Tompkins County Workers' Center

Corona Virus

Tompkins County Workers Center Calls for Paid Sick Leave as COVID-19 Spreads Within New York

By Meghna Maharishi | March 3, 2020

The Tompkins County Workers Center is calling for all workers in the county to have access to paid sick leave for the duration of the novel coronavirus outbreak — but the risk of disease in the county still remains low, according to local health officials. “We are facing a public and occupational health emergency,” said Pete Meyers, TCWC coordinator, in the Tuesday press release. “Workers who do the right thing and stay home when ill too often face financial hardship or even termination as a result. But now is not the time for business as usual.”

The press release stated that Tompkins County workers should not be penalized for taking extra precautions amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak, which has sickened 92,700 in at least 71 countries as of Tuesday afternoon. The TCWC is a non-profit organization based in Ithaca that advocates for fair treatment of workers in the county. While the organization has always advocated for paid sick leave, Meyers said that such a policy should be more accessible for employees given the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.

Tompkins County Workers’ Center Diverts Roughly $20,000 to Support Office of Human Rights Caseload

By Yana Kalmyka | December 7, 2018

There was a change in the relationship between the OHR and the Workers’ Center last spring, when “the county administration, with support of the legislature, instructed the employees of the OHR to cease all support for members of the community for preparing complaints to regulatory agencies for alleged discrimination.”

labor day

At Labor Day Picnic in Ithaca, Cornell Wins Award for Disregarding Workers’ Rights

By Hnin Ei Wai Lwin | September 4, 2018

According to a Tompkins County Workers’ Center press release, the award is given to an “especially egregious offender of workers’ rights and/or the value of labor to our common good.”