Here’s a little riddle: What has 157 million daily delivery points, 35,000 offices and 500,000 workers? It’s your U.S. Postal Service, that would be the service that really is a democratic, small “d”, institution—it’s there for everyone at a reasonable cost, no matter where you live or who you are. Putting it mildly, postal workers …
At the start of each shift, Eric Jarvis takes a handful of anti-bacterial wipes and sanitizes the equipment he uses at the Packaging Corporation of America mill in Valdosta, Georgia. He worries about getting the coronavirus every time he leaves for work, but knows the nation depends on paper workers like him to produce the …
How COVID-19 Showed America’s Dependence on Blue-Collar Workers Read More »
I quit my job this month. No, not the well-paying NGO summer position; that was canceled weeks ago. Not the paid internship either; my boss hasn’t returned my emails or sent me back pay for the past month. I decided to let go of my last source of income because Trader Joe’s didn’t appear to …
Trader Joe’s Said I Was ‘Essential’—Safety Concerns Made Me Quit Read More »
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief the inequalities baked into the U.S.’s capitalist system—one that deems nurses and grocery workers “essential,” but leaves them with just as few rights and privileges as they had before the crisis struck. The scenario before us, where society depends more than ever on the bottom rung of …
Is There Any Better Time Than Now For a General Strike? Read More »
Transport Workers Union members who die of COVID-19 while working for New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority will get a $500,000 death benefit, the union and the MTA announced Tuesday. Surviving spouses and children under 26 years old will also get three years of health coverage. The COVID-19 death toll among New York City transit workers keeps …
The Centers for Disease Control gave employers the go-ahead to make essential workers who’ve been exposed to COVID-19 keep working right up until they get sick. That’s despite the well-established risk of transmission from people who don’t have symptoms. Under the policy, exposed workers should wear a mask and companies should clean and disinfect a …
Soaring unemployment is having immediate effects on millions of people, in an economy where—before coronavirus hit—40% of people said they’d struggle to deal with an unexpected $400 expense. Two of the big impacts are on two of the most basic expenses: rent and food. According to data from a trade group, 31% of renters hadn’t paid rent during …
Workers in New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) took measures into their own hands. They wore their own masks, brought their own bleach solutions to clean shared workspaces, and had bus passengers enter through the rear door and blocked them from sitting too close to drivers. Eventually, the MTA started to catch up. But at least …
Unemployment claims remained high last week at 6.6 million, the Labor Department reported, as massive job losses continued to pile up due to the coronavirus pandemic. The claims, for the week ending April 4, flooded in as confirmed coronavirus cases approached 300,000 and as nearly every state ordered its citizens to stay at home. Economic …
Unemployment claims near 17 million in three weeks as coronavirus ravages economy Read More »
Almost exactly 10 years ago, on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and seriously injuring 17 more. To clean it up, BP hired more than 40,000 local residents to remove oil from the beaches and shoreline. They would be working under the blistering summer sun, greatly increasing their risk …
One Thing We Can Do to Protect Frontline Workers Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
