Letter to the Editor: Less rhetoric, more action on COVID-19

As Vermonters, we have heard the warnings to avoid crowds and unnecessary travel. We have heard the recommendation to wash hands frequently. And now we are hearing that some institutions, like Vermont Law School, Middlebury College and Champlain College are closing their campuses. We also hear rumblings that school districts and perhaps even aspects of state government will follow suit if and when the infection rate grows. We are being told that this is to diminish the transmission of the coronavirus and therefore to save lives. What we have not heard is how tens of thousands of workers are expected to survive with no wages and a limited access to health care if and when more workplaces shutdown.

So if I work for private non-union shop that closes its doors in reaction to the virus, and if I am receiving no pay, and if I have no health care, how I am expected to feed my family, pay rent, get medical care, and not face an economic disaster? Conversely, what if my work stays open but my kid’s school closes down? Without public (or affordable) child care, how am I suppose to care for my children? Where is the plan to protect working people not only from the virus, but also from economic ruin? Must we as workers decide between exposure to a deadly disease or total economic collapse? Or will that bad choice be made for us?

This is unacceptable.

What we need to deal with this and any future medical crisis is a functional social system.

But today, in the here and now, we need the Vermont Department of Labor to suspend any and all threshold requirements for workers collecting unemployment insurance for any and all people who labor or live within any county that has even a single case of coronavirus. This benefit should be extended not only to those suffering from a workplace closing, but also to any non-essential workers who decide to not report to work while there is an active coronavirus outbreak in their county.

At the end of the day the threat of the coronavirus is laying bare the failures of Vermont’s social system. And even while our social safety net may be better than in most states, it is far from adequate when faced with a potential public health crisis. And here former Gov. Peter Shumlin deserves his share of the blame for killing single payer at the start of his third term. And our current Gov. Phil Scott must own his share too for refusing to support universal paid family and medical leave.

Vermont, we must do better than this!

David Van Deusen

Montpelier, VT