AmericaRecovers 20201109 072 · 2020. 11. 10. · like workersÕ compensation and work-place regulation,Ó says Bussel, who cites the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory!re that killed

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66 USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION

In the days and weeks after the Sept. 11terrorist attacks in 2001, more than10,000 Americans volunteered to assistwith cleanup and recovery at Ground Ze-ro in New York City. Never mind thehaunting sights they’d see — the grue-some remains of people and the shat-tered buildings — or the personal risksthey’d face: toxic dust, falling debris andsmoldering, unstable wreckage. Whenthe logical reaction was to mourn, theirgut instinct was to mobilize.

Along with copious amounts of cour-age, bravery, patriotism and compas-sion, there’s at least one thing that manyof these intrepid volunteers had in com-mon: They were union members.

“There were so many workers —unionized workers, in particular — whoran into the breach,” says Bob Bussel, di-rector of the Labor Education and Re-search Center at the University of Ore-gon. “And it wasn’t just police and !re-!ghters. It was ironworkers, carpenters,painters and steelworkers, right on downthe line. People came from all over thecountry to help with the aftermath, andyou could see the union insignias ontheir T-shirts, jackets and caps.”

Next to the visual incendiarism that isterrorism, contagion feels almost be-nign. The former is loud and lurid; the

In Arizona, UA Local 469 isn’t just looking out for workers’ health on the job; it’s also won important bene!ts to help them protect their families. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Labor of loveUnions are keeping essential workers safeduring the pandemic so they can helprebuild the economy when it’s over

Matt Alderton Special to USA TODAYContinued on next page

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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION 67

latter, invisible and vague. One slaps yousquare in the face; the other breathesquietly down your neck. The mutedthreat, however, can be just as lethal asthe thunderous one. Or more so: Whileapproximately 3,000 people died on 9/11,more than 230,000 Americans so farhave died of COVID-19. Nevertheless,American workers have run toward thecoronavirus in 2020 just as they ran to-ward the wreckage of the World TradeCenter in 2001. Not because they’re reck-less, but because they’re righteous.

“Because of the social roles they play,I’ve heard workers describe themselvesas custodians, or stewards, of the public

good,” Bussel says. “When the nation isthreatened, these are the people whostep up.”

If workers are the ones who step up forthe nation, then labor unions are theones who step up for workers. Howthey’ve done so during the COVID-19pandemic is a vivid illustration of thevalues that have helped America surviveprevious crises — and of the principlesthat will help it rebuild after this one.

Safety !rst

Unions’ !rst responsibility is to theirdues-paying members, whose safety hasdriven the union movement since its in-ception during the Industrial Revolution.

“Going all the way back to mining ac-cidents in the 19th century, unions have

been instrumental in arguing for thingslike workers’ compensation and work-place regulation,” says Bussel, who citesthe deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory!re that killed 146 New York City garmentworkers in 1911 and spawned a decades-long movement to establish the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration,which !nally succeeded in 1971. “Occu-pational safety has been totally integralto unions’ mission, both then and now.”

Although unions’ mission is the sameas it was back then, their grievances lookdi"erent thanks to new and di"erent oc-cupational hazards. Instead of over-crowded factories and inadequate !re-safety codes, unions in the COVID era areconcerned about the transmission of a

Community spirit: UA Local 469 organized a socially distanced tribute to World War II veteran — and Local 469 member — Chalmer Shuff. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

“Going all the way back tomining accidents in the 19th century, unions havebeen instrumental in arguing for things likeworkers’ compensation and workplace regulation.”Bob Busseldirector of the Labor Education and Research Center at the University of Oregon

See UNIONS, Page 68

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communicable disease from customersand co-workers to grocery clerks, busdrivers, restaurant servers, hotel house-keepers, construction workers and otherworkers deemed essential.

Essential workers like 45-year-oldChad Neanover, a prep cook at JimmyBu!ett’s Margaritaville restaurant at theFlamingo Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.“I’m an asthmatic, and my wife, who’s amedical assistant, is diabetic. So we’reboth in the higher-risk categories for CO-VID, which makes it very hard to want to

go out into a work environment without(proper safety) protocols” Neanoversays. “It was scary for a while, but then(the hospitality industry in Las Vegasadopted) mandatory temperaturechecks, masks and regular cleaning ofhigh-touch surfaces, which has given usa little bit of relief.”

