get to the point where at-home rapid tests cost less than $1 each and are stashed in medicine cabinets everywhere "just like we have Band-Aids." America is so far behind our peer nations."Ĭiting programs in Germany and the U.K., where home testing is cheap and ubiquitous, Mina says he would like to see the U.S. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at Harvard who has been a strong proponent for widespread rapid at-home testing, says he's glad to see the Biden administration investing in tests, "but it's not enough and it's not fast enough. Shortages of tests kits are being reported around the country, driven by demand from parents purchasing the kits for children who've returned to the classroom and from employees returning to the workplace.Ĭoronavirus Updates An Epidemiologist Says At-Home Testing Is Key To Stopping COVIDĭr.
They test for antigens, or proteins on the surface of the virus, and can provide fairly reliable results in 15 minutes, especially in people who are symptomatic. These are over-the-counter swab tests people can purchase at the pharmacy and take at home. The money follows a $2 billion investment in September to supply rapid tests to community health centers, food banks and schools. The announcement was made by White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeffrey Zients at a briefing on Wednesday. The White House is allocating an additional $1 billion to purchase millions of rapid at-home tests for COVID-19, in response to an ongoing national shortage of these tests. Momentum Logistics has hired Rapid Link Inc., a Gainesville-based courier service, to take over its local operations at a warehouse on Waldo Road.The Biden administration has announced a new investment in at-home COVID tests.
Joe Coombs can be reached at (352) 338-3102 or. There's not a lot of work available around here right now." "Getting fired left me in a bind, and I had no choice but to take the job with Rapid Link. "This whole thing has turned into a fairly acrimonious feud," Kennard said. "Scab" is a term often used to describe workers who cross a union picket line for work.įaulk said there currently are no suspects, and Kennard said he didn't believe that his former co-workers were responsible. Keith Faulk of the sheriff's office said the word "scab" was written in red paint on Kennard's car. On Monday, Kennard also had to file a complaint with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office after his car was vandalized during the night. Kennard said he sympathized with the union, but decided not to join. Kennard said that he didn't join the union and was fired with everyone else, but that he was re-hired when Rapid Link began managing the warehouse.
#Rapid response rapidlink drivers#
One of the company's current employees, driver Christopher Kennard, said he was hired at Momentum Logistics just before the drivers and mechanics unionized. "This company didn't bargain anything, and they laid everyone off and outsourced the work just to avoid a union contract." "Under federal law, once you have a union election, any changes at that company must be bargained with the union," Jeffries said. Clay Jeffries, secretary/treasurer for Teamsters Local 385, said workers at Momentum Logistics wanted to unionize in order to collectively bargain for better wages, hours and general working conditions. 19, or eight days before Momentum Logistics laid off its employees. Since the pre-holiday firings, a handful of ex-employees have been picketing in front of the company's warehouse, and Orlando-based Teamsters Local 385 has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board demanding that the workers be reinstated.Ībout 20 of Momentum Logistics' drivers and mechanics agreed to form the union, and their participation with Teamsters Local 385 was ratified Nov. Rapid Link has also brought on some of Momentum Logistics' former workers, said Vicky Kenna, Rapid Link's president.īut some of Momentum Logistics' former workers aren't convinced. Momentum Logistics has hired Rapid Link Inc., a Gainesville-based courier service, to take over its local operations at a warehouse on Waldo Road.
As for our Gainesville market, they're still being served." Sometimes, other people can do a better job in certain situations. "It had nothing to do with (the union)," Wentworth said. Wentworth said the decision was "a cost-cutting move" and wasn't made in response to the workers' union efforts. Momentum Logistics Inc., a package delivery service on Waldo Road, fired all of its 58 employees the day before Thanksgiving, said Kathy Wentworth, the Jacksonville-based company's human resources director. Workers who formed a union at a local courier say they lost their jobs because of their decision to organize, but the company has denied the claim and is continuing its operations with a new payroll of employees.
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