(Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a column that ran in the Sacramento Bee. To access the entire column, please go here).
On the first Monday of every September, we celebrate the selflessness and sacrifice of all working people. But this year, the Labor Day tribute takes on even greater weight. Because this year, during the worst public health crisis in a century, working people are rising to the moment in new, extraordinary ways.
Week after grueling week, in the face of adversity and uncertainty, essential workers – so many of them proud union members – have stood fearlessly on the front lines. Public service workers in particular – nurses and EMTs, corrections officers and sanitation workers, school custodians and child care providers, among many others – have led the nation's coronavirus response and recovery efforts. …
… If Congress fails to fund the front lines, the essential services that sustain our communities are on the chopping block. … Without it, we will see widespread job loss, in both the private and public sectors. There should be nothing divisive or controversial about this. Experts on the left and right agree this aid is the key to jump-starting the economy and preventing this recession from becoming a depression.