Canada is set to reward the sacrifices that essential workers have made during the pandemic.

While much of America shelters in place, farmworkers, grocery store clerks and airline employees remain on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis. But what’s being done to protect them from catching and spreading the virus? 

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Today on Political Rewind , president of the American Medical Association Dr. Patrice Harris joined us to discuss her observations on how medical professionals are faring as they fight the virus.

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

There's a call Laura Jean Truman is dreading, and she's convinced it's just a matter of time before it comes. Truman, who's a server at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta, says the source of her angst is the fear that sometime in the next few weeks her boss is going to call and say it's time to go back to work, putting her in the position of having to make a choice between her safety and being able to pay the bills that continue to arrive despite the coronavirus. "Right now, everyone who is not working at restaurants is able to be on unemployment," she told NPR. "But once restaurants decide to open, and if we decide that we don't feel safe going back into those restaurants, we then are no longer eligible for unemployment because then we have a job opportunity that we're turning down," Truman explained. "It's a tremendously scary thing to have to think about," she said. The predicament is one in which millions of people receiving state unemployment benefits along with federal dollars from the

The Census Bureau says it is continuing the gradual relaunch of limited field operations for the 2020 census next week in nine states where the coronavirus pandemic forced the hand-delivery of paper forms in rural areas to be suspended in mid-March. On May 13, some local census offices in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington are scheduled to restart that fieldwork, according to an updated schedule the bureau published on its website Friday. All workers are expected to be trained in CDC guidance in preventing the spread of COVID-19, and besides a new reusable face mask for every 10 days worked and a pair of gloves for each work day, the bureau has ordered 2 ounces of hand sanitizer for each census worker conducting field operations, the bureau tells NPR in an email. The announcement means more households that receive their mail at post office boxes or drop points are expected to find paper questionnaires left outside their

“The work we do is too important to the nation. We are the people who make it possible for every meal to exist. We feed the nation and we ask, have always asked, for the possibility to feed our own families in a dignified way without having to be in a vulnerable position all the...

Nintendo of America has confirmed that an employee from its Redmond-based studio in Washington has tested positive for coronavirus. All other employees who had contact with them are now in self-quarantine even if asymptomatic, Nintendo wrote in a statement sent to The Washington Post. Upon learning the diagnosis, Nintendo of America alerted the public health […]

The onset of the coronavirus and the subsequent classification of many of these workers as "essential" have heightened some existing tensions. Workers have accused companies of being slow to provide protective gear and implement precautions, something that may put them in danger.

Even if a security guard is posted at the store, employees complain they are often left to stand up to defiant shoppers.

Kroger-owned QFC and Fred Meyer will discontinue their $2-an-hour "Hero Bonus'' premiums paid to workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio-based Kroger has set May 16 as the program's final date while other large grocery retailers ponder the future of similar bonuses.

The most recent Census numbers show some major metropolitan areas that shone during the post-recession years now are losing population. But that doesn’t mean an equitable spreading of economic assets, much less a halt to the “back to the city” era. At least not yet.

The Starbucks Reserve near the Seattle Art Museum was subjected to a deep cleaning and is scheduled to reopen with staff from other locations who have no known impact from COVID-19.

Starbucks says “catastrophe pay” will be available to employees, regardless of whether they are showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

Starbucks' U.S. experience is similar to that of McDonald's, which Wednesday announced a dramatic contraction in March after what had been a healthy pace of sales.

Whatever comes of the novel coronavirus tumult, the economic crisis is happening now. The needs for arts workers — gigging artists, teachers, staffers at arts institutions — are piling up by the hour. Here's how you can help or get help.

Seattle Opera said Friday that it has received a $2.3 million loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Previously, the company had reported layoffs for 215 artist and production jobs after Seattle Opera canceled “La bohème,” plus 12 administrators, as well as salary cuts for the […]

Microsoft's executives, with headquarters just a few miles from one of the country’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, were among the first to confront the impact.

Kroger-owned QFC and Fred Meyer will discontinue their $2-an-hour "Hero Bonus'' premiums paid to workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio-based Kroger has set May 16 as the program's final date while other large grocery retailers ponder the future of similar bonuses.

The initial days of the Boeing experiment as 27,000 workers are asked to return won't be easy to assess, because a significant number of employees chose to stay home this week.

CEO Dave Calhoun tells shareholders that when the market for jets does revive, "our customers' needs will be different." Boeing also told U.S. employees Monday what it is offering in the first wave of voluntary job cuts.

Sporadic protests continue at Amazon warehouses. The company has fired employees involved in walkouts or organizing in New York and Minnesota for what it says are violations of corporate policy.

