(New York) Thousands of employees deemed “essential” during the pandemic – often black or Hispanic – were called to demonstrate Monday in some twenty American cities, to denounce racial inequalities and demand the adoption of a federal plan that supports them financially.
Posted on 20 July 2020 at 14 h 01
France Media Agency
In New York, a hundred of them marched in front of the Trump International Hotel, one of President Donald Trump's hotels at the foot of Central Park, to demand the adoption of the “Heroes Act” (“the law of heroes” ), a titanic aid plan which provides for new direct payments for American households in difficulty by the pandemic.
This bill was passed in mid-May by the Democratic-majority House of Representatives, but has since been blocked in the Republican-majority Senate.
Among the New Yorkers who demonstrated in the sweltering heat on Monday were nurses, doormen, security or cleaning agents … professions all considered essential during the pandemic: even at the worst of confinement, they had to continue working, despite the increased risk of coronavirus contamination.
PHOTO TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer joined employees protesting outside the Trump International Hotel in New York.
“We have been on the front line in the face of the pandemic, we want to be heard. We are told “Thank you”, but we are not given anything in return. I am the only one in my family to work, it is not fair that I put my family in danger without obtaining compensation, ”Irving De Leon told AFP in Spanish, 30 years old, who cleans in a New York hospital.
Other actions were planned for Monday, notably in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Seattle and Los Angeles, according to the Service Employees International Union, one of the unions involved in the organization of the day.
