An essential workers' history of COVID-19

Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/an-essential-workers-history-of-the-pandemic<br /><br />The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic devastated the working class from the start. Those deemed "essential workers" in the service, medical, transportation, agriculture, and other sectors were hit particularly hard. While the sacrifices of workers were paid lip service in the early days of the pandemic, the rhetoric rapidly shifted towards denunciations of a "labor shortage" as worker resistance mounted with time. As the capitalist class continues to espouse a dominant narrative of the pandemic that insists that the worst is over and workers ought to accept diminished real wages and deteriorating conditions, the need for a counterhistory of COVID-19 becomes increasingly urgent. At a joint book event hosted by <a href="https://redemmas.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Red Emma's</a> in Baltimore, sociologist Jamie K. McCallum and TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez sat down to discuss the effects of the pandemic on the working class as told through their respective books, <i><a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/jamie-k-mccallum/essential/9781541619906/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Essential</a></i> and <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/the-work-of-living/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><i>The Work of Living</i></a>.<br /><br />Post-production: Jules Taylor<br /><br />Help us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: <br /><br />Donate: <a href="https://therealnews.com/donate-pod" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://therealnews.com/donate-pod</a><br /><br />Sign up for our newsletter: <a href="https://therealnews.com/newsletter-pod" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://therealnews.com/newsletter-pod</a><br /><br />Like us on Facebook: <a href="https://facebook.com/therealnews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://facebook.com/therealnew