Belabored Archives - Page 9 of 24

Belabored Stories: After Deaths, Fear Rises at Walmart

Michelle Chen ▪ April 22, 2020

Walmart is on a hiring spree as workers fear for their lives.

Belabored Stories: Cramped at the Call Center

Sarah Jaffe ▪ April 21, 2020

At a company that provides services to public health agencies tracking the coronavirus, workers sit in cubicles “like sardine cans.”

Belabored Stories: Demanding Protections at the Drive-Thru Window

Michelle Chen ▪ April 21, 2020

McDonald’s boasted about distributing protective equipment to employees. But one worker said masks, hand sanitizer, and gloves were only available “for a brief period of time. So it was only to get us to be quiet.”

Belabored Stories: Locked out of Unemployment Insurance

Michelle Chen ▪ April 19, 2020

States like California have yet to roll out a system to process gig workers’ unemployment-assistance applications. Rideshare drivers are running on fumes.

Belabored Stories: What If Nurses Ran the Healthcare System?

Sarah Jaffe ▪ April 17, 2020

“We take in a lot and don’t talk about it,” a nurse in Chicago said. But healthcare workers are talking now—not just about how to save their patients, but about rebuilding the system from the bottom up.

Belabored Stories: Postal Workers Want Investment and Hazard Pay

Michelle Chen ▪ April 17, 2020

The broken federal funding system is reflected in the dangerous conditions faced by many mail carriers.

Belabored Stories: Union Busting in a Disaster

Michelle Chen ▪ April 15, 2020

Art handlers in New York City have filed an NLRB complaint alleging that their employer fired workers for organizing a union.

Belabored Stories: Farmworkers Need Field Hospitals

Sarah Jaffe ▪ April 15, 2020

Workers in the fields in Immokalee, Florida, are demanding public health infrastructure that takes into account cramped living and travel conditions. “Social distancing is not possible.”

Belabored Stories: Cancel Rent

Michelle Chen ▪ April 14, 2020

A group of laid-off service workers in Denver is pushing for a total cancellation of rent, mortgage, and utility payments, for at least the next ninety days.

Belabored Stories: A Healthcare Worker Day of Action

Sarah Jaffe ▪ April 14, 2020

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that “any hospital operating off the crisis protocols should let him know,” said one nurse in Brooklyn. “Well, this is us letting him know.”

Belabored Stories: Many Immigrants Won’t Get a $1,200 Check

Michelle Chen ▪ April 13, 2020

Millions of immigrant workers are toiling in frontline low-wage industries. But the CARES Act excludes many from its welfare provisions.

Belabored Stories: “Please Stay Safe”

Sarah Jaffe ▪ April 13, 2020

Grocery store workers have become an important point of human contact for customers isolated at home. “People are seeing you in a different light now.”