Friday, June 19
The state has identified more than 32,030 cases of COVID-19 as of today, with 27,709 of these patients no longer required to be isolated. 1,361 deaths have been reported. For more information on the current situation, visit the Minnesota Department of Health website.
At the bottom of this email, you will find Met Council workforce statistics related to COVID-19 leave that have been reported to the Employee Resource Center.
Reminder: Email updates moving to Tuesday, Thursday
Beginning next week (June 22), we will reduce the frequency of these COVID-19 update emails to two days a week: Tuesday and Thursday. As the situation warrants, we will go back to more frequent emails or send additional emails as needed. Staff can be assured this will not diminish the quality or amount of information you receive from leadership and the state. We will continue to keep you informed of all updates and important changes to Met Council policies, practices, operations, and services.
Do you have thoughts or concerns on the content or frequency of these COVID-19 update emails? We would love to hear your feedback through the online COVID-19 form, so we can make sure these emails are providing the most useful and timely information to staff.
Reminder: Chalk walk and donation drive this Saturday
Several employees and their families decorated the sidewalks outside the Nicollet Garage with encouraging messages during a Chalk Walk on Saturday, June 6. The event was organized by members of Advancing Women in Transit, an employee resource group.
Donate items before or at the event
On Saturday, June 20, another Chalk Walk will be at the Heywood Metro Transit Campus. The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon. Home goods, personal care items, and non-perishable food that will be distributed throughout the community will also be collected at the event. Items can also be sent in advance to the Metro Transit Mailroom, Re: Donation Drive, 570 N. Sixth Ave., Minneapolis, 55411. The donations will be distributed by Metro Transit volunteers in partnership with We Push for Peace, a non-profit led by South Operator Tray Pollard. Sign up to donate needed items, and/or sign up for volunteer shifts. For more information, contact Carrie Desmond, Amina Wolf, Sarah Berres, or Tray Pollard.
"In This Together" yard signs available
To help demonstrate Metro Transit's commitment to the community and to each other, yard signs with the “In This Together” logo are available to all employees. Signs were delivered to each work site last week. To request a sign, contact Drew Kerr at drew.kerr@metrotransit.org.
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Idea-sharing sessions, online submission form
In two new sessions scheduled for next week, we are seeking ideas from you about valuable resources and steps the Met Council can take to support our employees and advance racial justice in the region. The meeting will be divided into reflections on making a difference on three levels: personal awareness and self-directed action, contributing through your professional role at the Met Council, and Met Council impact in the region. Outlook event invitations were sent out to staff with Webex Meeting details for these sessions.
How to be part of the change, facilitated by Office of Equal Opportunity Director Cy Jordan and Human Resources Director Marcy Syman
- Tuesday, June 23, 10 – 11 a.m.
- Thursday, June 25, 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Online submission form
Employees are also welcome to send their ideas, questions, and concerns in our new online anti-racism feedback form. These submissions are just one way we're hearing from staff, and we encourage employees to attend the idea-sharing sessions hosted by OEO and HR and to have discussions with your managers and work units. All of this feedback will be very helpful as we analyze our existing practices and develop concrete steps for how employees and our organization as a whole can advance racial justice in our own work and our region. The Met Council’s Communications team will receive submissions and collect them for review by leadership. You may submit your input and remain anonymous or choose to include your name and email.
Check the MetNet home page story to stay updated on our efforts to support staff during this difficult time and expand our own equity work at the Met Council.
Anti-racism resources
As part of the Met Council’s anti-racism discussion and efforts to advance racial justice in our region, and today as we celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, we are launching a Councilwide site with anti-racism resources to help all employees in their education and awareness.
Specifically, Juneteenth commemorates the delivery and announcement of federal orders by Union Army General Gordon Granger that all people held as slaves in Texas were free. The defeat of the Confederacy in April 1865 allowed for the beginning of widespread enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, signed two years before. Learn more about Juneteenth (Juneteenth.com).
Special thanks to leaders and staff in Community Development for putting together these resources and kindly sharing them with the rest of the organization. This is a wonderful way for all of us to start or continue our education.
Below is an introduction, adapted from information shared by Community Development Director Lisa Barajas, followed by a snapshot of the full resources compiled. Visit MetNet for more resources in each category.
First, acknowledge history and the role of government: The history of the U.S. government and public policy is one of an intentionally and systematically racist hierarchy. This system has consistently created outcomes of intergenerational injustice, abuse, and trauma in this country and, thus, Minnesota. This system of racism and injustice is the greatest public health issue we face. As a government agency, the Metropolitan Council acknowledges and understands our historic and present role in perpetuating that system.
We have a responsibility to elevate the discussion, work with communities across the region, and take action. These issues span multiple jurisdictions, communities, organizations, and industries. No organization is better situated to lead this new effort in the seven-county metro area than the Metropolitan Council.
We are committed to supporting the growth of an equitable and anti-racist organization to serve the people of the region. One step toward this growth is education. These anti-racism resources help all of us on our journey of racist unlearning, and anti-racist relearning.
Remember that justice demands active, sustained, and explicitly anti-racist interventions of the same or greater magnitude than the damage perpetuated.
A guiding quote:
"The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'anti-racist.' What's the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an anti-racist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.'"
– Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
Read
Books:
- How To Be An Antiracist (Ibram X. Kendi)
- This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work (Tiffany Jewell) (tailored toward young readers)
- White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism (Robin DiAngelo)
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Michelle Alexander)
- Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson)
- 33 Kids Books Featuring Black Heroes and Characters Every Kid Should Read (TheEveryMom.com)
- Many more on MetNet!
Articles:
Listen
Podcasts:
Watch
Videos:
Films:
- 13th (Netflix)
- Jim Crow of the North (Twin Cities PBS)
- The Hate U Give (Hulu)
- Slavery by Another Name (PBS)
- I Am Not Your Negro (rent via Amazon or Apple)
- Just Mercy (rent via Amazon or Apple, Free on Amazon through June 2020)
- Selma (rent via Amazon or Apple, Free on Amazon through June 2020)
- Fruitvale Station (rent via Amazon or Apple)
- When They See Us (Netflix)
Learn and participate
Learning opportunities:
Organizations:
Volunteer and donate
More anti-racism resources in each of these categories can be found on MetNet.
Check the MetNet page, FAQs
For the most current information related to the COVID-19 outbreak, visit the MetNet page and be sure to review the FAQs for staff and managers. They are updated as we have new information to communicate.
If you have questions, talk to your manager or supervisor or submit a question or concern in the online COVID-19 form.
Check out the latest issues of HR Connect, which was published yesterday, and Transit Insights, which was published today.
For those who cannot easily access MetNet and/or would like a printable PDF of the FAQs, here are the most recent versions of these pages:
Met Council workforce statistics
Positive COVID-19 cases are reported to and tracked by the Employee Resource Center. The statistics reporting structure is being revamped this week for incident command, and we will resume sharing Met Council workforce statistics related to COVID-19 next week.
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