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The new coronavirus relief package proposed by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday includes some elements of the so-called essential workers "bill of rights," an encouraging sign for activists. But some essential workers aren't waiting for the government — or their employers — to step in and keep them safe. 

On Thursday, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), an investor group with over 300 member organizations representing more than $500 billion in managed assets, brought essential workers from across sectors together to tell their stories on a live webcast. Their perseverance through unimaginable strain shows the new face of employee activism in the wake of the coronavirus. But don't call them heroes, they ask insistently — give them the respect and protections they deserve instead. 

Healthcare workers call on their employer for protective equipment 

Those who shared their stories include Patricia Diaz, a registered nurse at a HCA Healthcare-affiliated university hospital in Tamarac, Florida. HCA is the largest hospital chain in the U.S., received $700 million in the last coronavirus aid package, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. But Diaz says she and her coworkers in HCA's Tamarac hospital are not receiving adequate equipment to protect themselves and their patients. One of her colleagues has already tested positive for the coronavirus, but not before unknowingly spreading it to her two children. 

"What we are seeing goes against everything we were taught," Diaz said. "In my 23 years as a nurse, I would never have thought we'd be asked to reuse [protective equipment] or not be provided with the right equipment for our safety." 

Diaz is one of hundreds of HCA employees who have signed on to a letter urging the company to ensure adequate and sterile protective equipment, provide universal testing for the coronavirus, and guarantee affordable healthcare and paid sick leave for affected workers. "We need investors in HCA to reach out to the company and ask them to make sure that we have the items needed so that we can take care of our patients, ourselves, our families and our community," she added. 

Essential workers in retail turn to shareholder activism 

Likewise, Cynthia Murray, a Walmart employee from Laurel, Maryland, isn't waiting for lawmakers — or her employer — to act. She filed a shareholder proposal to allow hourly retail workers to be eligible for seats on Walmart's board of directors. "Associates have important insight into corporate operations that would support good governance," Murray said during ICCR's webcast. "None of the independent directors report having retail experience. Our voice is needed."

While Walmart has approved policies to provide protective equipment and ensure social distancing within retail stores, Murray says these are not consistently enforced, leading to lapses that have created coronavirus hotspots at several Walmart locations across the U.S. 

"Every day with coronavirus is like Black Friday in my store. Even though there are policies on customer limits, there aren't enough staff to actually enforce them," said Murray, age 63. "At a recent shift, I was given one set of gloves for the whole shift. We're told to put them back on after lunch or using the restrooms. Maintenance workers in my store were only given two pairs of gloves for the whole day."

Murray says hourly worker representation on Walmart's board would serve to address blind spots between company policies and what's actually happening on the ground. Shareholders will vote on her proposal during the company's annual meeting on June 3. 

Florida farmworkers lobby the state government for critical services 

Meanwhile, Gerardo Reyes Chavez, a key leader with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), is pressuring Florida's state government to better protect the farmworkers he represents. "This crisis has brought a lot of the things that we have been confronting as workers prior to the pandemic to the front — a fight to be able to be seen, to be able to be recognized," Chavez said. 

Those represented by CIW are predominantly migrant farmworkers who live in mobile homes with up to a dozen other people. They travel to work by bus in numbers of 30 or more. They were not afforded relief in the last coronavirus stimulus, and Chavez said they are not provided with protective equipment. "It is impossible for people to observe social distancing," he said. "On top of that, there were no tests available for our community. When you think about all of those things combined, we are like dry tinder in the path of a wildfire." 

Chavez and the CIW sent a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, asking him to respond with testing, protective equipment and a field hospital to treat those affected by COVID-19. For farmworkers in Immokalee, the nearest hospital is 40 minutes away in Naples, one of the wealthiest cities in Florida.

"Just to give you a sense of the lack of appropriate response in our context, in about a month there were only around 160 tests for a community made up of 25,000 to 30,000 people," Chavez explained. Of those 160 tests, 60 came back positive, he said.

More widespread testing was made available at the beginning of May, and Chavez said nearly 1,400 workers showed up to be tested. "It is very, very important right now to be able to understand what percentage of people come back positive so that we can respond to that," he told investors, business leaders and press on ICCR's webinar. "[The state] has effectively ignored all of the suggestions that we have been making since the beginning. This is just wrong, because it's putting the lives of workers at risk." 

The humanitarian crisis in Immokalee, as well as on farm fields in Eastern states from Georgia to New Jersey, is intrinsically linked to our food system. Farmworkers represented by the CIW produce 90 percent of the fresh tomatoes harvested in the U.S. between November and May, along with several other staple fruits and vegetables which are predominantly sold on the U.S. East Coast. 

