It’s no surprise that Donald Trump has used the coronavirus pandemic—even as he attempts to deny its seriousness—as an excuse to further enact some of his preferred policies. The latest proclamation temporarily bans guestworkers from coming to the United States, but what does it actually do? Is it a gesture to his base or something more serious, and what do we need to know about these guestworker programs in the first place? Daniel Costa of the Economic Policy Institute joins us to explain. 

We also talk with Gabi DiDonna of the new United Museum Workers union, a branch of the Steelworkers, in Pittsburgh and Dreamer and Teamster Nelson Iraheta. We also look in on healthcare workers’ attempt to take back a shuttered hospital in Philadelphia, and more coronavirus—in a Minnesota Amazon warehouse—with Amazon worker Will Stoltz. For Argh, we consider the skilled work of one London hospital cleaner, and more about Amazon workers’ struggles to organize in crisis. 

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News

Employees from all four Carnegie museums announce unionization drive (Pittsburgh City Paper)

United Museum Workers on Twitter

Supreme Court blocks Trump from ending DACA (CNN)

Michelle: What DACA Means for Immigrant Workers (Dissent)

Report On Attempted Occupation Of Hahnemann Hospital In Philadelphia (It’s Going Down)

How the owner of Philly’s shuttered Hahnemann hospital became the internet’s coronavirus villain (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Amazon warehouse in Minnesota had more than 80 COVID-19 cases (NBC News)

Amazon Covid-19 Outbreak in Minnesota Was Worse Than Local County (Bloomberg)

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Conversation

Daniel Costa, Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research, EPI

Trump Suspends Visas Allowing Hundreds of Thousands of Foreigners to Work in the U.S. (New York Times)

Sarah: ‘You’re Fired!’ The abuses of ‘skilled’ worker visa programs (Progressive)

Michelle: Why Are Some People Paying to Work? (The Nation)

Michelle: How Temporary Work Visas Hurt Migrant Women  (The Nation)

Michelle: These Guestworkers Just Won $20 Million Back From the Company That Trafficked Them (The Nation)   

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Argh, I wish I’d written that!

Sophie Elmhirst, ‘You have to take action’: one hospital cleaner’s journey through the pandemic (Guardian)

Michelle: Shirin Ghaffary and Jason Del Rey, The real cost of Amazon (Recode)