By Maya Gemson, Wake Forest University Class of 2021
In early March of 2020, widespread closing of stores began across the US in the wake of Covid-19. It was up to the government to determine which businesses were essential in continuing daily life as the world froze in quarantine. The people who work at these stores are being named the heroes of this pandemic. They have become a central piece to the element of risk vs servitude that many people are only attributing to doctors and nurses.
The term “essential worker” has become a buzzword in discussions about the virus. Essential workers make up hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, meatpacking plants, and public transit. They are among few groups of Americans whose job has not been stunted by the pandemic. However, there has been an oxymoronic nature to the term “essential,” as many of these workers do not believe as though they are working under safe, fair, and regulated conditions. Certain vulnerable groups have been tasked with bearing the brunt of the virus. They are being asked to extend their hours while not working under conditions to ensure their safety, furthering the risk of infection. There is a clear discrepancy in what the term “essential” means, as many workers feel like “expendable” would be a better term. In this war against a virus, it is as though some people are being put on the frontline without ammunition or a bullet proof vest. Workers are simply not being given the proper gear required to keep themselves safe. Protests have emerged from workers at Walmart and Amazon, who claim that the companies have the money to protect their workers, but are choosing not to. Some workers are frustrated at the idea that they are even essential at all. Construction workers around the country are being asked to come work every day, but many don’t feel as though construction is a necessary project to continue during this time. Some have opted to stay home at the risk of giving up a steady income in order to maintain their health (Jaggers 2020).
Here lies the issue. Essential workers are not simply being asked to “do their job.” They are being asked to risk their lives at the convenience of upper classes. Unsurprisingly, women have made up one in three jobs that the government has deemed essential. “Women make up nearly nine out of 10 nurses and nursing assistants, most respiratory therapists, a majority of pharmacists and an overwhelming majority of pharmacy aides and technicians. More than two-thirds of the workers at grocery store checkouts and fast food counters are women” (NYTimes 2020). Similarly, undocumented immigrant field workers have been told to continue working despite stay at home orders. This has cast great irony in addressing the ways that undocumented immigrants provide for US agriculture, yet are rejected by the very country in which they serve. They are now both illegal, and essential. In an interview with a cashier at Rite Aid, she gave insight into the complexities of being deemed essential:
Wanda: “I mean I am happy to be here. I’m making money every day when some people are relying on their stimulus checks. It’s definitely scary. When I ring people up, I am touching everything they purchased because I have to scan it. I worry that I could be spreading it to people myself if I’m a carrier, which would break my heart.
Maya: Did Rite Aid provide you with protective gear?
Wanda: Yes, they gave us masks and we had a meeting about how to safely work throughout the day. I still don’t feel safe. I don’t think anyone will ever feel safe, but what am I gonna do? I’m making money and I just hope that this will be over soon.
Wanda hit at a complicated facet to the situation. Essential workers are making money, but at what cost?
The recent resignation of Amazon’s Vice President sheds light into what it means to take a stand against maltreatment of essential workers. He said,
“Remaining as an Amazon VP would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised,” Bray said. “So, I resigned. The victims weren’t abstract entities but real people; here are some of their names: Courtney Bowden, Gerald Bryson, Maren Costa, Emily Cunningham, Bashir Mohammed, and Chris Smalls. I’m sure it’s a coincidence that every one of them is a person of color, a woman, or both. Right?” (Lyons 2020)
While not everyone is a VP of a multi-billion dollar company, Bray is taking a stand on what it means to support low income essential workers during this time. He has used his power to make the public aware of the immoral actions of Amazon, while shedding light on the actual victims by saying their names.
Even once the coronavirus has become a simple yet traumatic memory, the mark of the way essential workers were treated in America will be a shameful one. Many say that essential workers are our super heroes, and we must start treating them as such. It is time to use this momentum to normalize kindness, respect and gratitude. These heroes didn’t just follow the call to arms to help defeat a global pandemic, they do so every single day.
Maya Gemson is currently a junior at Wake Forest University. She is a sociology major with a concentration in crime and criminal justice, as well as a minor in bioethics, medicine, and humanities. She is passionate about public health and plans to pursue a degree in law in order to best help vulnerable communities receive health care. The Anthropology of Global Health course has acted as a catalyst in her drive to help as many underserved communities as quickly as possible.
Works Cited
Robertson, Campbel. “How Millions of Women Became the Most Essential Workers in America.” NYTimes, 2020. Web Accessed May 2020.
Jaggers, Zachary. “We Call Workers ‘essential’-- but is that just referring to the work, not the people?” The Conversation US, 2020. Web Accessed May 2020.
Lyons, Kim. “Amazon VP Quits over Whistleblower Firings in Scathing Blog Post.” The Verge, 2020. Web Accessed May 2020