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Unions Call for Hazard Pay As Omicron Sidelines Staff

BY BOB HENNELLY bhennelly@thechiefleader.com
Posted 1/5/22

A surge in Omicron infections that's sidelined thousands of uniformed employees in recent weeks has prompted some of their union leaders to call for hazard pay at a time when agencies are increasingly relying on overtime to maintain adequate staffing.

Cases statewide topped 74,000 Jan. 3—a record number although those who were ill generally were in less-dire condition than those afflicted early in the pandemic. That day there were also more than 100 deaths from the coronavirus—the first time in several months that mark was exceeded, although it was well short of the several hundred who died daily from the original strain of the disease in April 2020. Close to 400 city workers died of the virus during its initial wave.

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