Latino workers, along with other workers of color, have been some of the hardest-hit communities since the early days of COVID-19 in the United States, and new studies shed light on the plight of these individuals.
The rise in Latino fatalities is especially seen among immigrant workers in three states. The same states noted a disproportionate share of Covid-19 cases and deaths among them.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said on Friday that he would prepare an executive order protecting the state's essential workers, agricultural laborers, and personnel in meat and poultry processing plants, among others.
California Governor Gavin Newsom wants additional protective measures for essential workers, especially Latinos who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Research found that Latino workers comprise 59 percent of Californians ineligible to receive unemployment insurance. Also, not a lot of them are benefiting from the government's CARES Act.
Groups who experience the highest joblessness rates are the immigrant women and Latino workers who, regardless of their birthplace, have below high school degree for education attainment or aged below 25.
Over 10,000 meatpacking laborers, many of them, Latin Americans, the United Food and Commercial Workers union said, have contracted the virus in the US, and dozens of them have died.
According to experts, COVID-19 will lead to more suffering among Latin workers because of inequality in the society molded by structural racism and low-income jobs without any chance of telework.
"Death on the Job: The Toll of Neglect," a newly published report, found that U.S. Hispanic/Latino workers are 18 percent more likely to be killed on the job than workers of any other racial/ethnic group. Furthermore, immigrants face greater risk.
