Together, we’re giving working people a voice in the policy decisions being made in Washington, DC and in state capitols across the country.
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Friend,
EPI is chronicling the stories of working people, shedding light on the chronic imbalance of power between employer and employee.
Take Bruce Miller. Last week, we shared his story of spending nearly four decades of his life working for Sears in New Jersey, repairing cars. Bruce was forced to go from being an hourly employee with good pay and benefits to a commission-based wage earner after a hedge fund took over the iconic retailer. Bruce's story is one of millions throughout our country where employees are mistreated by the employers as a result of an inherent imbalance of power.
Today, EPI's "Worker Stories" brings you the story of Angely Rodriguez Lambert ([link removed]) , who was in the middle of her shift as a cashier at McDonald’s in Oakland, California, this spring when she started to feel sick. Her manager instructed Lambert to keep working.
EPI is fighting every day to strengthen the rights of working people, like Angely. Make a year-end tax-deductible donation today to fund our critical research to end the imbalance of bargaining power in the workplace and demand workplace equality. ([link removed])
The McDonald's restaurant where Angely worked had installed protective barriers and provided safety gear for workers, but it was not allowing the growing number of workers with COVID-19 symptoms to stop working. Nor were workers being told when their coworkers tested positive. If no one could cover their shift, employees were expected at work, symptomatic or not. Angely later tested positive for COVID-19, along with nearly three dozen of her coworkers and their extended family members, including a 10-month-old child.
As the virus roared through the franchise, Angely and the other workers kept coming into work, because they couldn’t afford not to.
With no sick time, missing work meant not getting paid—not an option for workers getting by on minimum wage. “Imagine living here without any money,” she told a reporter at the time. “I can’t stay in my home if I don’t pay the rent, and I need to eat and send money to my family.”[1]
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This "Worker Story" series is part of EPI's Unequal Power project ([link removed]) , which is dedicated to the memory of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who recognized the inherent asymmetry between workers and their employers.
Through Unequal Power, EPI is shining a spotlight on this imbalance of power, fighting for the rights and wages of working people. Please consider a year-end tax-deductible donation to power EPI’s critical research to lift up working people throughout our country. ([link removed])
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Together, we are fighting to end wage and income inequality, and restore power to working people.
Thank you for all you do to fight for an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.
Eve Tahmincioglu
Director of Communications, Economic Policy Institute
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