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Articles on Essential workers

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Workers such as these Starbucks employees in St. Anthony, Minn., increasingly went on strike in 2022. Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 – could it mark a turning point for organized labor?

Workers have filed the most union petitions since 2015 and the number of strikes have surged, but whether this turns into a sustained increase in membership rates is still unclear.
Health-care workers protest over stalled contract negotiations with the provincial government in Montréal in October 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Workers, not warriors: 4 lessons from health worker protests during COVID-19 that could help avert a looming workforce crisis

To prevent a shortage of health workers, public expressions of appreciation need to be backed by policies that provide dignity, decent working conditions, accountability and appropriate remuneration.
When schools shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19, moms took on the burden of supporting students at home. AP Photo/Shafkat Anowar

I’m a Black sociologist, and a mom – by listening to other Black mothers, I’ve learned about their pandemic struggles and strengths

As the world locked down and a country’s racial reckoning heated up, this social scientist refined her approach to studying the lives of Black moms.
Many grocery store workers have experienced high rates of anxiety and depression during the pandemic. Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

Grocery workers suffer the mental health effects of customer hostility and lack of safety in their workplace

Supermarket employees, still laboring in crisis mode, continue to report significant rises in physical and mental health problems.
People are shoulder to shoulder inside a city bus while commuting at rush hour during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

As people continue working from home, the monthly transit pass needs to change to remain worth it

Increasing even part-time remote work disrupts public transit revenue. Agencies need to adapt fare structures and business models to meet the changing work market.
Nearly 1,000 workers at this Smithfield Foods pork-processing plant in South Dakota contracted COVID-19 between mid-March and mid-April 2020. Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images

Meatpacking plants have been deadly COVID-19 hot spots – but policies that encourage workers to show up sick are legal

Thousands of workers at meat- and poultry-processing plants have contracted COVID-19, and hundreds have died. A legal scholar recommends ways to make their jobs safer.
Residents line up in their cars in late November at a food distribution site in Clermont, Florida, where many are hungry because of the pandemic. Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Masks and mandates: How individual rights and government regulation are both necessary for a free society

The absence of effective government policy doesn’t make citizens free. It takes away their power, leaving them less able to act to address their needs. That’s especially clear during the pandemic.
Black and Latino essential workers are more likely to experience food, child care and housing insecurities than their white co-workers, in addition to safety concerns. Jumping Rocks/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Black and Latino essential workers experience greater safety concerns than their white counterparts

Stress and physical conditions make essential work unsafe, especially for Black and Latino employees.

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