May 07, 2021

The COVID Worker Strike of 2021

Sam Caucci

The April Jobs Report just came out, and it painted a bleak picture for America’s employment situation.

In fact, “the U.S. economy added just 266,000 jobs in April, a disappointing month of growth that fell well below economists’ estimates during a period when vaccine distribution increased and virus caseloads fell around the country.”

So if people are getting vaccinated and COVID cases are falling, why aren’t people returning to work? 

Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of workforce leaders talking about the lack of job growth, and far too many of these conversations go something like this: “We can’t find workers to fill our jobs. It must be because workers are unmotivated and lazy. It has to be because unemployment benefits are too high and workers are being disincentivized from returning to work, right?” Well, not exactly.

America’s recent lack of job growth can be tied to economic and workforce issues that have been worsening over the past 30 years. Let’s break things down for a second.

A recent article from The Washington Post found that “some businesses have been complaining to the White House and lawmakers that they are having a hard time recruiting workers, particularly for low-wage, hourly jobs.” Most business leaders in this position think unemployment benefits are to blame, yet the pandemic unemployment is just $1,200 a month. That equates to $7.50 an hour (which is only 25 cents above the federal minimum wage) or $14,400 a year.

If you’re an employer who can’t compete with unemployment benefits that equal just over $14,000 a year then your business model is broken, and you need a new one.

Right now, America is experiencing a worker strike. Low-wage workers who have been stuck in bad jobs for far too long are finally able to take a stand and demand fair wages, good working conditions, and a workplace that values its people. Most of the stories you see in the news aren’t framing it as a worker strike, but that’s exactly what it is. 

After all, how can we expect people to eagerly return to low-wage jobs when millions of workers are still struggling to juggle child care and health concerns caused by the pandemic? 

A new article from the Wall Street Journal aptly explained the problem: “Fueling the labor-market imbalance is the fact that many workers, particularly women, find it difficult to work outside the home. Only 60% of the 200 largest U.S. school districts were fully reopened the week of April 27, according to Georgetown University’s FutureEd think tank, and many child-care centers continue to operate at reduced capacity.”

The pandemic has taken an especially hard toll on working women and mothers. How can we expect them to return to low-wage jobs that don’t give them the ability to pay for childcare at a time when nearly half of America’s schools aren’t even fully reopen?

This all goes to say that April’s disappointing jobs report is a symptom of a much larger problem. Take a look at the numbers:

  • The federal minimum wage has not been raised in over a decade and has remained stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009.
  • Even before the pandemic, 44% of all workers in America aged 18-64 were working in low-wage jobs with median annual earnings of just $17,950. That’s 53 million workers who are making an average of just $10.22 per hour.
  • Wage growth is defined by growing inequality: The highest earners (95th percentile) continue to experience rapidly growing wages while middle- and low-wage workers see almost no gains. Today in America, the average CEO earns 320 times more than a typical worker.
  • Underemployment is on the rise: Wages for the bottom 50% of college graduates are lower today than they were in 2000.

These facts tell a clear story: workers — particularly low-wage workers, women, and workers of color — have not been valued and prioritized in America’s workforce for far too long. Now, workers are fighting back by refusing to take bad jobs. 

The wrong way for businesses to react to this is to simply blame workers and paint them as lazy. 

Whatever happened to loving and appreciating workers, especially those who have been on the frontlines during the pandemic? Because let’s not forget: most of the workers who are now being portrayed as ‘lazy,’ are the same underpaid, undervalued workers who have spent the last year risking their lives and safety for us on the front lines. They were the ones checking you out at the grocery store, bagging up all that takeout you ordered when restaurants were closed, and checking sick Americans into hospitals across the country.

It’s frustrating to watch workforce leaders condemn these workers now. I’ve been shocked at the extremes some have taken to try and demonize workers. Last week, I even saw several organizations back a proposal encouraging their state’s Department of Labor to launch a portal that would encourage business owners to report employees that are refusing to come to work. And since unemployment fraud is a felony these organizations are encouraging criminalizing workers for not showing up to work. And yet they wonder why no one is jumping to come work for them?

Point being: fixing this problem isn’t just up to employers, workers, or government officials. It’s up to all of us. A key part of 1Huddle’s RAISE Every Worker policy platform is working to align private companies, education providers, and public institutions to create a workforce infrastructure that truly supports every worker.

If we can come together to create a network of 21st century partnerships that provide workers with good-paying, quality, accessible jobs, then I’m confident we will see much better jobs reports going forward. 

So if you want to help RAISE every worker and create an inclusive, fired up, and equitable future of work for every worker, then check out 1Huddle’s policy plan now to join the movement.

Sam Caucci, Founder & CEO at 1Huddle

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