Editor’s note: The following is a story from the front lines of the fight against COVID-19, as told by a member in Washington state:

“My name is Kristina Johnson-Short and I am a social services specialist with the Division of Children, Youth and Families in Washington state. I’m a proud AFSCME member, a shop steward and president of AFSCME Local 1054 (WFSE). I am also a domestic violence survivor.

AFSCME members at working at mental health and public health hospitals in Tewksbury Massachusetts will soon be receiving badly-needed assistance from the United States Army Medical Corp, and according to AFSCME workers on the front lines, the aid can't come soon enough.

Local 700 member Salmira Mitchell says that she and her fellow direct care workers at the mental health facility in Tewksbury are struggling to get through every day and night as COVID infections among staff and patients continues to rise.

AFSCME members working on the front lines of the Covid-19 Pandemic will now receive some well-deserved financial recognition, thanks to an agreement reached this evening between AFSCME Council 93 and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Members working in state human services facilities and group homes will receive temporary pay increases of $5.00 or $10.00 per hour, as they continue to put themselves and their families at risk by delivering essential public services to the most vulnerable members of our society.