"Cities that are right now dealing with this crisis — cities like New York and others on this side of the country — are depending on the food we are producing," Chavez said. "If people get sick in the fields, that's going to unravel another crisis that is already showing its ugly face in regards to the meatpacking sector."  

The CIW is engaging with stakeholders in its Fair Food Program, which includes growers across seven East Coast states, as well as 14 retail companies that condition their purchasing on the implementation of worker protections. But Chavez warns that "all of the efforts of mitigation mean nothing if there are no concrete ways to respond to the needs that will emerge very soon in our community." 

Activist investors and labor unions rally behind essential workers

As essential workers fight their own fights at the local level, labor unions and investor coalitions are bringing the conversation to the national stage. The ICCR spearheaded the Investor Statement on Coronavirus Response, signed by 314 investors representing over $9 trillion in assets, which outlines actions investors are seeking from companies to protect worker safety. 

Separately, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which represents more than 1.5 million people across the U.S., launched the Protect All Workers campaign to demand "immediate, sweeping action" from CEOs. Among their demands are emergency childcare funds, debt relief, housing assistance, and fully funded and accessible healthcare for every U.S. worker, including free COVID-19 testing and treatment. 

Neal Bisno, executive vice president of the union, addressed investors on ICCR's webcast directly, asking them to support essential workers. "Governors are beginning to force workers back to work, often in situations that don't meet the current federal administration's own criteria for lifting safety restrictions," he said. "It's just wrong to send people back to work and into public spaces without a safe, well-managed plan. We simply can't ask people to choose between their health and their paycheck — and companies that ask workers to do so are companies that should not receive your investment." 

Image credit: Anaya Katlego/Unsplash

The responsibilities of businesses to look after their workforce are under the spotlight due to the COVID-19 crisis. Companies are feeling intense pressure to show that employee health and safe workplaces are high priorities as they make plans to reopen for business. The new Culture of Health for Business Framework (COH4B) is a way for companies to transparently report on those practices — and where they need to step up in light of a global pandemic.

Recognized by Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards, the Culture of Health for Business Framework was developed in 2019 by a group of leading companies, nonprofits and academics with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the leading global sustainability reporting organization, was among that group and has endorsed the framework. It has mapped existing GRI Standards to the framework to help companies report on their progress on employee health and well-being.

This pandemic has brought employee health to the forefront

The culture of employee health is a prominent topic in C-suites and board rooms today, as companies grapple with how to reassure employees, investors and others that they can guarantee a safe workplace. So far, many companies are falling short. Paid sick leave is just one example, with COVID-19 bringing that debate to the forefront, as TriplePundit’s Megan Amrich has reported.

In the U.S., almost 1 in 4 workers do not receive sick pay. As news reports, including this recent article in the New York Times, indicate, companies that do not provide paid sick leave are endangering their workers and customers. This is particularly significant in the age of pandemics. Affordable and accessible health insurance is another critical need for the nearly 30 million uninsured Americans, most of whom are low-income family members.

Low wages, meanwhile, are associated with poor health outcomes for workers and their families, including limiting access insurance and healthcare services. Often it is these low-income households that are employed in the roles deemed essential during the pandemic , including grocery stores, warehouses and manufacturing. Increasingly these workers are voicing concern that workplace health and safety measures are inadequate.

Companies need a holistic approach to health

That’s where the Culture of Health for Business Framework comes in, says Piya Baptista, program implementation manager for the Global Reporting Initiative. She argues that during the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses cannot take a back seat when it comes to employee health, and it’s not enough to cherry-pick easy solutions in isolation. “Rather it has to be a forward-thinking, holistic approach to health which is multi-faceted and spans multiple departments including occupational health and safety (OHS), human resources, sustainability, legal and marketing,” Baptista told TriplePundit.

She notes that while many companies have done at least some reporting on performance around areas such as OHS, that is often legally mandated. As she explained to 3p:

“What’s been lacking so far has been this deeper and broader data-driven narrative around health and well-being. There are a broad set of actions that companies can take to impact health and well-being. That’s not just OHS or a wellness program, but aspects such as wages, discrimination, jobs, security, product marketing, environmental impacts and many of the other practices that are highlighted in the Culture of Health for Business Framework. Disparate issues related to health might get reported, but we haven't seen that cohesive story. That is an opportunity for growth for companies.”

