CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- As some essential workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, Fed Ex and other companies are walking off the job Friday to demand safer working conditions during the COVID-19 outbreak, a labor law expert said this could be part of a broader effort to help millions of American workers in the long term.
Michael Oswalt, a labor law professor at Northern Illinois University, said the workers are demanding such things as adequate protective gear, hazard pay, paid sick time, and health coverage. But, Oswalt said the increased focus on these essential workers is also raising public awareness about other workplace challenges these workers faced long before the pandemic began.
"For the firs time, in a long time, we are starting to see space for people to tell their stories about what it is like on the job. Seeing essential workers through strikes, through rallies, on social media, letting us know what they need to feel safe," he said. "You can't have a safe community, with unsafe jobs. Bad jobs impact all of us, so I think that this is a time of great anxiety, but there is also great opportunity for solidarity."
Oswalt believes job actions, such as the walkout, are setting the stage to address additional workplace changes including higher way, paid sick leave, and childcare - issues that proceeded the pandemic and will remain after it is over.