California Cautiously Charts Recovery from COVID-19 Pandemic

By SETH SANDRONSKY

On March 1, California, along with the states of Oregon and Washington, relaxed indoor mask policies. The West Coast states moved from mask requirements to mask recommendations in schools. Beginning March 1 in the Golden State, requirements for unvaccinated individuals to wear masks ended; what remained were mask recommendations in most indoor settings, including schools and childcare facilities.

Federal requirements, such as wearing masks on public transit, emergency shelters, health care settings, correctional facilities, homeless shelters and long-term care facilities remained. Local jurisdictions had leeway to impose requirements beyond the state guidance.

“California continues to adjust our policies based on the latest data and science,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement, “applying what we’ve learned over the past two years to guide our response to the pandemic. Masks are an effective tool to minimize spread of the virus and future variants, especially when transmission rates are high. We cannot predict the future of the virus, but we are better prepared for it and will continue to take measures rooted in science to keep California moving forward.”

The public policy history of the pandemic is clearer than its present and future. At press time, an Omicron BA.2 variant was spreading across the US. This variant could increase its speed. Much is uncertain as scientists keep a close eye on the Omicron BA.2 variant.

Against this backdrop, California’s labor market is in recovery mode. In March 2020, when Gov. Newsom issued a mandate to cut the transmissibility of the airborne coronavirus that closed businesses and schools, there were 18,304,600 employed Californians and the unemployment rate was 4.5%. Fast forward to December 2021, with 17,836,800 employed Californians and a 6.5% unemployment rate. The December 2021 employment data was the most recent available at press time.

Here is the bottom line that some might say connects with the Golden State health policy updates on COVID-19. California employment is down 467,800 jobs since March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began officially. Given that California’s labor force is the biggest in the US, and the state has a $3 trillion economy, the loss of close to a half million jobs due to pandemic policies is a sharp employment deficit with multiple impacts on buyers, sellers, employers and employees.

Steve Smith is the California Labor Federation spokesperson. “With case numbers declining,” he told The Progressive Populist, “we are cautiously optimistic that workers will be able to return to some sense of normality. The key word is ‘cautious’. The indoor mask mandate does not mean that workers are free from risk. Some unions want to keep the mask mandates, while other are okay with relaxing them.”

The California Labor Federation consists of 1,200 unions, representing 2.1 million union workers employed in construction, entertainment, health care, hospitality and in the public sector. In blue state California, the CLF and the Democratic Party are connected. The GOP is in the minority at the state Capitol.

The University of California Graduate Student Researchers United Auto Workers Local 2865 and California Nurses Union/National Nurses United declined requests for comment.

Seth Sandronsky lives and works in Sacramento. He is a journalist and member of the Pacific Media Workers Guild. Email sethsandronsky@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2022

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