A framework that highlights 16 best business practices for health

For companies prepared to take a deep dive into their health policies and practices, the supply chain should not be overlooked, Baptista adds. “For many industries, the impacts on health and well-being are going to be in the supply chain, in their manufacturing facilities. It’s one thing to manage your own workforce, but what is your company really doing to understand what's happening in the supply chain?”

GRI has a number of existing standards that can help companies understand and disclose their impacts on health and well-being on a broad set of stakeholders. The Culture of Health for Business Framework (COH4B) can help companies identify a set of business practices that impact health and well-being and start disclosing more or improve disclosure by using the GRI Standards with COH4B.

“Currently there's no existing tool linked to the GRI Standards that helps companies to take such a broad and forward-thinking view to understand their impacts on health and well-being,” Baptista said. She points out that it is similar to the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) in helping companies understand their impacts on climate or the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in thinking about big development problems. “There are other health initiatives and frameworks out there, but this is a pioneering, holistic framework on the role of business in impacting the health and well-being of its stakeholders, linked to a curated set of business practices,” she said.

The 16 evidence-based business practices cut across a wide range of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, to help businesses build and promote employee health and manage impacts on population health through their operations, advocacy, marketing, and philanthropy.  

If human capital is an asset, now there’s a directive to prove it

Baptista expects that companies will be revisiting materiality assessments in light of COVID-19 and that the framework can be a useful addition to that process as well as stakeholder engagement. “The pandemic has brought a renewed and urgent focus on the role companies play in supporting population health. Recognizing health and well-being as an ESG issue, and increasing and enhancing disclosure, is a crucial step and a leadership opportunity for corporations to recognize their responsibilities and take action as a result,” she told us.

The Virtual GRI Reporters’ Summit North America on June 16 will feature a session on the Culture of Health For Business Framework. Also in June, GRI will release additional resources to support use of the framework, followed by a global public webinar in August. Baptista encouraged companies to contact her if they want to learn more at  grinorthamerica@globalreporting.org.

She adds: “The framework encourages companies to pose the question: do they truly believe that human capital is an asset and one that they should build up? And what role do they have to play in impacting health of communities? Do their actions match their words? How can they build resilience and develop a future fit strategy to prepare for all kinds of scenarios? We will see how things pan out, but I'm hopeful that this framework will start to change and broaden the conversation around health and well-being.”

Image credit: Daria Nepriakhina/Unsplash

As Dr. Anthony Fauci made clear in his public testimony before Congress on Tuesday, states that ignore federal COVID-19 reopening guidelines risk triggering uncontrolled outbreaks of the deadly virus. That concern is especially evident on Native American tribal lands, where public health resources are already stretched thin. As demonstrated by the situation in South Dakota, the premature re-opening issue is also fraught with challenges for corporations that are trying to establish a firm record on social responsibility if their host states pursue a seat-of-the-pants policy on COVID-19.

South Dakota never closed for COVID-19

In regards to corporate social responsibility under COVID-19, South Dakota has become noteworthy due to Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s refusal to issue a stay-at-home order.

Noem has not backed down, even though a major employer in the state — the meatpacking industry — has seen some of the worst outbreaks.

In mid-April, months after the lethal impact of COVID-19 became evident, a Smithfield pork plant in Sioux Falls won the dubious distinction as the “nation’s top coronavirus hotspot” at the time. By May 11, Business Insider reported that hundreds of workers at the Smithfield plant were diagnosed with COVID-19, and two have died.

Business Insider further reported that both Noem and a representative from Smithfield have publicly blamed the outbreaks on workers’ home life, implying that employees failed to voluntarily observe social distancing in their communities. The expert consensus, though, is that working conditions make major meatpacking plants particularly vulnerable to outbreaks.

Native Americans in South Dakota take control of COVID-19 narrative

The victim-blaming narrative articulated by Noem and Smithfield is reflected in the situation on tribal lands in the U.S. Native American communities that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis, but failure to observe social distancing is not the heart of the problem.

In fact, some Native American communities have gone to extraordinary lengths to prevent COVID-19 transmission, even within states that are not following federal guidelines.

South Dakota is a case in point. One key action took place during the first week of April, when the Rosebud Sioux Tribes and the Fort Belknap Indian Community joined a lawsuit to stop construction of the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline. They argued that an influx of outside workers could spread COVID-19.

On April 15, a federal judge issued a ruling that effectively put the Keystone XL project on hold over an environmental review issue. That ruling is still in place as of this writing.

In a broader move, in April several Native American communities in South Dakota established COVID-19 checkpoints along public roadways, including at the Sioux Cheyenne River, Pine Ridge and Standing Rock reservations. Journalist Bob Mercer detailed the efforts in a long-form report for Keloland News.

