What does the removal of “hero” pay tell us about how our post-pandemic economy might value retail workers? If you are retail worker, what do you think about the issue or “hero” pay? What does the changing priorities around vaccinations tell us about how workers are valued?

During the pandemic the US has been rightly celebrating healthcare providers, grocery store/pharmacy workers, farm workers, public health workers and sanitation workers under current conditions. Sometimes this celebration has resulted in wage increases and sometimes simply in advertisements praising workers. Now that we are in a new phase of the pandemic, the question over what groups should be prioritized for vaccination has been a contested and complex issue.
Read these short articles from the New York Times & Washington Post (attached below as a PDFs) and connect this discussion of “hero” or “hazard” pay for retail workers and the changing vaccine priority groups with our discussion of the enlightenment roots of the hierarchy of mental over physical labor.
Write 2 paragraphs (500 words) evaluating our current system for valuing work and workers in light of our discussion this week of the historical origins of these values. What does the need for “hero” pay tell us about how we valued retail work before the pandemic? What does the removal of “hero” pay tell us about how our post-pandemic economy might value retail workers? If you are retail worker, what do you think about the issue or “hero” pay? What does the changing priorities around vaccinations tell us about how workers are valued?

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