Tribute To Essential Workers To Celebrate Labor Day

September 4, 2020

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By Anna Peel. Originally published at ValueWalk.

Announcing the ‘Tribute to Essential Workers’, a live event celebrating Labor Day by honoring the Americans keeping us safe

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Livestreaming on Sunday, Sept 6 at 8pm ET, it will feature worker voices, musical performances, celebrity guests, and tributes to workers who have died from Covid-19

Celebrating Labor Day With Tribute to Essential Workers

Today, a coalition of some of the largest worker and labor organizations in the country announced the Tribute to Essential Workers, a livestreamed event celebrating Labor Day weekend by honoring the American workers who are sacrificing to keep us safe. Airing on Sunday, September 6 at 8pm, the Tribute will feature worker voices, musical performances, tributes to essential workers, and special celebrity guests including Meryl Streep, Lucy Liu, Logan Browning, Desus Nice and The Kid Mero, Sophia Bush, Mayim Bialik, Ilana Glazer, Robin Thede, Aloe Blacc, Nia Sioux, and more.

On a weekend when many Americans won’t be able to experience the usual parades and family picnics, this will be a chance for the country to come together to watch performances, hear stories, and pay tribute to the working people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 — and those who are still sacrificing daily so the rest of America can stay home.

The event will stream live at HonorEssentialWorkers.com.

The tribute will be hosted by Heather McGhee, Board Chair at Color of Change, and feature appearances from prominent activists and leaders, including Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, Me Too founder Tarana Burke, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield, and more.

Let’s Honor Those Who Lost And Are Risking Their Lives

“Because of COVID-19, so many workers who have been invisible for so long are finally being recognized. But when essential workers still face unsafe conditions, low wages, PPE shortages, and a lack of healthcare or paid leave, they need more than recognition — they need protections,” said Ai-jen Poo, executive director of National Domestic Workers Alliance, which is helping to organize the event. “Let’s use this Labor Day to not only celebrate the role of essential workers in our communities, let’s honor both those who’ve lost their lives to COVID and those who continue working by addressing how essential workers are treated in our country.”

The event is being organized by some of the largest worker and labor organizations in the country, including National Domestic Workers Alliance, AFL-CIO, SEIU, American Federation of Teachers, AFSCME, United for Respect, and ROC-United, along with groups fighting for racial, social, and economic justice like Color of Change, Justice for Migrant Women, MoveOn, and Working Families Organization.

Together, we will issue a powerful call for transformation in honor of the people that we’ve lost and to fight for the working people who are essential to our economy and society. Essential workers deserve much more than the title of “heroes.” They deserve the same protection and humanity they provide for the rest of the country.

Labor Day has a new significance this year, when essential workers — disproportionately Black, people of color, immigrants, and women — are putting their lives on the line to care for Americans and keep us safe. In this rare moment in time when the eyes of the nation are focused on essential workers, we need to transform what’s possible for essential low-wage workers, including raising pay and workplace standards, improving safety, and increasing worker power in the workplace.

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