Though the checkpoints have been characterized as roadblocks, Cheyenne River Tribal Chairman Harold T. Frazier has pushed back against that description. In an April 26 letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs cited by Mercer, Chairman Frazier listed the legal justifications for establishing checkpoints.

“We are simply regulating travelers’ entry onto the Reservation in an attempt to prevent, reduce, and track the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus here in the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation,” he explained.

Islands in a sea of uncertainty

By May 11, the South Dakota tribes were embroiled in a legal standoff with Noem, who has threatened legal action this week to remove the checkpoints. So far, the tribes have held firm. "We will not apologize for being an island of safety in a sea of uncertainty and death,” said Frazier in a statement.

That is as much a challenge to the business community as it is a defense of the checkpoints. Smithfield, for one, has found itself struggling to reassure workers that it is safe to return. Though Smithfield has disowned the victim-blaming comments attributed to a company representative, Noem’s remarks (first reported by Buzzfeed News on April 20) continue to muddy the waters.

Adding fuel to the fire, last week Politico reported that Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was still trafficking in victim-blaming, attributing COVID-19 hotspots in the meatpacking industry to “‘home and social’ aspects of workers' lives rather than the conditions inside the facilities.”

Another state to watch is Georgia, which appears to be fulfilling Dr. Fauci’s warning about prematurely opening for business. In an echo of the situation faced by Native American communities, part of Georgia’s problem appears to be an increase in traffic from neighboring states.

If companies in any industry are serious about their responsibility to protect workers and their communities, they could take a cue from the response of Native American communities and lobby their hosts states more aggressively to support a coordinated federal policy based on sound science.

Image credit: South Dakota Bureau of Administration

As the restaurant industry continues to be crushed by coronavirus shutdowns, establishments across the country are seeking unique ways to help others while staying open. The High Road Kitchens project is the latest example of restaurant innovation and industry ingenuity, providing work, food and funding for independent restaurants throughout California.

High Road Kitchens (HRK) was created by a team of chef-activists in response to the increasing unemployment and food insecurity amid the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S.

Founding partners include Daniel Patterson, co-founder of The Cooking Project; Robert Egger, founder of D.C. Central Kitchen; and Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center. The program launched on May 1 with 13 participating restaurants. While One Fair Wage manages High Road Kitchens, a variety of state and local governments, as well as NGOs, together handle program funding.

“We wanted to find a way to continue our mission of good food for everyone,” Patterson said. “High Road Kitchens can provide support to allow cooks to return safely to their kitchens where they can do what they love, make food for their communities.”

A new wave of restaurant innovation

Participating restaurants commit to provide 500 free meals to low-wage workers, healthcare providers, and those in need. They also offer sliding-scale priced meals via takeout and delivery. Patrons can select to pay anywhere from $5 to $20 per dish, with the hopes that those who can will “pay it forward." The restaurants must also agree to adhere to One Fair Wage’s membership guidelines, providing just wages for all employees.

In return for their participation, HRK restaurants receive an initial grant of $18,000 to $25,000 to help owners purchase food and supplies, while allowing them to hire and rehire employees. The owners will also receive training over the next year through One Fair Wage’s High Road Training and Technical Assistance program. This course shows employers how to “take the high road” as they approach a new path toward restaurant innovation and provide all employees with livable wages and increase race and gender equity while remaining profitable.

“A lifeline for restaurants”

Argentinian bar and café Barcito is one of two Los Angeles restaurants participating in High Road Kitchens. (The other is Daniel Patterson’s Alta Adams.) In an interview last week on the KCRW Good Food podcast, Barcito’s general manager and owner, Andrea Borgen, said the goal of High Road Kitchens is “to give a lifeline to these restaurants we know will be good employers in the future.”

When the shutdown started in March, Borgen said she began to search for new ways to “keep the restaurant relevant” and continue keeping her staff on payroll. Like many restaurants, Barcito is now focusing on takeout and delivery business, with new offerings like pantry items and meal prep kits. While the profit margins on the HRK meals may be less than on these other offerings, they are enough to keep Barcito open.

 “I’m optimistic about the sustainability of this,” Borgen said in assessing this wave of restaurant innovation.

What’s next for High Road Kitchens?

Moving forward, organizers hope to secure foodservice contracts for High Road Kitchens with community institutions like senior centers and schools to provide long-term ongoing income to local businesses.