Neanover’s union — the UNITE HEREInternational Union, which representsmore than 300,000 workers in the hotel,gaming, food service and airport indus-tries — was instrumental in securingthose protections, which were codi"edinto law by Nevada Senate Bill 4. Passedin August as the "rst state law requiringcomprehensive measures to protect em-ployees and customers against thespread of COVID-19, Senate Bill 4 man-dates enhanced cleaning, hand washing,

social distancing, masks and employeetraining, as well as employer-sponsoredtesting and contact tracing.

“Unions give workers power and avoice to stand up for what they deserve,whether that’s sitting at the bargainingtable or walking a picket line. With CO-VID-19, we’ve had to do everything wecan to … ensure that our members andtheir families stay safe and healthy,” saysUNITE HERE president, D. Taylor. Theunion has drafted and shared safetystandards with hospitality employersnot only in Las Vegas, but across theUnited States and Canada, Taylor says.

The United Food and CommercialWorkers International Union represents1.3 million workers in grocery and retail

Chalmer Shuff’s Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., was canceled because of COVID-19, so UA Local 469 stepped in to salute his service. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

“We all take an oath when we join the union to assist unfortunate anddistressed members. It’s in our blood to take careof each other and to takecare of our community.”Aaron ButlerUA Local 469 business manager

See UNIONS, Page 70

UnionsContinued from Page 67

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stores, health care and manufacturingfacilities, pharmacies, and food process-ing and packing plants — 340 of whomhad died of COVID-19 as of September.

“Our very !rst concern was that if es-sential workers in the food supply chaindidn’t go to work, whether it was in foodprocessing or retail food stores, our soci-ety would break down. Therefore, wehad to make sure our members had thehighest protections they could possiblyhave to ensure their safety,” union presi-dent Marc Perrone says. His organizationhelped secure mask mandates, social

distancing measures and plexiglass bar-riers in grocery stores, and similar mea-sures — plexiglass dividers, face shields,socially distanced lunch breaks andmandatory temperature checks, not tomention multilingual education, routinetesting and contact tracing — at foodprocessing and meatpacking plants.“Given all the things we did, I believe wesaved a lot of people from getting thisdisease. Not only our members, but alsoout in the community.”

Help in hard times

Along with workers’ lives, unions havesaved workers’ livelihoods.

Because some employees remainedanxious — even with safety precautionsin place — unions like UA Local 469, theArizona chapter of the United Associa-

tion of Journeymen and Apprentices ofthe Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industryof the United States and Canada (UA),negotiated terms with employers that al-lowed workers to take voluntary fur-loughs without losing their jobs.

“That’s something you don’t normallysee in the construction industry,” saysUA Local 469 business manager AaronButler. Those terms were critical not onlyfor distressed workers, but also for work-ers with immunocompromised familymembers, Butler says. “I have one mem-ber whose wife had a double lung trans-plant about six months before COVID hit.She was extremely high-risk. If hebrought COVID home, she didn’t stand achance. Because of the contract provi-sions we secured, this gentleman was

Bene!ting the wider community as well: Members of UA Local 469 help distribute groceries at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Phoenix. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469

Frank Young, a member of UA Local469, and his wife, Jessica, sew 700 face masks for union plumbers andpipe!tters. COURTESY OF UA LOCAL 469 See UNIONS, Page 72


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able to stay home and take care of hisfamily without losing his job.”

UA Local 469 also expanded mem-bers’ health bene!ts to cover 100% of CO-VID-19 testing and treatment costs, in-creased weekly disability bene!ts formembers who contracted the virus andmade changes to its 401(k) plan to allowmembers to make increased penalty-freewithdrawals of retirement savings due toCOVID-related hardships.

IBEW Local 11, the Los Angeles chapterof the International Brotherhood of Elec-trical Workers, has made similar o"er-ings to its members, including supple-

mental unemployment bene!ts for thosewho lost their jobs during the pandemic.“We have a Supplemental Unemploy-ment Bene!t Fund that’s about !ve yearsold. Because that fund is in its infancy, itonly provided $24 a week if you were outof work. Because of the pandemic, we in-creased that to $200 a week for appren-tices and $300 a week for journeymen,”says IBEW Local 11 business managerJoel Barton. Workers can access the ben-e!t during the pandemic even if they opt

out of work by choice due to health anxi-ety or concern, Barton says.

Unions at the national level havemade similar moves to protect workers’!nancial security. UNITE HERE, for ex-ample, has negotiated with employers toextend health coverage to laid-o" work-ers and lobbied hard for the extension offederal unemployment bene!ts.

