During a pandemic, workplace rights and healthy communities are inherently connected. Yet, all too often retail workers, janitors, construction workers, restaurant workers and other essential workers face basic violations of their workplace rights, including wage theft and lack of access to Earned Sick and Safe Time (ESST). Too many workers struggle day to day just to survive on poverty wages, while we have seen the 0.1% raking in more wealth than ever and a police force that criminalizes poverty and people of color.

The City of Minneapolis needs to fund initiatives that address the root causes of poverty and violence, while guiding us through the pandemic ensuring no one’s health is an afterthought. Now more than ever we must fully fund worker protections to ensure that workers are working in safe, stable, and healthy environments, and can defend their basic rights without fear of retaliation.