. Measures like this one will become more common in everyday life.” 

The rapid Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test is available at an on-site testing facility in SFO’s International Terminal outside the security checkpoint. Customers based in San Francisco can schedule their visits online and receive results in about 15 minutes. The on-site testing facility is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT, and customers should make an appointment at least three hours before their flight, as no walk-in appointments are available.

Customers taking the drive-through test option can schedule an appointment online and should make the appointment 48 to 72 hours before their flight departure. Walk-in appointments are not available. After a customer takes the test, they will receive the results via email in 24 to 48 hours. The drive-through testing facility is located at United’s San Francisco Maintenance Center parking lot at 800 S Airport Blvd–a short drive away from the airport. 

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Union Safety Doesn’t Stop for Pandemic

Union Safety Doesn’t Stop for Pandemic

Sep 15, 2020 | Airlines, American, COVID, Front Page, Hawaiian, Page Four, Perusals, Row 2, Safety, Safety, Uncategorized, United | 0 comments

The goal of a Ground Safety Action Program (GSAP) is to enhance aviation safety by preventing personnel injuries, accidents, and incidents.

Its focus is to encourage voluntary reporting of safety hazards and events that come to the attention of members of IAMAW District Lodge 141 at United Airlines (GSAP), American Airlines (GSAP still in development), and Hawaiian Airlines (GSIP). 

IAM District 141 President Michael Klemm strongly supports these programs to ensure all members have a single voice on workplace safety. No one knows your job better than you, and your continued support of this program is vital. The reporting of all incidents and near misses is essential to allow your Event Review Committee (ERC) to track and trend the data provided to help guide changes to policies and procedures. As we move forward through this pandemic, and as flight schedules change, this is an opportunity for the airlines to improve our policies, procedures, and for the FAA to oversee our safety programs.

Safety is a core value to the leadership of the IAM. Our Ground Safety Action programs (GSAPs) have been instrumental in implementing changes to numerous policies and procedures using proactive reporting from the front lines.

Please continue to report safety hazards, near misses, and incidents to Management, Union Representatives, and the GSAP program that each carrier supports.

Additional Resources
///  Visit the IAMAW Safety Department
/// Get Printable Copy

Note: Not all airlines and contracted companies have an endorsed safety program. Contact your company safety department for more information.

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Looking Back: The IAM’s Role in the Americans with Disabilities Act

Looking Back: The IAM’s Role in the Americans with Disabilities Act

Jul 27, 2020 | Community Service, Featured, Front Page, GOIAM Stories, MNPL, Safety, Safety, Uncategorized | 0 comments

The Sunday, July 26 anniversary of the signing of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a good time to reflect on how to empower and support workers with differing abilities that we see and interact with every day, whether we realize it or not.

The ADA is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on disability in employment, government services, transportation and public accommodations. It was signed into law July 26, 1990, but didn’t take effect for two years to give companies, businesses and other facilities time to implement the regulations.

“Every working person deserves access to a job that pays a livable wage with good benefits,” said IAM International President Robert Martinez Jr. “The IAM fights for inclusion in the workplace and in the community, so everyone has improved quality of life with independence and mobility.”

Both photos by HolLynn D’Lil

The IAM has a long history of helping people with differing abilities. The union helped to found International Guiding Eyes in 1948, now doing business as Guide Dogs of America. Joseph Jones Sr. turned to the IAM for help after being turned away from existing schools at the age of 57. It was one of the first guide dog schools founded by a blind person.

This year, the Machinists Union’s community service was featured in the Netflix film “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” which focused on a unique summer camp called Camp Jened that motivated a group of teens with disabilities to help build a movement for equality. The documentary highlighted an event in the nation’s capital commemorating the 20th anniversary of the 504 sit-in. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first federal civil rights protection for people with disabilities and paved the way for ADA.

The IAM logo appeared in the movie on Hertz trucks the union rented for travel once the protestors arrived in Washington, DC. Signs on the truck include one that says “Justice on the Job, Security for the Family, Service to the Community” and another that says “Support California handicapped.”

“My daughter works as Assistant Director for Special Education at the Tift County School system here in Georgia,” said James Clements, Georgia State Council of Machinists’ sergeant-at-arms. “She told us about the movie Crip Camp and recommended we watch it. Pretty surprised to see the IAM logo on the Hertz trucks. This was part of the Machinists’ history I had never heard before and it is something I am pretty proud of us having done.”

IAM Local 1781 and District 141 helped to raise money for transportation, according to the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. The trucks had cargo lifts that could accommodate wheelchairs. A reception was held at IAM Headquarters, where protestors spoke about their experiences.  The use of headquarters enabled them to use union phone lines and copy machines for organizing and setting up meetings with Congress members.

Some organizations still struggle to make their buildings accessible to workers with disabilities, 30 years after the ADA was first enacted. The law has been amended to facilitate enforcement, but challenges remain.