There is also talk of program expansion. Currently, all High Road Kitchens restaurants are located in California – specifically in Los Angeles, Monterey, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. Next steps include adding more financial sponsors and California restaurants, and eventually branching out into New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Michigan. 

“We can all agree that what we were doing before was not necessarily working,” Borgen said. “It’s time to build a better industry for everyone involved.”

Image credit: Max Delsid/Unsplash

(Mr. Whiskers is sick of boring webinars too, but we've got you both covered.) 

Having trouble sifting through all of those webinars? Boy, do we hear you. We're all for the chance to connect from afar and learn about important topics at a time when it's especially crucial to educate ourselves, but the daily invites, updates and reminders can easily become overwhelming. Of the dozens we've received for this week alone, these stood out most to us — and each are worth a bookmark if you're looking to fill a few holes in your calendar (you're welcome).

The Global Boardroom: Shaping Policy, Business and Finance in a Time of Crisis

Hosted by: The Financial Times and The Next Web 

When: All day May 12-14, starting at 11:50 a.m. BST/6:50 a.m. EDT

What: This three-day web event brings senior decision-makers in policy, business, tech, and finance together with FT journalists to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on people and economies. Leaders from multilateral groups such as the World Health Organization and International Monetary Fund — along with companies like Volvo, Mastercard and Ikea — will touch on how the public and private sectors can work together to ensure a just response and recovery. 

Register for free here

Masterclass: Business and Gender Equality and Challenges for Women in Supply Chains

Hosted by: Business Call to Action and Oxfam

When: May 12 (Business and Gender Equality) and May 14 (Women in Supply Chains), both at 8 a.m. EDT 

What: Learn about some of the most pressing gender issues in this pair of webinars hosted by the charitable organization Oxfam and Business Call to Action, a private-sector coalition focused on advancing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On May 12, the groups unpack the business case for pursuing gender equality at major multinational companies, with a focus on recommendations for firms looking to improve. On May 14, they'll zoom in on gender and human rights issues within global supply chains, specifically the barriers faced by low-income women workers and producers.

Register for Masterclass on Gender Equality (free) here

Register for Masterclass on Challenges for Women in Supply Chains (free) here

Leading With Humanity

Hosted by: MIT Sloan Management Review

When: May 13 at 11 a.m. EDT

What: As we've seen time and again during this crisis, those who lead with empathy are most successful at protecting their teams and directing their businesses from response to recovery. Paul Michelman, editor-in-chief of MIT's Sloan Management Review, will join Morela Hernandez from the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business to discuss it means to embrace your duty to others, how to check your personal privileges and biases, and how to leverage your expertise to serve your teams. The format is workshop-style with no slide presentations (cue sigh of relief). 

Register for free here

Ceres 2020: Going Digital

Hosted by: Ceres

When: Select dates in May and June (events this week on May 12 and May 14)

What: The investor-focused sustainability nonprofit Ceres has moved its 2020 conference online. With an agenda spread through May and June, topics vary from decarbonizing industries and engaging investors to the Build Back Better initiative surrounding a green and equitable recovery from COVID-19. Events are free for those previously registered for Ceres 2020. Others can register for a fee. 

View the agenda and register here 

Best Practice Supplier Engagement

Hosted by: Ethical Corporation and Reuters Events

When: May 13 at 10 a.m. EDT

What: Moderator Ellen Grieseme of Future500 will speak with representatives from PepsiCo, Cathay Pacific Airways, and CDP about how to engage with suppliers to ensure transparency, worker rights and environmental sustainability. The conversation will range from environmental strategies that decarbonize supply chains to supporting suppliers as they deal with the effects of COVID-19. 

Register for free here 

Learn from Home: Corporate Citizenship and Reputation

Hosted by: 3BL Media

When: May 13 at 1 p.m. EDT 

What: TriplePundit's parent company 3BL Media will sit down with Dave Stangis, a longtime sustainability executive who did stints at both Campbell Soup Company and Intel. Anyone who knows Stangis knows he's all about lifting others up — and his social media pages are often full of shared job openings for people in his network looking for work. In this free webinar, he'll share his insights into how sustainability provides business value and ways companies can support their stakeholders during the COVID-19 crisis. 

Register for free here

Image credit: Catherine Heath/Unsplash and Surface/Unsplash

The mayors of 10 U.S. cities have joined two dozen city leaders from around the world in signing a statement of principles endorsing guidelines for a healthy, equitable and sustainable economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The C40 group of cities, representing more than 750 civic leaders worldwide, warn that recovery from COVID-19 “should not be a return to ‘business as usual,’ because that is a world on track for 3 degrees Celsius or more of over-heating.”

