’A breeding ground’: Fears at Washington Social Security office as coronavirus spreads
At the Social Security Administration office in an Auburn office building, the routine has been the same each day.
Dozens of workers touch the same keypad to enter the building. They use the same bathroom doors. They don’t always sit 6 feet away from colleagues. They share a kitchen, a copier and a fax machine.
While President Donald Trump urges people not to gather socially in groups of 10 or more, employees in many federal offices have been doing that day after day - and worrying about whether they’re being exposed to the coronavirus.
“I don’t think the virus knows the difference between a public gathering and a place of business,” said Rich Couture, spokesman for the American Federation of Government Employees Social Security Administration general committee.
The agency has taken steps this week to implement telework policies. Agency spokesmen in Washington, D.C., and Seattle did not answer requests for comment.
Nor has the agency responded to some congressional requests.
“Social Security employs approximately 40,000 public-facing workers, some of whom have reported an array of concerns from lack of ability to telework, limited access to cleaning supplies,” wrote Rep. John Larson, D-Connecticut, chairman of the House Social Security subcommittee, and others, to Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul on Tuesday.
Larson’s office said he has received no response.
Thursday, eight senators wrote to key agencies calling on them to post department contingency plans “so that Americans know what services to expect as more federal agencies begin to ramp up teleworking capabilities to mitigate the spread of the virus.”
Sunday, the White House provided guidelines for Washington, D.C.-area federal employees to work at home. The next day, it said agencies could allow employees around the country with big outbreaks to do the same.
Tuesday, the government issued its strongest recommendation yet.
“In order to achieve this posture, consistent with The President’s Coronavirus Guidelines for America, the government must immediately adjust operations and services to minimize face-to-face interactions, especially at those offices or sites where people may be gathering in close proximity or where highly vulnerable populations obtain services,” said a memo from Russell Vought, acting Office of Personnel Management director.
“Exceptions may be needed when continued operations and services are necessary to protect public health and safety, including law enforcement and criminal-justice functions,” he said.
The federal government has 1.87 million civilian employees. Washington state has about 53,000 federal workers. About half work for the Defense Department, including about 15,000 civilians at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The Pentagon is maximizing telework to the extent that it can. Not everyone, though, is eligible for telework because of the classification of the material some of them handle.
Social Security closed its 1,250 field offices around the country to the public Tuesday. Wednesday, it said the 60 people who work in the Auburn office that processes online applications for retirement, disability, Medicare, and Supplement Security could telework.
The call center in the same office, with about 330 employees, was to remain in its loft-like setting, with only those with special circumstances allowed to telework. About 30 customer service call center employees who met certain criteria were able to start teleworking Wednesday.
Call center employees need sophisticated equipment to do their jobs, and it’s expected that as more equipment is available later this week, others could be permitted to telework.
The Auburn office is a Social Security megacenter that’s closed to the public. Its call center handles calls from the national 800 number.
Employees in the Auburn office see potential danger everywhere.
“It’s a breeding ground for disaster,” said Melanie Broady, a claims specialist.
There are the doors. The ice machine. The lunch rooms with their refrigerators and microwaves. The fax machines and the copiers.
The cubicles are in rows. “If I sit in my chair and my neighbor sits in his, he’s close,” Broady said. People have to walk up and down the aisles to get to the bathroom or printers.
The department had been aiming to reduce some telework before the coronavirus outbreak. Current policy at Social Security is dangerous, Couture said.
“It’s impossible for any office to adhere to social distancing protocols,” he said.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 3:09 PM with the headline "’A breeding ground’: Fears at Washington Social Security office as coronavirus spreads."
.jpg)