Back in the spring of 2020 when COVID-19 was hammering New York, the state needed nurses and other essential employees to be immediately dispatched to hard hit areas of the state. 

Members of the union PEF, the Public Employees Federation, stepped up. Nurses from around the state converged on hospitals where the virus was devastating Black and brown neighborhoods – places like SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island. 

Now those essential workers want hazard pay. 

President of PEF Wayne Spence, spoke with Capital Tonight's Susan Arbetter about the situation, which comes as the union is also negotiating a new contract.