Portside

When things get dire enough, the working class fights back. In dealing with the outbreak of the coronavirus, people across the United States have organized at their workplaces, and also won major reforms in the housing sector.

The New York Times has put together three useful articles with graphics over the past week, highlighting worker rights and worker safety. Two pieces focus on COVID-19 and worker safety. The third is about the dangers of construction work.

The legislation passed by the House doesn’t actually guarantee paid sick leave to most American workers.

Containing the spread of virus requires people to stay home when they are sick. But the US remains one of the only high-income countries without federal paid sick leave. It is time for stronger public policy.

Advocates of worker rights in Philadelphia pushed for more funding to enforce some of the most progressive worker laws in the country - resulting in a 400% increase in recovered wages.

The Michigan legislature seemed to take bold steps toward improving working conditions for its constituents: It passed legislation that would guarantee workers the right to earn paid sick leave, as well as a minimum wage increase to $12 an hour.

Historical discrimination, demographics, and public funding have left home care workers at the very bottom of the American work hierarchy. The wages these workers earn are painfully low: the median salary for a personal care aide is $19,910 annually, or $9.57 an hour; a home health aide earns $20,820 or $10.01 per hour. On the Bureau of Labor Statistic's list of 30 fastest-growing jobs, personal and home care aides are the worst paid.