WHWHEREAS:
AFSCME members working at state and local facilities provide vital services for our communities; and

WHEREAS:
Our members are confronted with serious health and safety hazards, including exposures to bloodborne and airborne infectious diseases.  Recently many facilities have faced MRSA outbreaks, including several AFSCME-represented facilities; and

WHEREAS:
The chronic problems of understaffing and crowded conditions increase the likelihood of continued serious MRSA outbreaks in our facilities; and

WHEREAS:
Despite guidelines from several public health agencies and the Bureau of Prisons, management at most facilities is either unprepared or unwilling to deal with this public health risk.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That AFSCME continue to provide technical assistance on emerging health and safety issues, including MRSA, through training, conferences, and the online networks; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME councils and locals educate their members on health and safety matters, including symptoms, health effects, modes of transmission and controls of MRSA infection in themselves and in the inmate population; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME strongly encourage and pursue education programs for MRSA and other infectious diseases and the implementation of inmate screening in prisons and jails; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME actively lobby governmental agencies to ensure all employers provide adequate controls to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in our institutions, including the proper use of antibiotics; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME initiate legislative action on right-to-know and presumptive cause laws; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urge OSHA to develop a comprehensive health and safety regulation on the control of all infectious diseases in the workplace.
 
 
SUBMITTED BY: Ronald Lohr, President and Delegate
AFSCME Local 898, Council 982
Maryland