Miami-Dade security officers who are getting ill with COVID-19 call for emergency sick leave

When he leaves for work as a security officer at the Metrorail, Henrique Lopez’s 11- and 10-year-old children tell him to stay safe and to wear a mask.

Lopez doesn’t need a reminder. On Wednesday. he lost a colleague to COVID-19. It was the second of Lopez’s coworkers to die from the virus, he said.

As county subcontractors, he and his coworkers don’t have paid time off — a measure that could help curb spread of the virus, workers say. An effort to ensure paid leave proposed by Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava was shot down in May by several county commissioners, including Commissioner Esteban “Steve” Bovo, who compared the request to the economic mandates that exist under communism. Both commissioners are running for Miami-Dade mayor.

At a press call Thursday, Miami-Dade workers employed by county contractors along with the union that represents them once again called on county commissioners and MiamiDade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to pass emergency paid sick leave legislation for county subcontractors.

“Most of the security officers and guards don’t have a single day of paid sick leave so they face the really difficult decision of going to work because they’re not going to get paid for those days,” Aldo Muirragui said at the teleconference. He is the Florida staff director for the 32BJ SEIU, the union representing the workers.

Lopez had to stay home for two weeks in March after he got sick with bronchitis, he told the Herald. As the family’s sole breadwinner, the illness meant a loss of $1,200 — money that put him behind on his mortgage, electrical bill and car payment.

As a security guard at the Metrorail, the 61-year-old veteran said he comes in contact with unruly passengers almost daily. He sees between 300 and 500 passengers per day and frequently has to escort passengers out of the Metrorail for not wearing a mask.

“We are coming in very close contact with people that might be sick,” Lopez said. “I know several coworkers who became sick and had to leave their job.”

The county’s decision to reject legislation to offer emergency paid sick leave puts the entire community at risk, said Lily Ostrer, a doctor at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“We know the best mechanism of prevention is social distancing,” Ostrer said during the teleconference. “Unfortunately, our county politicians are denying our workers the ability to do that.”

Lavonia Darvy has been out of her job as a subcontracted county employee screening personnel at Miami International Airport for one month. She tested positive for COVID-19. Darvy has made things work by borrowing money from family members and asking for extensions on her light and water bills, she said. She has lost out on at least $2,600.

“What I’m going through I don’t wish it on anyone,” Darvy said. “Not only do you have to care for yourself you have to worry about not getting paid, but you still have bills coming.”

She feels frustrated with the county, she added.

She’s worked at the airport for six years; working without paid time off means when she or her children get sick, she usually has to keep working because she can’t afford to stay home.

“The county, they need to be mindful and think about others and not just themselves,” Darvy said. “I have family and friends I can go to but I can’t say that for everybody.”

Darvy said her daughter asked her to switch jobs after feeling that her mom works for a place that doesn’t respect her. But Darvy has no choice, she said. When she’s cleared, she’ll return to work.

“We have seen again and again that paid sick time laws work,” said Jared Make, vice president of the national legal nonprofit A Better Balance said Thursday.

The county’s own economic impact analysis produced when the paidtime-off legislation was introduced in May notes that the projected increase to costs for businesses would be nominal.

The impact on reduced workplace contagion would result in the program either being “cost neutral or generating cost savings for the employer, with the added benefit of improved public health,” according to the memorandum issued by the office of the Commission Auditor.

The legislation would have called on all county contractors except those with 15 or fewer employees to provide seven days of paid sick leave to employees. Approving the legislation would ensure an equal playing field for contractors who do wish to offer paid time off, but would likely be outbid if they did, said Ana Tinsly, senior communications associate for 32BJ SEIU.

“If the County is not going to lead by example, then how can we expect other employers to provide this life saving benefit?” Tinsly wrote in an email.

“If Commissioner Bovo and Martinez are saying that giving workers the ability to take time off when they’re sick isn’t necessary, then you have to question their commitment to stopping the spread of COVID or any future pandemics. They’re letting everyone know that the public health is simply not a concern.”