Josie Harris Robinson and her husband are both front-line shift workers in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She's a nurse and her husband, Aaron Robinson, is a Wilmington firefighter. They both had to scramble, with just six days notice, to figure out a new way of life when a required shift change took effect for firefighters on July 1. City firefighters have transitioned--against their will after losing the latest legal battle in an appeal to the Delaware Public Employee Relations Board--to a 24/48 shift. The shift requires them to work 24 straight hours and then have 48 hours off. They used to have 72 hours off. Local 1590 leader Joe Leonetti Jr. called the new shift change "exhausting."
"I don't think a month gives you enough time to have a fair assessment, but our guys are working around-the-clock because now that we're being forced to work 48 hours a week, a lot of guys aren't working the voluntary overtime."