pandemic

February 10, 2023 - While public support for labor unions in the U.S. is at its highest level in a half-century, the portion of Southern workers in unions did not grow last year, even though unions added new members. But strikes and other workplace protests in the region jumped by over 20%, showing growing labor activism.

July 1, 2021 - Over 2 million adults — including over half a million essential workers — fall into the Medicaid coverage gap in states that have refused to expand the program under the Affordable Care Act, and most are people of color living in the South. Congressional Democrats from Georgia and Texas recently unveiled plans to work around GOP-controlled legislatures' refusal to authorize broader Medicaid coverage even when facing a deadly pandemic.

March 8, 2021 - Since Congress declined to grant businesses immunity from COVID-19 lawsuits, Republican lawmakers in Florida and other states are renewing their push to ban negligence lawsuits filed by workers and consumers exposed to COVID-19.

February 17, 2021 - Just over two months ago, more than two dozen workers staged a walkout at a George's poultry plant in Arkansas over conditions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's what happened next.

October 28, 2020 - As Election Day approaches, frontline workers and anti-poverty activists are encouraging eligible low-wage voters in the nation's poorest region to take part in this year's election in hopes of electing leaders who will support a living wage and respond to the needs of low-wealth communities.

September 8, 2020 - For months the official line has been that spread happens in the community, not in the plant. The numbers tell a different story.

August 26, 2020 - For many students, remote learning in the midst of a pandemic is an uphill climb. For those learning English as a second language, the climb can be even steeper. It's a concern across the South, where a number of states have large public school enrollments of English language learners.