Labor Day 2020: Coronavirus pandemic brings new challenges for workers

Although Labor Day is often known as the unofficial goodbye to the summer, the holiday holds a deeper meaning

FARGO, N.D. — As with most things amid the coronavirus pandemic, this Labor Day feels and looks a bit different.

“Unfortunately, there are many people who are unemployed, and most of it is because of this pandemic that we’re going through,” said North Dakota AFL-CIO President Landis Larson. “So, without tackling the pandemic, it’s not going to do any good for all those unemployed people.”

As for those who are still working, Larson says COVID-19 brings a different set of challenges; one of the biggest being employees without rights to a safe and healthy working environment. 

“Unfortunately, everything to do with the pandemic is set up as a guideline,” he explained. “There are no hard and fast rules that anybody has to abide by or that anybody could get fined or anything like that from.”

That’s why he and his organization are fighting to change that.

“In the past, we were starting to fight for things like more reduced lunches for children in schools. Things that were really helpful to the working people, but with this COVID, it’s really changed our focus immensely.”

Staggering breaks, enforcing six-feet distancing, mandating face masks, and daily temperature checks are some of the things Larson says employers should be implementing.

Because North Dakota does not have statewide OSHA standards, Larson is advocating for federal safety measures outlined in the HEROES Act. 

“There are good people on both sides that actually try to help out workers, but it’s such a business climate in North Dakota that it’s an uphill climb,” said Larson.

He says although workers’ rights have come a long way since the Industrial Revolution, there’s still a lot more to be done.

“People need to remember that people fought and died for the workplace rights that we have now. They didn’t come free, they didn’t come cheap. We need to celebrate that, but we also need to keep in mind that the battle is not over. We have to keep fighting. We just can’t give up.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 35 North Dakotans died on the job in 2018.