The principles in the statement include an adherence to public health and scientific expertise, a commitment to address issues of equity that have been made evident during the pandemic, and investment in city and community resilience to protect against future threats, including climate change.

Two American cities in particular stand out as being on the frontline of both this pandemic and the climate crisis: Houston and New Orleans. Both cities’ mayors have signed the statement of principles. Both have much experience to share and a long road ahead.

The impact of COVID-19 on NOLA and Houston

Both Houston and New Orleans (pictured above) have borne the brunt of their states’ pandemic impacts. Both cities also have diverse populations. Houston’s population is about a quarter African American and has the third largest Hispanic population in the U.S. Further, an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants live in the Texas’s largest city. More than 20 percent of the people in the city live at or below the poverty line. Farther east in Louisiana, the population of New Orleans is about 60 percent African American, and an estimated 35,000 undocumented immigrants live in the city. Further, about 25 percent of the population lives at or below the poverty level.

All of this matters, because communities of color and low-income communities have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Significantly more African Americans and Latinx patients are hospitalized or die from the virus than white patients. Many in these communities and in immigrant communities are doing much of the essential work, putting them at further risk. The pandemic adds insult to injury, as these communities have long been on the front lines of the climate crisis due to poor air and water quality and generations of environmental injustice.

Resilience in NOLA and Houston

New Orleans and Houston are in the climate crosshairs. Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey are the first and second most costly hurricanes in recorded history, each totaling over $100 billion in damages. The 2020 hurricane season starts June 1, and so far evidence suggests that this season will be an above-normal year. Neither city can ever rest on its laurels when hurricanes churn in the Gulf of Mexico. Studies conducted after each storm bore out the evidence of what the news told us: African American communities and low-income communities bore the brunt of the hurricane-induced flooding. In addition to the inequity, this puts added pressure on public health responses when such disasters occur.

Rebuilding from a natural disaster like a hurricane is a complicated business, but it is relatively localized compared to the rebuilding that will be required when this pandemic finally ends. Investments in public health systems are critical, but so are investments in communities. Post-hurricane, resilience must be built into recovery efforts — and pandemic recovery must also include resilience.

The aftermath of COVID-19 will require a close examination of public and private health systems, and part of that will be to address the inequity in our current economic system, from who is considered essential to how to protect the most vulnerable. This pandemic, like past extreme weather events, is not the last public health challenge cities will face. Businesses in both of these cities also face countless challenges as state and local governments give conflicting signals about how and when they will reopen — and for companies to thrive, they’ll need healthy employees who feel safe and secure about a return to work.

Image credit: João Francisco/Unsplash

As the world socially distances to protect the most vulnerable from the new coronavirus, many activities and public services have quieted. One such service is public transportation. Over the past two months, public transportation channels across the world have seen significant declines in ridership.

That slump could at first be a relief for the essential workers who keep those systems running, but it also comes at a cost. First and foremost, at least in the United States, public transit workers have not been adequately protected. City officials across the U.S. have been slow to implement safety measures on buses and trains. Transit workers have been getting sick, and over 100 have died from coronavirus-related complications around the country.

A reduction in ridership, ironically, has led to overcrowded bus lines in some areas. As ridership decreases and many bus and train operators choose not to work due to unsafe conditions, people are relying on reduced service. In some cases, this means buses are more crowded than they were three months ago.

In Tampa, Florida, for example, service on the busiest routes has decreased from running every 15 minutes to every hour. “I absolutely don’t feel safe,” Vera Johnson, a Tampa bus driver, told the local television news channel WTSP-TV.

Transportation funding is a huge challenge

From a financial perspective, a decrease in ridership also means that cities won't see the same flow of revenue from fares — and cash-strapped City Halls are finding it difficult to sustain current transportation needs. In some cases, the future viability of public transportation itself has been brought into question.

Some support comes in the form of the federal coronavirus aid package passed in late March, which allocated $25 billion to public transit agencies.

The funds come as a relief to cities like San Francisco that rely significantly on fare revenue for operation. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is losing an estimated $37 million per month due to loss of ridership. Fares represent 60 percent of the system’s operating budget. “For BART, these emergency funds can be the difference between needing to shut down when our reserves run out and maintaining service to keep the San Francisco Bay Area moving,” BART general manager, Bob Powers, told Mass Transit Magazine.

The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) has received $3.8 billion from the relief bill, but it’s asking for double that amount. Without additional support, MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye told Fortune Magazine, “The present and future of the MTA are in serious jeopardy.”

