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In a pandemic, unionization protects health:
A CORONAVIRUS LESSON
BY MIKE PROHASKA
Workers in hospitals, grocery
stores, transit, warehouses,
construction
sites and elsewhere have been
rightly deemed essential. But a
tale of two cities is playing out
before our eyes: The privileged
shelter in place, while others
put their bodies on the line to
provide healthcare, food, housing
and infrastructure.
Unfair working conditions
have long existed, but coronavirus
has brought into clearer
focus the struggles of nonunion
workers who are vulnerable to
risk, injury, and death.
As a society, we have to ask,
what do we owe these workers?
At a minimum, they should
be guaranteed fair wages and
the best protection money can
buy.
No one should have to risk
dying to earn a paycheck, and
no one should be compelled
to stay silent while observing
co-workers exposed to lethal
danger.
The situation is much different
at workplaces where
employees are represented by
unions. Unionized workers
can use the power of collective
bargaining to demand safety
and other improvements that
are absent from nonunion
workplaces.
Indeed, when bosses are legally
required to bargain in
good faith, workers get heard.
Helping more workers become
union members should be a
key part of New York’s plan for
rebuilding our economy after
coronavirus dissipates.
Think first about health
coverage. We all have learned
a hard lesson the last few
weeks: a society full of sick
people is a danger to everyone.
And yet, for the estimated
20 million workers who may
be laid off or furloughed nationally
by July, a paltry few
will be keeping their employer
based insurance.
While not a perfect solution,
unions across New York
have succeeded in softening
this blow by negotiating extensions
of health insurance
for laid-off members.
At my own union, Laborers
Local 79, our health plan
is designed to provide continuous
coverage. Benefits are
allocated based on members’
hours worked over a full prior
year; what happened last week
or last month will not jeopardize
a worker’s current healthcare
coverage.
It’s also worth noting that,
for the construction workers
my union represents, we provided
access to as much as
$10,000 in emergency cash relief
from our Annuity Fund.
This is the real level of stimulus
and financial support
workers need right now.
Consider the very different
situation facing the most vulnerable
workers in our economy:
those who are undocumented.
They are not eligible for any
of the relief coming out of Congress
and are reluctant to even
take state-based health insurance
for fear of being deemed a
“public charge” and ultimately
denied some form of legalized
status. They are compelled to go
to work in dangerous situations
because the alternative is starvation
and homelessness.
All levels of government
should be making it easier for
workers to organize and join
unions, especially the workers
who have served on the front
lines of this pandemic.
Historically, collective bargaining
has dramatically improved
wages, benefits, and
other fundamental aspects of
job quality for millions of workers
across industries.
Indeed, union representation
and worker organizing
built our nation’s middle class.
But in recent decades, the
decline of union membership
has weakened the power of
workers. Looking ahead to
New York’s future, we can’t
improve lives and jobs without
organizing more workers into
labor unions. It’s as simple as
that.
When organized workers
present their demands and
needs in a powerful, unified
voice, bosses and managers
feel pressure to listen and take
action.
At the end of the day, the
expansion of collective bargaining
into more industries
and workplaces will help raise
standards for how all employees
are treated.
Prohaska is business
manager of Construction
and General Building Laborers’
Local 79.
SALUTE
TO LABOR AWARDS
September 17, 2020
New York City
Nominees must exhibit one or more of the following criteria:
• Executives of the labor community
• Women who have a prominent role in their union
• Heads of apprenticeship programs
• Allies of the labor community
• Rising Stars in the labor community
Submit your nominations to Andrew Mark
amark@schnepsmedia.com • 718-260-278
We honor you
who work and serve
Workers United is joined by
The Sidney Hillman Foundation
to thank our members—and
all frontline workers—who
have continued to work in
hospitals, laundries, retail,
manufacturing, distribution,
and food service providing
essential services for all of us.
Schneps Media May 21, 2020 13
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