The United States economy is crashing in historic fashion and that’s not even necessarily the worst thing going on—but one of the long-term dangers of coronavirus is that its damage to the economy, and the attendant fear and desperation, will be used to weaken the position of workers still further.
The fate of workers has to be a major part of the policy discussion, and a focus of organizing, or we are so, so screwed even when and if COVID-19 stops being such an immediate threat to our health and lives.
● Kim Kelly writes about the wretched treatment of grocery store workers—even as they're deemed "essential":
“None of us ever expected to be emergency workers; the idea of an ‘essential worker’ is a totally new concept that no grocery store bag boy considers when they drop off an application,” a current Whole Foods worker who prefers to stay anonymous told me. “There’s all of this rhetoric around how we’re just as important as the doctors, and yes, that’s true, but we’re getting paid way less, and medical workers have a little bit more of an idea of the risks that they are setting themselves up for. . . . We’re not used to this shit.”
● Instacart is also treating its workers terribly, which is why some of them went on strike this week.
● The Red Sox decided to include subcontracted workers in their coronavirus relief pool.
● Is a general strike possible? Hamilton Nolan asks. And what would it take?
● Executives at the daycare chain Bright Horizons took pay cuts, but parents are still pushing to ensure the company takes care of its furloughed workers.
● Organizing in a pandemic: Labor Notes resources.
● Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is trying to destroy airline workers' job protections, writes Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America.
● How state attorneys general are protecting workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
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