 

This story first appeared at GOIAM.org ///

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Airplane Air is a Lot Cleaner Than the Public Thinks It Is

Airplane Air is a Lot Cleaner Than the Public Thinks It Is

Jul 13, 2020 | Airlines, COVID, Featured News, Front Page, Row 2, Safety | 0 comments

As the numbers of air travelers inches ever closer to pre-pandemic levels, one question keeps popping up: “Is Flying Safe?”

Amid shutdowns, botched re-openings, anti-mask histrionics, and travel bans, air travel has been stuck in a perpetual holding pattern. A Harris Poll conducted in April of this year helps to explain why. According to the research, 7 out of 10 respondents said that they would forgo non-essential travel for the foreseeable future. 26% said they wouldn’t travel for at least a year.

All of which is painting a dire picture for the future of American Aviation; all major airlines are now warning of mass layoffs and furloughs as soon as Congressional aid runs out on October 1. Widespread collapse of commercial aviation in the US is likely to leave the nations’ air transport at the mercy of state-funded international carriers, as well as triggering wider economic havoc. More than 10 million jobs in the US depend on airlines in one way or another, altogether generating an estimated $1.7 trillion in economic activity.

In addition, the loss of career-level workers in aviation could cause shortages of skilled pilots, load planners, and ground and ticket agents that would limit an eventual recovery once travelers finally return.

Fear of flying is causing real harm to the airline industry and to the rest of the economy.

One suprising area of reassurance exists, however. It turns out that the air quality on flights in the US is actually a lot better than most people think. The reason: airplanes manufactured in America use hospital-grade HEPA filters.

HEPA (HEPA stands for “high-efficiency particulate air”) filters are made of tightly-woven fibers and filtration elements that remove just about everything from the air. According to the CDC, these filters remove and kill more than 97% of bacteria and particulates.

Cabin air is completely purified every three minutes. It’s also regularly replaced by outside air. As the aircraft moves, forced air from outside the plane is mixed into the existing cabin air, a process that eventually completely replaces all the air in the aircraft. 

While 44% of Americans are worried about getting sick on their next flight, experts are much less concerned. According to medical professionals, cabin air in aircraft is unlikely to expose travelers to the kind of prolonged indoor exposure that allows the COVID virus to easily spread from person to person. Experts are far more worried about tray tables and the non-bottled water on planes. Also TSA lines.

The kinds of droplets and bacteria that tend to cause upper respiratory infections are fairly heavy, and fall to the floor, according to Dr. Mark Gendreau, director and vice-chair of emergency medicine at Lahey Medical Center, Peabody. And, since cabin air is circulated and filtered from the top-down, instead of from the front or read of the plane, these contaminants are quickly pulled out and killed.

Still, no experts are advising a quick return to leisure travel, and travel advisories are still firmly in place for many companies. Air travel remains slow, down 75% from last year, when about 2.5 million people caught a flight each day. The overall message from experts and industry insiders is that caution is still required, but not panic or an irrational fear of flying.

Paired with pre-flight sanitation measures, temperature screenings, and face coverings, air travel is still safer than driving. Even during a pandemic. While most of the public continues to view any travel at all with justified caution, air quality on planes is one thing that airlines are doing surprisingly well.

 

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Here’s How You Can Become a Certified COVID-19 Contact Tracer

Here’s How You Can Become a Certified COVID-19 Contact Tracer

Jul 10, 2020 | COVID, Education, Featured, Featured News, Front Page, Row 2, Safety, Safety | 5 comments

Johns Hopkins University, the world’s foremost research facility in the war against COVID-19, is offering a free online course for anyone interested in training for a job as a contact tracer. 

A key strategy for confronting the COVID-19 pandemic has become increasingly important over the past three months. It begins by conducting widespread testing to identify those who are carrying the virus. Those who have been in contact with infected persons are then identified, quarantined, and tested as quickly as possible. Public health officials have long used this tactic to break the chain of transmission of infectious diseases and limit the spread of infections. It has been used successfully in the past to curb the spread of tuberculosis, salmonella, and venereal disease.

Along with prophylactic measures such as social distancing and wearing masks in public, the practice of relentless testing and contact tracing has been at the heart of all successful attempts to curb the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are offering an online contact tracing course free of charge, with no enrollment restrictions. Enrollment is open to anyone in the United States, or anywhere around the world. The lead instructor is Emily Gurley, Ph.D., MPH, Associate Scientist at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and the course offers options for subtitles in several languages. The costs associated with developing the course were covered by a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, making it accessible to everyone.

Despite millions of Americans out of work, hiring certified contact tracers has been an ongoing challenge for state and local governments and medical organizations. By making the most sought-after contact tracing training courses available for free, the university offers a way to help create the army of tracers that is needed to overcome the pandemic.

Contact tracers work as a type of medical detective. They are tasked with reaching out to anyone that might have come in contact with an infected person, providing guidance on self-quarantine and other mitigating actions, and setting them up for testing. Often, this means tracking down people that are strangers to the infected person, and sometimes with very little information.

