A New Kind of Labor Day

By KIM BELLARD This is probably the strangest Labor Day in decades, perhaps ever.   Tens of millions of workers remain unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Many of those who are still working are adapting to working from home.  Those who are back at their workplace, or never left, are coping with an array of new safety protocols.  Those who work in the right industries – like the NBA – may get tested regularly but most workers have to figure out for themselves when to quarantine and when to get tested.  For many workers, such as health care workers, people of color, and workers with underlying health issues, going to work is literally a life-or-death calculation.  No wonder that experts, like Dr. David B. Agus, are calling for companies to have Chief Health Officers.  Labor Day was originally intended to celebrate the labor movement, but these days labor unions don’t have much to celebrate.  Only around 10% of U.S. workers belong to a labor union; both the number and the percent of unionized workers has been in steady decline over the past few decades.  Now Labor Day is mainly an extra day off for most, the unofficial end to summer, and, this year, possibly the springboard to a new surge in COVID-19 cases, due to holiday celebrations.  Dr. Anthony Fauci warned: We don’t want to see a repeat of the surges that we have seen following other holiday weekends.  We don’t want to see a s...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Health Policy Kim Bellard labor day Source Type: blogs