From Huffington Post: The Coronavirus Worker Revolt Is Just Beginning
EDITOR'S NOTE: Click here to read our friend and union brother John Barry's op-ed piece in Wednesday's Baltimore Sun.
The pandemic has revealed just how poorly many companies treat their employees. Will workers continue to fight back once life goes back to normal?
By DAVE JAMIESON
When a wave of coronavirus cases hit Colorado, Jessica DeFronzo had little choice but to work through it. Her JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts store in Colorado Springs stayed open to the public, getting so busy with foot traffic that DeFronzo, a cashier manager, compared it to “back-to-back Black Fridays.”
Working for just above the minimum wage felt unfair even in good times. Doing it in a crowded store during a full-blown pandemic seemed borderline crazy.
“A lot of the ladies were concerned and complaining about the health risks of us being at the store,” said DeFronzo, 35. “So we all started talking about ways we could do something about it.”