Even if cities receive adequate funds to keep moving, there remains an innovation gap. Cities need to keep transit workers and riders safe and comfortable. Business-as-usual is not cutting it — and the businesses that rely on their employees to get to and from work could suffer in the long run, too.

The economic impact of public transportation

It should come as no surprise that letting public transportation decay during months of city-wide shutdowns does not benefit people or local economies. For one, public transportation is providing means for many essential workers to keep the U.S. running.

And a study from 2013 found that the hidden value of public transportation to any city is between $1.5 million to $1.8 billion a year, depending on its size. Public transportation nurtures agglomeration — a technical term for the clustering of people that brings economic productivity.

Transforming transportation for the good of drivers, riders and the economy

Some cities are already seeing a phased reopening of activities. As activity resumes, protecting transit workers should be of utmost priority. To accomplish a reopening of normal transit operations that protect all, the World Resources Institute (WRI) offers five principles for city leaders that can guide investment and growth.

Ensure stability through revenue support to transit operations: As the country reopens, fare revenue will likely remain low as people fear bus crowding. Cities should explore alternative financing options — congestion pricing and parking management are two options.

Create high-quality bus and transit infrastructure: Washington, D.C. is already taking advantage of a 95 percent decrease in ridership to conduct summer maintenance on much of its Metrorail system. The WRI recommends using this time to create dedicated bus lanes to improve transit reliability and comfort.

Modernize and electrify bus fleets: Cities have a chance to use stimulus funds to modernize their fleets — an opportunity that doesn’t come around often. If a complete overhaul isn’t possible, cities should invest in incremental upgrades, the WRI suggests. Digitization can improve service quality and thus increase ridership.

Invest in cycling and walking: The WRI points to a study that shows every $1 million invested in cycling creates up to 11 jobs. Milan is looking to cycling and walking as it emerges from its coronavirus crisis by permanently opening 22 miles of streets to bikes and pedestrians.

Get governance right: Cities should not work alone, the group concludes. Coordination, especially when it comes to transportation, is essential. By working together, cities can ensure that they don’t just survive the pandemic, but rebuild to be greener, safer and more productive.

The WRI makes it clear that investing intelligently in public transportation systems during and after the coronavirus pandemic will aid economic recovery. These are large-scale interventions.

On a more human scale, policymakers around the wold have employed temporary interventions to protect operators and riders, including signage to remind rides about social distancing, deploying larger vehicles and having riders enter from a bus’s back door. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is providing bus drivers with a button to push if their buses become over-crowded — a manager can then send more vehicles onto the route.

There’s no question that reaping the economic benefits of a healthy public transportation system requires a healthy and happy workforce. Letting public transit workers fend for themselves as ridership increases just isn’t ethical.

As Ronald Spring, a New York bus operator, said at a March 5 meeting with New York’s MTA: “We are supposed to have systems in place for this. We are supposed to have equipment for us to go out and serve the public even in a crisis. But we didn’t see any of that happening like it should have.”

Another driver, Daniel Cruz, who tested positive for coronavirus, told the New York Times that even though he loves his job, he is not looking forward to going back. “I feel like we’ve been left to defend ourselves,” he said.

If driver shortages of more than 90 percent in places like Detroit should communicate anything to city officials, it’s that public transportation investments and improvements must put frontline employees first.

Image credit: Matthew Henry/Unsplash

In the U.S., the coronavirus pandemic is highlighting inequalities as it disproportionately affects people of color and low-income communities. Across the globe, healthcare systems are being pushed to their limits, and energy systems are stretched thin as people stay shuttered inside their homes. While every country is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, some are harder hit than others. Innovative solar technologies could help take on some of these problems.

Essential energy during the pandemic

A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that electricity use worldwide is down, but a study of residential use in Austin, Texas, found that residential use was up about 20 percent as people are working and schooling from home. Electricity powers healthcare facilities, wastewater treatment and clean water distribution, and it enables all of our communications and internet services. But in parts of the world, reliable electricity was not a given before the pandemic, and much less now.

In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 28 percent of healthcare facilities can rely on regular electricity service. Only 43 percent of the population is electrified. Further, less than a quarter of schools in sub-Saharan Africa are electrified, widening the technical gap between the haves and have-nots. Distance learning is just a distant dream for most students.

The majority of countries in this region face economic contraction during the pandemic, but for oil-exporting nations like Nigeria and Angola, the hardship is compounded by falling oil prices. African utilities, already under financial strain, may find providing basic services especially difficult. So, some companies are looking to help by developing a resource that has been growing for the past few years in the region: solar energy.

