Labor Curious? Visit the Labor Café, where ND talks work!
The Labor Café convenes the Notre Dame & South Bend communities for casual conversation on contemporary questions about work, workers, and workplaces. What rights and protections should those who work for others have? What's the proper role for government in the economy? How should we address enduring problems of inequality, poverty, and lack of opportunity? And what does Catholic Social Teaching have to say about these labor questions? All people are welcome, all questions are entertained, and all opinions are tolerated.
Topic: Essential Work/Disposable Workers: Why are so many jobs deemed critical in the pandemic paid so poorly?
Facilitators: Dan Graff, Ph.d., Director, Higgins Labor Program, and Emily Merola ('20), Research Associate, Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities
Resources to get the conversation started (a sampling of non-required but encouraged reading):
- Annie Lowrey, "Don't Blame Econ 101 for the Plight of Essential Workers," The Atlantic, May 13, 2020
- Katie Johnston, "Will anything change for the low-wage essential workers once hailed as heroes?," Boston Globe, Aug. 3, 2020
- Somini Sengupta, "Heat, Smoke and Covid Are Battering the Workers Who Feed America," New York Times, Aug. 25, 2020
- "Tracking the COVID-19 Recession’s Effects on Food, Housing, and Employment Hardships," Center on Budget and Policy Priorities," Aug. 21, 2020
- Tracy Hadden Loh, Annelies Goger, and Sifan Liu, "‘Back to work in the flames’: The hospitality sector in a pandemic," Brookings Institution, Aug. 20, 2020
- "COVID-19: Workers' Compensation," National Conference of State Legislatures, Jul. 28, 2020