“At the beginning of the pandemic …we supported tens of thousands of mem-bers with information on how to applyfor unemployment insurance; seekhousing and food assistance; organizeand run food banks; prevent evictions;and work with utility companies andmake arrangement to cover other bills,”Taylor says. “We produced relief guidescovering 23 states and four Canadianprovinces. And we ran hotlines that han-dled more than 11,000 calls from mem-bers seeking relief and unemployment

help — (because) for most workers, thiswas their !rst time navigating state un-employment systems that were, and re-main, unhelpful.”

One of the biggest achievements forthe United Food and Commercial Work-ers International Union during the pan-demic has been hazard pay for essentialworkers, many of who have faced in-creased expenses during the pandemic— for child care, for example, since manyschools and daycares were closed.

At the start of the pandemic, it se-cured bonuses, temporary wage in-creases or both for essential workers atAlbertsons/Safeway, Kroger, Stop &Shop, Cargill, Hormel, JVS Foods, Cona-gra Brands, Seaboard Triumph Foods,J.M. Smucker, Kraft Heinz and CampbellSoup, among others.

During the pandemic, the “essential workers” designation includes people like supermarket stocker Kaylee Guerrero in Lansing, Michigan. NICK KING/LANSING STATE JOURNAL

“We’ve always felt it was ourobligation to take care ofthe community, because weare the community.”Joel BartonIBEW Local 11 business manager

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USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION 73

Some employers have since reducedor eliminated those bene!ts, which Per-rone calls “disappointing.”

“In every economics class I’ve everbeen in, it’s been said that those whotake the most risk should be paid themost money,” Perrone says. Noting thatgrocery store sales rose 40% to 45% atthe start of the pandemic and remain upby approximately 20%, he says, “In thisparticular case, shareholders aren’t tak-ing the most risk. Workers are taking themost risk, so they deserve some of thatpro!t.”

Unions’ victories have yielded bene-!ts for non-union workers, too. In orderto remain competitive, Perrone pointsout, non-union employers like Walmart,Target and Amazon/Whole Foods alsoo"ered pandemic hazard pay.

Bussel says, “The idea of trying toraise the #oor for everybody — the sensethat a rising tide lifts all boats — is prettypervasive in the union movement’sDNA.”

Caring for community

Unions haven’t just negotiated duringthe pandemic. They’ve also nurtured.IBEW Local 11, for example, has hostedseveral grocery giveaways, including onein the spring that provided food to morethan 2,500 families in Los Angeles andanother over Labor Day weekend that fedapproximately 3,500 more. On anotheroccasion, one of its activist members,“Big John” Harriel, purchased and dis-tributed hundreds of board games to par-ents and children in underserved com-munities who were quarantined athome, often with little to do.

“We’ve always felt it was our obliga-tion to take care of the community, be-cause we are the community,” Bartonsays.

The men and women of UA Local 469feel the same way. Member Frank Youngand his wife, Jessica, for example, made700 masks to distribute to Local 469workers in the !eld. Another member,World War II veteran Chalmer Shu", wassupposed to be honored by the nonpro!tHonor Flight in March; when his #ight toWashington, D.C., was canceled on ac-count of the pandemic, more than 100fellow union members organized an“Honor Drive” parade, during which theydecorated their cars and drove by hishome waving and honking in tribute.

The union also secured more than1,500 N-95 masks that it donated to local

!re!ghters; distributed more than 500emergency food boxes to hungry familiesduring a grocery giveaway; establishedits own food pantry that collected anddistributed thousands of items to mem-bers in need; and donated nonperishablefood, household items and $2,500 in giftcards to the hard-hit Navajo Nation,where several of its members reside.

“We all take an oath when we join theunion to assist unfortunate and dis-tressed members,” Butler says. “It’s inour blood to take care of each other andto take care of our community.”

And to take care of the economy, too.Unions — many of which have robust ap-prenticeship and training programs —stand ready to supply the talent America

will need as it pivots from COVID re-sponse to COVID recovery. All they ask inreturn, Perrone says, is appreciation,compassion and consideration.

“I think we as a country !nally under-stand how signi!cant our workers are,”Perrone says. “They really are essential,and they deserve our respect. And, quitefrankly, our gratitude.”

Any job that involves contact with the public potentially puts a worker in harm’s way. Server Tammie Bunker waits oncustomers at Kewpee's Restaurant in downtown Lansing, Michigan, in early October. MATTHEW DAE SMITH/LANSING STATE JOURNAL

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AmericaRecovers 20201109 072 · 2020. 11. 10. · like workersÕ compensation and work-place regulation,Ó says Bussel, who cites the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory!re that killed