BEREA, Ky. - The state's safety net for jobless workers could reel in more federal bucks for the cause, but only if Kentucky modernizes its unemployment insurance system before an August deadline. A report by the newly-formed Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (KCEP) finds the state will forfeit a $90 million federal incentive, unless it updates eligibility rules for unemployment.

Center Director Jason Bailey says 38 other states have already accessed at least part of their federal Recovery Act money by updating their systems to better reflect today's labor market.

"This is an opportunity to access much-needed money at a time of high unemployment, and to also assure that workers whose employers are now paying into the system but can't access benefits are able to do so."

Kentucky's jobless rate is at 10.3 percent, the eighth-highest in the nation, and the state has borrowed close to a billion dollars from the federal government to shore up the unemployment insurance trust fund. Last year, Kentucky passed legislation to make the fund whole over time without raising unemployment taxes on businesses. But, so far, policymakers have not presented a plan to modernize the system's eligibility rules.

According to the report, many other states that borrowed federal money modernized their unemployment insurance programs at the same time. Bailey says the updates make the system align better with many workers' new realities.

"Those include part-time work, high-turnover jobs, situations where people are having to leave their job because they have a spouse that moves or they have a sick family member, or they're a victim of domestic violence."

Bailey calls the state's existing eligibility system a relic from a bygone era of paper processing and significant delays. The result, he says, is a rejection of those most in need of jobless benefits.

"A lot of workers, particularly those who are in high-turnover jobs - and those tend to be low-wage workers - don't qualify for that reason."

Bailey says only one in four out-of-work Kentuckians collects state jobless benefits, ranking Kentucky near the bottom of states that financially assist the unemployed.

The KCEP report is online at www.kypolicy.org




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South Dakota continues to grapple with its low ranking when it comes to paying schoolteachers, but the issue is getting focus in 2022, including a bill making its way through the Legislature to keep salaries from falling behind.

The measure won House approval this week. It would extend a requirement school districts commit to salary benchmarks established in 2016, or risk losing state aid.

Rep. Hugh Bartels, R-Watertown, the bill's sponsor, said with the rule recently expired, they want to keep it in place for a few more years. He pointed to some districts having levels very close to the lowest threshold.

"There's 31 school districts that are less than 3% away from what they paid in 2017."

He noted in some cases, there are pressing matters as to why those levels are on the lower end. The requirement was tied to a half-cent sales tax, which called on districts to commit a significant percentage toward salary and benefits. Opponents of the extension said it places a burden on districts, but supporters pointed out a waiver can be filed.

Sandra Waltman, lobbyist for the South Dakota Education Association, testified in support of the bill during a House committee hearing. She said the extension maintains accountability by encouraging districts to keep working toward the same goal.

"If we have our school districts continually raising their compensation, it helps teacher compensation across the state and makes us a more attractive place to work," Waltman contended.

Proponents also noted with the waiver option in mind, no district has been penalized since the requirement was adopted. Outside this bill, Gov. Kristi Noem has proposed a 6% increase in school district aid, with the idea of money going toward higher pay for staff.

The past year saw American workers reassessing their jobs. However, those shifts did not result in higher union membership at the national level, now back at previous lows.

Minnesota labor leaders say at the state level, the numbers are a little more promising, with 16% of working Minnesotans part of a union, up slightly from the previous year, and the state's highest level in 14 years.

Bill McCarthy, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, said apart from more unionized workers being hired for infrastructure projects, there is a growing sense younger workers want their voices heard.

"Whether it's wages or benefits or whatever the case may be, they just want to have a say in that," McCarthy explained.

Not all the organizing is being driven by staff at large employers such as manufacturers. Grocery workers and restaurant staff are formalizing plans to establish unions, and gains are being seen in health care. Despite more activity, experts say laws still make it difficult for these groups to overcome barriers in reaching their goals to successfully bargain.

Labor leaders argued it is why Congress needs to give final approval to the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which is opposed by Senate Republicans and business groups.

Aaron Sojourner, a labor economist at the University of Minnesota, said while the state's latest uptick represents a small difference, he said there is a taste for change within the labor force.

