Following an announcement that the COVID-19 pandemic was over, the Biden government presided over the most sweeping rollback in U.S. public welfare in national history. Surpassing this, the Trump administration seems to be swiftly tying off the grand endeavor known as the United States, with serious implications for public health. Recent policy changes include drastic reductions in state health funding, ceasing crucial medication research and distribution, revoking protections for the environment and food safety, eliminating a significant workforce from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and permanently shutting down entire HHS divisions. Such steps undermine the fundamental structure of shared public resources.
Severe damage is anticipated as these policies amplify the ongoing disinvestment from public health, a reality nurtured by the model of neoliberal governance for decades. Contrary to suggestions that the policies of the Trump administration are introducing health and vitality to the American people, detractors predict the likelihood for the country’s health profile to worsen. Combined with the administration’s hostility towards labor sectors, the repercussions of this strategic course have the elements of a major socio-economic crisis.
Among the labor-related strategies are plans for a 12% reduction in the already under-resourced Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), proposals to discontinue eleven regional OSHA offices under the label of ‘Department of Government Efficiency’, and legislation aiming at OSHA’s total annihilation. Additional undertakings comprise systematic attempts to dismantle federal unions, proposals to dismiss major chunks of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s personnel, and accelerated measures to deport thousands of immigrant laborers, with various states initiating child labor as a substitute.
Viewed collectively, these assaults on labor and public health sectors reveal a critical connection, as the framework of contemporary public commons was primarily enacted as an answer to workers’ demands. Career-focused health initiatives stretching back over a century have given rise to remarkable improvements in public health, both in workplaces and local communities. This is clearly visible in the health data landscape across the nation. States following the ‘closed shop’ labor model driven by unions show undeniably superior public health outcomes across various diseases and conditions.
For more than a century, labor rights have been leveraged consistently in American public health policy, resulting in millions of lives improved and extended. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has a commitment to protect the nation in times of crisis, with a dedicated division focused on emergency preparation. Before the onslaught of the 2020 pandemic, and partially influenced by AFGE union contract language, the VA set up a repository of personal protective equipment, conducted emergency drills, created full-time decontamination posts, and initiated proactive vaccinations against smallpox.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the VA responded by expanding its volume of negative pressure rooms designated for infected patients, likely becoming second only to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in this provision. Defense Contract Management Agency employees, also AFGE members, found themselves in a situation where ‘flu pandemic’ contract clauses were rendered inert by the first Trump administration during the COVID-19 outbreak, being deemed applicable exclusively to influenza.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), substantially influenced by AFGE, significantly ameliorated the pandemic response. Through ARPA, the VA devoted $17 billion to its pandemic initiative. This included healthcare coverage associated with COVID-19 for over 9 million veterans, debt forgiveness for veterans’ healthcare copayments, and assistance with re-training and food stamps for veterans.
From a conversation with an AFGE National VA Council attorney, we learned that if VA employees contracted COVID-19, the Department of Labor assumed it was obtained in the workplace. This action made their pandemic-related injuries eligible for compensation. Given that COVID-19 continues to circulate, along with other pathogens like the bird flu, despite contrary governmental declarations, other labor unions should consider incorporating similar pandemic precautions into their forthcoming contracts.
From the enforcement perspective, bargaining units should also consider enhancing their ability to implement these provisions. This includes collaboration with social movements necessary for convincing employers to respect the negotiated contracts. A hypothetical increase in unionization by 10 percent in the U.S. could result in a 5 percent reduction in total COVID-19 cases over the course of the first 100 days of the outbreak.
The majority of cities and counties across the country count schools as the most populous indoor gathering venues for most of the year. Thus, public health initiatives in schools can wield a disproportionately positive influence, as school children are known to be major carriers for the spread of respiratory diseases, including COVID-19, within communities.
An effective example of a teacher’s union advocating robustly in this context hails from the Racine Educators United (REU) based in Racine, Wisconsin. The union successfully convinced decision-makers to divert scarce resources from less-tested technologies like bipolar ionization towards mainstream strategies such as ventilation and filtration improvements.
Despite older equipment, district engineers successfully managed the technical hurdles for the implementation of MERV 13 filters across all schools. Classrooms with sub-par ventilation were supplied with individual air filters. Union building leaders were given the authority to conduct safety tours along with engineering teams across schools before students returned. The goal of these efforts was to confirm that the indoor air quality enhancements above the ceiling level were properly delivered into the classrooms.
As of May 2023, Hollywood had scrapped its COVID-19 safety measures following the Biden administration’s pronouncement of the pandemic’s end. This decision overlooked considerations of lives saved, the magnitude of the impact suffered by the COVID-19 victims, and the need for measures to prevent such pandemics from recurring in the future.
There are encouraging signs of revitalization within the U.S. labor movement, but multiple national trends against it are significant. The Democrats, traditionally seen as the custodians of public health, have deserted us amidst a deadly pandemic, relegating individuals to fend for themselves. Republicans, stalwarts of personal responsibility, have left us to survival of the fittest rhetoric. Workers, through their unions and collective actions, may step into this leadership gap and help secure the clean water and air we all require to live healthy and fulfilling lives.
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