In the US, labor unions and progressive groups typically celebrate May Day, or International Workers Day, with rallies, while the rest of the general public leaves its commemoration of workers to Labor Day, the first weekend in September. But as with everything, coronavirus will change that.
Instead of the chants of “Solidarity Forever” and the usual strikes, most union members will find themselves shuttered at home. Essential workers, like those at Whole Foods, Amazon, Target, and Instacart (a grocery delivery and pick up service), are striking and holding socially distanced picket lines in protest of their companies’ policies around sick time and personal protective equipment. Three grocery workers have died so far from COVID-19.
In Boston, some Whole Foods employees are engaging in a “sickout,” a day of protest where workers call in sick and picket for the reinstatement of health coverage for part-time and seasonal workers, and the shutdown of any location where someone has tested positive for COVID-19 until deep cleaning can occur. There are over 40 cases of coronavirus at Massachusetts Whole Foods locations, according to a nationwide tracker of cases put together by employee advocacy group Whole Worker.
Protecting the American worker has become a two-pronged crisis management plan — keep the ones who still have jobs safe, and throw a life raft to the ones who don’t so they can keep swimming until the economy improves.
Nearly a quarter of the state’s workforce has filed unemployment claims since mid-March. The latest numbers are bolstered by gig workers and the self-employed filing their initial claims under Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.
For those who still have jobs, like restaurant workers donning masks as they fill take-out containers, questions about adequate employer-provided PPE and sick time remain, especially as states begin to consider reopening these businesses for dine-in service, exposing employees to more and more people.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is joining restaurant employees from Massachusetts, New York, and other states in an online rally on Friday, asking Dine Brands, the parent company of Applebee’s and IHOP, to provide paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave, and income relief.
Companies are also facing major challenges. Firms starting to plan for reopening are bracing for a flood of coronavirus-related litigation, writes Jon Chesto in the Boston Globe. Elizabeth Levine, an employment lawyer at Goulston & Storrs, said the coronavirus creates a new kind of “minefield for employers.”
Workers who think they caught COVID-19 on the job might file a workers’ compensation claim or make an Occupational Safety and Health Administration complaint, especially if the employer didn’t require them to wear a mask or provide PPE.
SARAH BETANCOURT
BEACON HILL
The deadlock between Republicans and Democrats in the House continues, and Republicans appear to have the advantage for now. (CommonWealth)
At his daily press conference, Gov. Charlie Baker plugs a movie and delights in his daughter reading books during the COVID-19 crisis.”It might be the only good thing I can think of that’s come out of all of this,” he says. (CommonWealth)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
A Berkshire Eagle editorial says the closing of Crane Stationery in North Adams is another cruel blow for a community struggling to make a comeback.
Barnstable County Administrator John “Jack” Yunits Jr. is crying foul over neighboring Plymouth County’s $90 million haul of federal aid and how it may be administered. (Cape Cod Times)
Haverhill will consider letting restaurants sell mixed drinks, groceries, and household items with their takeout orders. (Eagle-Tribune)
Newburyport and Salisbury are refusing to hook up the water supply for summer homes as a way to discourage the influx of seasonal residents during the coronavirus pandemic. (WGBH) Meanwhile, Worcester closes its dog parks to prevent transmission of COVID-19. (Telegram & Gazette)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes and rest homes push past 2,000, meaning roughly 5 percent of the residents of the 476 facilities have died of the disease. (CommonWealth) President Trump creates a commission to investigate the rising tide of deaths at nursing homes. (NPR) Twenty-eight people have died from COVID-19 in Raynham, 24 of them from the Life Care Center nursing home. (Taunton Gazette)
Dr. Jarone Lee of Massachusetts General Hospital says COVID-19 patient counts are down, but he’s worrying about a second peak of the disease. (CommonWealth)
A change in how the state defines coronavirus cases is likely to lead to a bump in the numbers. (Boston Globe)
Gov. Charlie Baker says the state’s contact tracing effort is off to a good start. (Boston Herald) Baker said the state could consider using a contact tracing app, but only if privacy concerns are addressed. (MassLive)
Telehealth visits soar at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, jumping from 5,000 to 500,000 over comparable six-week periods. (WBUR)
Families are desperate for news about their loved ones living in the state’s Soldiers’ Homes. (Associated Press)
MassLive tells the harrowing story of one coronavirus survivor in California and the remdesivir trial that may have saved him.
The Mass. Nurses Association says reuse of protective masks after decontamination could put nurses at risk. (Boston Globe)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
Dr. Anthony Fauci says he is cautiously optimistic that a vaccine for COVID-19 could be developed by early next year (NPR)
Myles Calvey, business manager of IBEW Local 2222, says COVID-19 has accentuated the digital divide in the US, for which he blames Sen. Ed Markey and his push for deregulation. (CommonWealth)
Tenant groups nationally are encouraging people to withhold May rent payments as part of an effort to force more federal housing aid. (New York Times)
ELECTIONS
US Sen. Ed Markey collects more than enough signatures to get on the primary ballot. (MassLive)
Globe columnist Scot Lehigh continues his thumping of Joe Kennedy, whose campaign to unseat Markey he has been less than taken with.
President Trump’s polling numbers with older Americans are slipping amidst the pandemic. (Boston Globe)
Joe Biden denied that he sexually assaulted an aide in his Senate office in the early 1990s, breaking his silence on an issue that allies have been calling on him to address. (Washington Post)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Roughly 25 percent of the state’s workforce files jobless claims. (State House News)
To revive the economy, federal infrastructure spending is needed, according to Tim Murray, the head of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. (CommonWealth)
GattiHR, a human resources company in Quincy, has helped Partners in Health hire about 1,200 workers during April to be a part of the state’s tracing efforts. (Patriot Ledger)
Boston officials say just over a third of the city’s small businesses have applied for all three relief programs — two federal and one city-based — providing pandemic relief assistance. (Boston Globe)
Coronavirus closes recycling centers in some towns, causing pile-ups at home. (Standard-Times)
EDUCATION
A Boston University graduate student files a class action lawsuit against the school, demanding a refund of tuition, room, and board because of the inferiority of online classes. (WBUR)
TRANSPORTATION
New York City’s subway, a 24/7 mainstay of the city that never sleeps, will begin shutting down from 1 am to 5 am to allow for trains to be disinfected. (New York Times)
The Steamship Authority reverses course on masks (Cape Cod Times)
Almost no one in the state is getting stopped for speeding, but there are concerns that empty roads are leading to less careful driving. (Boston Globe)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
A Middleton Jail inmate dies of COVID-19, highlighting the dangers of jail outbreaks. (Gloucester Daily Times)
MEDIA
Rick Edmonds sees a classic union-busting strategy in Cleveland, where Advance Publications laid off unionized workers at the Plain Dealer but left its sister non-union digital operation untouched. Advance also owns the Springfield Republican and MassLive. (Poynter)
PASSINGS
Rana Zoe Mungin, a recent UMass Amherst graduate student, dies of coronavirus at age 30 in New York after twice being denied a COVID-19 test, calling attention to potential issues of racial bias in healthcare. (MassLive)