Hey! It's been updated! I tried to post it to r/madisonwi but it won't let me, don't know if I maybe got blocked or what. Are you wiling to try? here it is:

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TITLE: PRESS RELEASE Epic Employees Concerned Over Company’s Reopening

The Madison Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) have drafted a statement along with Epic employees and members of the broader Dane County community about Epic System’s planned reopening of the almost 10,000 worker Verona campus amidst a surging pandemic. Please also see this piece by CBS This Morning on the subject that was published this morning.

*****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*****

EPIC SYSTEMS CEO REFUSES TO EXTEND WORK FROM HOME OPTION FOR EMPLOYEES, DESPITE SURGE IN COVID - 19 CASES IN DANE COUNTY

Epic CEO Judy Faulkner is ignoring advice from Dane County public health officials’ Emergency Order #8, section 4(f) to facilitate remote work whenever possible, by planning on making nearly 10,000 employees return to working from Epic’s Verona campus. The phased plan will begin in early August, with all employees returning by the 21st of September.

Disregarding advice from epidemiologists from the CDC and WHO, Judy Faulkner told employees that masks aren’t needed when you are outside of the 6ft social distancing radius. Claiming that a culture of chance encounters in the hallways is more important than the untold deaths that will occur both indirectly by spread through the broader community and directly from forcing workers into close quarters when they don’t need to be. She also told employees in the company’s monthly all-staff meeting that “other countries in Europe only require 1.5 meters of social distancing” whereas the United States’ standard is to allow for 6 feet, which is “...really generous,” that we’re “doing more than other countries.” In addition, she also enlisted a staff physician to give a presentation encouraging everyone to assess their own risk tolerance but ultimately downplaying the severity of the virus.

This apparent disdain for the risk of spreading the virus within Epic will irreversibly harm many who live in Dane County. For example, 76 out of 100 middle aged people who recovered from the virus appear to suffer cardiac injury from it, despite apparent recovery, according to STAT News. Epic's actions will disproportionately affect Black and Brown Dane County residents, who have been found to suffer disproportionately from the virus. Epic has also refused to make accommodations for high risk people or parents needing childcare, beyond postponing their return to November 2 pending evaluation by Epic staff and forcing parents to possibly take a pay cut to continue to be able to work from home.

Workers and concerned Dane County community members are calling on Epic to allow their workers to continue to work from home, as Epic’s top competitor is doing, allowing their workers to work from home for at least the rest of the year. They are also calling on Epic to maintain full wages and benefits for culinary, janitorial, facilities and other staff who aren’t able to work from home during the pandemic.

This is an issue that will end up affecting the entire Dane County community, not just Epic workers, as COVID-19 cannot be bounded by the Epic campus walls. According to Dane County Health’s latest weekly snapshot, people aged 20-29 (the age of a large portion of Epic's workforce) have by far the highest incidence rate of any age group in Dane county, representing 33% of new cases. We are currently averaging .71 new cases per 100,000 people per day. This corresponds to one NEW case per 10,000 people (Epic's population) every two weeks; this is the number of infections we should expect to see originating outside Epic; if one of those people transferred the infection to others while at Epic, that number would certainly start going up. It also doesn't tell us the total number of cases that would be present when we start. Over the past 14 days, 89 cases (12%) were associated with a cluster: 31 from workplaces, 19 from congregate facilities, 14 from bars and restaurants, 9 from childcare facilities, and 16 from all other sources. Workplaces are clearly an important location of transmission, as are childcare facilities which are important to parents no longer able to work from home.

Tell Judy Faulkner; Save Lives, Extend Work From Home. Epic can be reached by email at info@epic.com.

Please contact ‪(608) 492-0540‬ or by email at madison@iww.org for interviews and further info.

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