Solar in West Africa

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, with oil and gas providing about 10 percent of its gross domestic product. Like Texas in the U.S., government officials, who have long relied on oil for wealth and power, have a history of resisting full-scale solar deployment. But as with Texas, Nigerian energy developers see an opportunity to build the industry and help the vulnerable during the pandemic. 

Late last year, the World Bank awarded Lumos, a Netherlands-based solar developer with projects already underway in Nigeria, part of a $75 million grant to electrify Nigerian homes. When the pandemic hit, the company received a share of an emergency grant from the off-grid energy impact investing company All-On, set up by Shell. With emergency funding, Lumos will provide reliable solar power to healthcare organizations fighting COVID-19 to power health centers and rapid response teams. The company is also participating in the new ‘Work from Home’ initiative, which will provide Nigerian businesses with domestic portable solar systems to enable their employees to work from home.

“COVID-19 is an unprecedented crisis, putting millions of lives at risk. Reliable, affordable and clean electricity is vital to running life-saving equipment in hospitals and training essential workers," said Adepeju Adebajo, CEO of Lumos Nigeria. "The All-On fund is enabling us to react exceptionally quickly. Lumos has the products and the trained staff on the ground to install solar systems, which will allow key workers to test and treat patients with the virus and save lives.”

Ingenuity in a pandemic

Solar developers have long seen the opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa to provide a better quality of life through more reliable, clean energy. Shifting to more solar will also ease some pressure on stressed water systems, as solar photovoltaic (PV) installations use little to no water, as opposed to traditional sources of energy.

The incredible ingenuity and entrepreneurship in many countries in the region, already often reliant on decentralized systems run through cell phone networks, could be enhanced with the increased deployment of solar to power essential services and a shifting employment model. The region has been primed to leapfrog a lot of the technologies that other countries have muddled through and go straight to a decentralized, off-the-grid system to empower distributed healthcare services, education, and employment opportunities.

The way we do business in the world will likely change when the peak of the pandemic has passed — and countries like Nigeria could be at the forefront of ensuring that shift is toward a greener, cleaner future, if done right.

Image credit: Lumos Nigeria/Facebook

It’s easy to criticize politicians, business leaders and, okay, even our neighbors for how some of them have conducted themselves during this pandemic. And trust us, here on TriplePundit, we have not held back in calling companies accountable for actions that in the very least are tone-deaf to at most, egregious (and that’s being tactful). But in fairness, none of us has ever experienced a time like this, so all of us are learning as we continue on through this crisis. One CEO who could teach his peers how to show compassion and empathy is JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes.

Last week, it was up to Hayes to participate in JetBlue’s obligatory quarterly conference call to announce the company’s latest financial results. But instead of doling out the usual corporate speak, Hayes paid tribute to the six JetBlue employees who passed away from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus:

“We are deeply saddened to have lost six crew members to the coronavirus, including a pilot, two members of our in-flight community, one support center colleague, and two airport crew members. Ralph Gismondi, Charles "Chuck" Lewis, Jared Lovos, Kevin McAdoo, Ray Pabon, and Nikki Thorne were valued and amazing members of our JetBlue team, each with a special and unique story.”

Hayes continued with an anecdote about each employee. One was a former New York City firefighter who showed up for duty at Ground Zero on 9/11. Another was retired from the U.S. Air Force. He then asked the earnings call attendees to pause for a moment to remember these JetBlue employees in silence.

Contrast that with the usual opening statements from the CEOs of public companies, who typically launch into “thoughts on our most recent quarterly performance” and “our strategic priorities going forward.”

Even today, the tone hasn’t changed much. CEOs generally start off these calls with expressions hoping everyone is “healthy and safe” or an update of COVID-19 “activities.” One could counter that this is a call for investors, so any additional pleasantries aren’t necessary. The counter-argument is that at a time when we have seen no empathy from the nation’s top leadership, business executives can step in and let people know that, at a minimum, this crisis is weighing on them, too.

As Dawn Gilbertson of USA Today noted in her reporting on JetBlue's earnings call: “Every airline and travel company has been thanking workers profusely this earnings season given the industry's dire straits and prospects of layoffs, but Hayes went beyond that.”

Bottom line: These aren’t normal times. People are scared. We’re all seeking some comfort where we can find it. So, taking a few moments to acknowledge the gravity of the situation in which we’re mired can bring you goodwill — and you’ll be remembered long after the rest of us emerge from COVID-19.

Image credit: Nel Botha/Pixabay