Service Workers Are Saving Us. Why Aren’t We Protecting Them?

As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, Vara*, a disabled, immunocompromised grocery worker in New York City, was forced to make a sickening decision: to keep their minimum wage job and be at high risk for contracting COVID-19, or safeguard their health and lose their income.

“My health had declined so rapidly. I didn’t feel like I was living, just surviving,” Vara told Supermaker, recalling the stress of working―despite feeling unwell―so as not to use up sick days they might need later. “I could see COVID-19 getting worse [and] I knew there was no way I could keep working there. I had to quit. It would be too much for my immune system to handle — and I can’t afford an ICU bed.”

As COVID-19 cases mount exponentially across the country, infrastructural devastation has crept into practically every industry. While some companies have facilitated opportunities to work from home, countless service workers have faced pressure to continue working under precarious conditions such as inadequate or non-existent health insurance benefits, zero paid sick leave, and sudden termination. These injustices have incited viral critiques calling for radical socio-economic reform and an end to capitalist exploitation. Even Britney Spears has called for revolution.