'If I die [...] I want you to politicize my death,' nurse writes, this week in the war on workers

‘If I die […] I want you to politicize my death,’ nurse writes, this week in the war on workers

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● More than nine million workers likely lost their employer-provided health insurance in the past four weeks.

● Women have been hit hard by the coronavirus labor market:

While jobs filled by women represent 50% of payroll employment in February, jobs held by women represented 58.8% of job losses in March. The vast majority of the job losses occurred in leisure and hospitality with a loss of 459,000 jobs. In this sector, jobs held by women represented 53.3% of overall employment and 56.9% of job losses. Disproportionate job losses were found in nearly all the largest sectors that experienced significant job losses in March.

● Threats and opportunities: What’s the post-crisis forecast for workers? The headline is not kidding about opportunities—the threats are real, but there’s also a chance to push in a better direction.

● The coronavirus strike wave could shift power to workers—for good, Bryce Covert writes.

But something vital has shifted. “It’s not just that their [working] conditions are bad—that’s been in existence forever,” he said. Now these workers are being called heroes and told by society “they are part of a larger, important […] vital functioning of society.” That makes it even more egregious when their employers then violate the “new set of social norms and moral structures set up by this crisis,” he said. “There demands [have been] legitimized by other people in authority and power and prestige.” Workers feel a sense of empowerment in their new, essential roles—which makes them even more outraged when their employers don’t live up to the moment and take steps to protect and compensate them adequately.

● Worker safety and health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Rights and resources

● What is OSHA doing? Coronavirus crisis raises questions about workplace safety agency

● What the public is saying to Congress: Expand paid sick days and paid family medical leave to all. A look at the polling

● “The reality is, it’s incredibly hard,” nursing home workers, nurses, and home healthcare workers tell Bryce Covert