As the world faces a global pandemic, workers are taking action to protect themselves and their communities—and Coworker is mobilizing to support these efforts. Within the first several weeks of the pandemic closing much of the country, workers had launched hundreds of campaigns pushing employers to adopt critical policies to protect employees and customers alike. Food system, grocery, and childcare workers are calling for hazard pay; nonessential retail, service, health, and café workers are asking for paid sick leave or full closure with pay; and people working in the U.S. and Canadian postal services and other delivery and logistics operations are pleading for basic health and safety equipment and procedures.

While we don’t know what the future will hold, we know that the voices of workers and essential employees must be a central part of our country’s response to this crisis. Together, working people are fighting not just for immediate protections, but for long-term structural changes that promote health, safety, and equity at work.