Defining Essential workers … Mutual Aid
On the phone call, recently, talk began about supporting essential workers via support for mutual aid groups, an ancient community support technique. So, Susan Sunflower and Jackie talked, at Roosterhead, talked on 6 June.
We loosely divided essential workers into groups
. those with salaries or wages and sometimes benefits like healthcare/sick leave: emergency and medical workers, grocery staff,
. those working on their own or with a few people, mom/pop, sole proprietors, gig workers, such as
cleaners, domestic violence workers/volunteers, individual mechanics or small shops like the Jiffy Lube individually owned/worked franchise, landscapers, child care proprietors/staff, handymen, hair dressers and FARMERS! The more we talked, the long the list got.
SUPPORTS needed now: farmers/farm stands need customers
SUPPORTS needed in a crisis:
. health coverage, true medicare/medicaid for all, including homeopathic (COBRA is basically a farce, expensive)
. emergency funds:
– for farmers – national disasters include killing frosts, mudslides, 100 – 500 year floods so crop/land insurance needed immediately to replant, rebuild structures and …
– internet, electrical, cell service, banks etc, got added in here … lots of small to independent jobs/business tend to fall into ‘essential’ as the economy contracts, regardless of reason.
. for all, general support needed – quick money, advocacy for the immediate bills (rent, utilities, …), prepared food packs to house-bound, local food production and distribution.
The ‘sunset’ dates’ on current rent/mortgage/other regular bills undue the good effect of the abatement … should be forgiven OR very long term repayment. Forgiven is better … salaries are probably going to drop after economic turndown, so long term impact of increasing debt will continue to be catastrophic.
EXAMPLE? Childcare for county workers was scheduled to end 15 June. So what happened? Did parents have to stay home, with no more care provided?
A further talk topic? MUTUAL AID GROUPS could/should be by job-type, as needs for each kind, or maybe several self-defined together?
Please do further this talk, with Jackie and others.