Contact tracers must also overcome understandable suspicion, convincing those who may be wary of discussing private medical affairs to share their personal information. The course covers issues such as the ethics of contact tracing, including privacy and public health considerations, and teaches skills for effective communication. 

Learn more about contact tracing courtesy of CBS News >>

CEOs from every major airline in the US gathered for a summit in Washington, DC on June 26 to meet with the White House Coronavirus Task Force and Vice President Mike Pence. Contact tracing was a major topic of conversation, according to sources. Airlines have been reluctant to adopt policies that promote contact tracing, citing privacy and technological barriers. However, with air travel down by as much as 80% and several key markets closed due to the continued spread of the coronavirus, those fears have abated. Last week, all major airlines announced plans to share data with government agencies and epidemiologists. 

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that “armies” of contact tracers may be needed in every major city and region in the United States. While wages vary widely, these positions pay between $17 – $25 an hour. Large numbers of contact tracers are being hired by many cities and state agencies, hospitals, and universities. The need for human contact tracers became more urgent after most state governments declined to use a phone app developed by Google and Apple for contact tracing, citing privacy concerns.  

In May, an estimated 11,000 contact tracers were employed nationwide, a number that is woefully insufficient, according to a report conducted by National Public Radio and the New York Times, which estimate that the US will need to employ anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 tracers in the near term. These figures are consistent with a recent report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security that estimates that a workforce of over 100,000 contact tracers could be required to curb the spread of COVID-19 and safely reopen the nation’s economic activity. 

The Johns Hopkins course consists of about six hours of online training modules, which closely resemble the recurrent training modules that are familiar to every airline worker. Once completed, participants will have a basic understanding of epidemiology, how to conduct a contact tracing investigation and other key skills.

To enroll, visit the Johns Hopkins/Coursera Page, located here. Students that would like to learn more about how to get the full curriculum and earn the Contact Tracing Certification for free can get more information at the Coursera.org webpage dedicated to the online training course.

This 4th, We Can Help Create a More Perfect Union

This 4th, We Can Help Create a More Perfect Union

Jul 3, 2020 | COVID, Featured, Front Page, Row 2, Safety | 0 comments

This weekend Americans proudly celebrate our independence and ability to self-govern. We must also acknowledge that not every American is able to enjoy our freedoms equally. Our country has come a long way since 1776, but there is clearly much work to be done before everyone in this country truly has the same protections and freedom regardless of how they look, what they believe, or who they love.

We cannot forget that with our freedom comes great responsibility, both collectively and individually. While we have tremendous freedoms, there are limits. For example, we do not have the freedom to hurt innocent people. More specifically, we do not have the right to infect others with a deadly disease. When something as simple as wearing a mask over our mouth and nose and respecting social distancing guidelines becomes a political statement, we are not acting responsibly. We are acting selfishly.

Science shows that if everyone wears masks in public and adheres to social distance guidelines the spread of this disease will be dramatically reduced. It will save lives. Failure to act responsibly, however, has allowed this virus to explode to record numbers in the United States. Though much of the world is containing the COVID virus and is gradually returning to normal, we are the global example of how NOT to handle a pandemic.

The United States still does not have a uniform nationwide response to the COVID crisis, and the world has noticed. The European Union is reopening its borders, but not to Americans because we are not properly defending ourselves against the COVID virus. We are considered a threat, and Europe does not want our failure to spread to their continent. We are also not permitted to travel to Canada, and within our own borders some states require people travelling from other states to quarantine. The lack of an effective pandemic response is hampering the industry’s recovery and will lead directly to the loss of air and rail industry jobs.

The COVID-19 virus has already cost millions of jobs around the country, but if we cannot contain it we will lose countless more. We are all responsible for our own safety and the safety of those we work with.

Never before has how we behave in our personal lives affected our job security so much.
 
We know how to restart the economy and resurrect the transportation industry. If we choose to ignore science and politicize safe, responsible actions, we are hurting our chances for a quick economic recovery. While we wait for a vaccine, the immediate
response is simple:
  • Wear a mask, or shut down the economy again;
  • Wear a mask, or ground the airlines and suspend rail service;
  • Wear a mask, or keep local businesses closed;
  • Wear a mask, or continue spreading the virus and killing others;

Those who refuse to wear a mask are stating publicly that they do not care if they infect others with a deadly disease. That type of self-serving action undermines the free, responsible society that we celebrate this weekend. That level of selfishness is killing people.

As we commemorate our independence we must always honor the brave women and men in our armed forces who fought, and continue to fight, to keep us safe. Considering all the heroes lives that have been sacrificed over the last 244 years so that we can enjoy our freedom today, it really isn’t too much of a personal sacrifice to wear a piece of cloth on our face when we are out in public for the next few months.
 
I hope you and your families enjoy your Independence Day celebration, stay safe and, just as important, keep others safe.

In solidarity,

Sito Pantoja

General Vice President IAMAW Transportation Department

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