Happy Labor Day, everyone! We shouldn’t forget about essential workers.
A few months ago, I wrote a post about how we don’t pay essential workers enough. At the time, it was a big topic. Essential workers were some of the only folks who had to actually show up to a physical location (ie: not their homes) for work still, and we were all concerned that they would get sick. Our leaders seemed poised to respond. And then they did nothing (mostly). Since then, we’ve heard nothing but crickets on the subject of essential workers. The drop in level of interest in essential workers is staggering. Check it out:
We had a big spike in interest in essential workers in mid-March, when the coronavirus crisis really started to hit. That interest stayed strong through April, but as we started seeing protests about re-opening and states capitulating to those protests, the interest in essential workers has waned. Our attention went elsewhere. It looks like as we get closer to the election, essential workers are becoming (once again) forgotten.
Essential Workers Deserve Better
But the reality is that essential workers are still putting themselves at risk every day. They are all still working even as many of us are still working from home. We’ve known for months now that they are more likely to contract COVID-19, and we’ve seen scary numbers of essential workers dying as a result. Even though essential workers are not part of the conversation any more, they are still at high risk, and they deserve better.
So, on Labor Day, I’d like to renew my call for a better deal for our underpaid, underappreciated, and forgotten essential workers. At a minimum, they deserve:
- Paid sick time if they get sick
- Health insurance
- Hazard pay (during this crisis, and a livable wage generally)
Happy Labor Day everyone. And stay safe out there!