Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America
Channel: New America
Date: 2022-05-03

In his recent book, Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality in America, journalist Eyal Press exposes the routine neglect and exploitation of workers engaged in some of America’s toughest jobs - in settings like slaughterhouses, prisons, and oil rigs. The pandemic brought us the term “essential worker” and an outpouring of appreciation for their invaluable work, but thus far it has not brought much in the way of stronger protections - and that needs to change.

Please join the Center on Education & Labor at New America for a discussion with author Eyal Press, former Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels, and Legal Director and General Counsel of the National Employment Law Project (NELP) Catherine Ruckelshaus, on the need to advance worker protections for frontline, essential workers. We will explore what it would take to ensure all workers have high-quality jobs, and how the Biden Administration could protect American workers from dangerous workplace conditions, workplace discrimination, and low-paying jobs.

Follow the conversation and provide live questions and commentary on Twitter with the hashtag #ToughestJobs and by following the Twitter handle @NewAmericaLabor.

Speakers:

Eyal Press, @EyalPress
Writer, journalist and contributor to The New Yorker and The New York Times

David Michaels, PhD @drdavidmichaels
Former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health

Catherine Ruckelshaus, @NelpNews
Legal Director and General Counsel of the National Employment Law Project (NELP)


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