PASADENA – As Pasadena started its annual two-day homeless count Wednesday, the city’s Bad Weather Shelter is coping with a spike in demand and a sharp rise in the number of homeless families seeking refuge. “We have extremely high numbers this year,” said the Rev. Pat O’Reilly, executive director of ECPAC, the Ecumenical Council of […]
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At a memorial to honor workers who have died during the pandemic, 600 handmade crosses each bearing the name of a fallen worker were arrayed on the lawn at Villa Parke in Pasadena. | T.A. Hendrickson/Boulevard Sentinel
Local labor leaders demand justice for workers who have borne the brunt of COVID-19
By Zach Goodwin
Most years, Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28, is a time to remember those killed or injured on the job and to call on politicians and employers to improve safety.
This year, at a local event by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) and its community allies, the day took on an extra dimension. There was more loss and more grief because COVID-19 has disproportionately claimed the lives of lower-income, Latinx and Black people, many of them workers who could not work from home. This loss and grief fueled demands not only for safety, but for justice for ending the systemic exploitation of workers laid bare by the pandemic.