The onset of the coronavirus and the subsequent classification of many of these workers as "essential" have heightened some existing tensions. Workers have accused companies of being slow to provide protective gear and implement precautions, something that may put them in danger.

The public back-and-forth about a controversial, high-profile topic is unusual for a company that has lately enforced policies limiting what employees can say publicly without authorization, and for the seniority of those involved.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Three teenage McDonald’s employees in Oklahoma City suffered gunshot wounds when a customer opened fire because she was angry that the restaurant’s dining area was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, police said Thursday. Gloricia Woody, 32, was in custody after the Wednesday night shooting on four counts of assault and […]

Rocío Luquero spends her days in the darkest and poorest corners of the city’s education system, trying to spread thin resources across as many kids as possible. The coronavirus has made that job even harder.

RAVE to the anonymous person in Mountlake Terrace who found my phone when it fell out of my pocket and left it where Robert could find it. Another huge rave to Robert, for taking the trouble to track me down and reunite me with my phone. RANT to grocery stores that don’t train their clerks […]

The economic shock caused by the coronavirus is accelerating a tech-industry shift from prioritizing growth to profitability, meaning rank-and-file workers will no longer be immune to the forces confronting so many workers throughout America.

Yakima County health officials said they have identified 70 COVID-19 cases among farm and fruit-packing workers. Growers consider new state safety guidelines reasonable but unions say they give employers an easy out.

Doctors and other health-care professionals are grappling with the difficult job of caring for patients who won’t survive, tough decisions about who will get a ventilator when equipment runs short and whether they’d want one themselves in the event they become severely ill from novel coronavirus.

An American company building WA's largest lithium refinery has received pushback from locals in WA's South West, amid concerns it is sourcing most of its workers from Perth.

A group of farm workers claiming they were underpaid are hit with a rent bill in the lead-up to a Federal Court hearing.

A dairy company that accused foreign workers of owing rent after allegations of underpayment arose has agreed to an out-of-court settlement.

A camera operator who worked at a greyhound racetrack in Adelaide's north is claiming a partial victory amid an ongoing underpayment dispute with Greyhound Racing SA.

A former employee at Renewal SA becomes the first public servant charged with breaching secrecy provisions surrounding investigations by SA's Independent Commissioner Against Corruption.

The Maritime Union says it has made concessions and lowered a pay claim to try to forge a new wages deal for support staff in the offshore oil and gas industry. The union is now seeking pay rises of 22 per cent over four years from marine contractor, Tidewater, down from its original claim of 24 per cent over the life of the agreement.

This state-of-the-art shearing shed hopes to attract and retain good shearers in a safe environment.

People who deliberately spit, sneeze or cough on frontline workers will be fined up to $13,000, the Queensland Government announces as a new public health emergency order is introduced.

A judge says the attack on Pakistani national Zeeshan Akbar, who was stabbed to death at a Caltex outlet in Queanbeyan in 2017 during a robbery, was an act of "unmitigated cowardice".

MORNING BRIEFING: An aged care operator at the centre of Australia's second biggest coronavirus cluster has requested a worker be stood down after alleged breaches of infection control.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the questioning of a NSW Health worker who broke down in tears at the Ruby Princess inquiry was "out of line" and she was only doing her best.

A continuing investigation into an infectious health worker at the Mersey Hospital in Tasmania's north-west reveals the person was only at work for 30 minutes before they felt unwell and went home.

Because Niall Harden and Sarah Wyllie are not permanent residents, they are not entitled to the Government's new JobKeeper payment, which also excludes casuals who have not been with an employer for more than 12 months.

One of the latest cases of coronavirus in Tasmania is an employee of a local tour company that hosted two interstate travellers who, after leaving the state, were found to be ill with the disease.

Where to start with an old glasshouse, littered with plastic, that was used for a hydroponic tomato farm for several decades?

The Prime Minister says north-west Tasmania is a classic example of the need for the Federal Government's coronavirus-tracking app, after he accuses a north-west aged care worker of not telling the truth about their movements and contacts.

Tasmanian police dismiss allegations, first aired publicly by Australia's Chief Medical Officer, that an "illegal dinner party" of healthcare workers contributed to Tasmania's coronavirus outbreak.

Tasmania has four new cases of coronavirus to add to its tally, with three being health workers from the state's disease hotspot of the north-west.

A female healthcare worker "in her 20s" is the latest case of coronavirus confirmed in Tasmania, on the day Australia's Chief Medical Officer apologises for alleging an "illegal dinner party" contributed to the state's outbreak.