"Through the pandemic, they had the rules of their jobs scrambled and the rules of their lives scrambled," Sojourner pointed out.

He noted some workers felt accommodated, but many others did not, and while existing laws might prevent roadblocks to organizing, Sojourner added workers have a lot of leverage right now with so many open jobs, as well as strong public backing.

By Evalynn Fae Taganna Romano for Yes! Media.
Broadcast version by Eric Tegethoff for Washington News Service reporting for the YES! Media-Public News Service Collaboration


When the pandemic hit, I adjusted to remote work as a University of Washington graduate student while my mother, who is a UW custodian, continued to rise at 3 a.m. each day. She and her co-workers were charged with laying a foundation of safety from COVID-19 while worrying about how the virus would affect their health. At UW, many custodians are immigrants and refugees. Many are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Because of long-standing systemic health and social inequities, they are at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19.

Together, my parents have worked more than 58 years as custodians. So, I've long been aware of the pride and challenges of their work. But the pandemic made clearer than ever how overworked and undervalued custodians are.

It's past time to honor custodial work with hazard pay, livable wages, protection, and care. Given that more than half of custodians are BIPOC-many of them are also immigrants-making these investments in custodian well-being is a critical step toward advancing racial justice.

To show my deep gratitude to my mother and her colleagues, during much of the pandemic, I delivered weekly breakfasts, cloth masks, and thank-you notes during their 4:45 a.m. clock-in. I collected donations and partnered with a local shoe store to provide over 200 custodians with comfortable, safe shoes. But I knew they needed more.

To learn about the health impacts of their work and shine a light on this often invisible profession, I facilitated a photography-based storytelling project with 16 custodians from September through October 2020. What I learned about their working conditions shocked me.

Custodians suffered from aching feet and backs. They worried about harsh cleaning chemicals and contracting the coronavirus. They mourned a colleague who died from COVID-19. They spoke of long commutes and expensive parking, and being unable to afford living in an increasingly expensive and gentrifying Seattle. They also shared painful stories of racial discrimination and feeling belittled by people they encounter during their shifts.

One custodian told me, "[Just] because they [have] a higher education ... it doesn't mean that they can just ... put us down just like that. I mean, we accept it! That we are custodians, but at least show us some respect, as we show them respect too. What if we don't clean their room? And then they gonna go complain. But us, we cannot go complain how they treat us."

Sadly, challenging work conditions are also common for the nearly 2 million custodians working across the U.S.

Custodians make an average of $31,410 per year, hardly a living wage. As a result, many hold second jobs. I know the toll of this firsthand. My father held a second job as a factory worker for years before he passed away. Salaries are even lower for women, and they often face an added burden of balancing work with caregiving duties.

When I was born, my grandmother had to immigrate from the Philippines to care for me so my parents could work through the night on the swing shift, which is from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. During the day, my grandmother was a caregiver for older adults. This balancing act is far too common a stressor for families trying to survive custodial worker wages.

Health disparities due to systemic racism and other social determinants of health inevitably affect a high proportion of custodians. On top of that, 2019 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that custodians working in buildings suffered almost 34,000 nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work-likely an underreporting of incidents.

Another more recent 2020 Washington State study found that custodians routinely experienced mistreatment, including discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation, that led to physical and mental health strains. Additionally, the pandemic has worsened risks due to COVID-19 exposure and the heightened demands of cleaning protocols.

Despite their challenging working conditions, the custodians I connected with through my photography project expressed pride in a job that sustains their lives, and now more than ever, the lives of others. When asked what they need to get through this challenging time, one custodian shared, "It is very important for every person to smile [at us]. They should give us a little bit [of] respect and care for the custodians so our job will be easier. ... Some people, they just look at us, you know, a little bit different from them, but we are just the same too. We work hard for everybody."

Based on my experience being raised by custodians and through my photography project, I've gained a deeper understanding of how to uplift custodial worker rights. Custodians need employers and policymakers to ensure social and racial equity with the following investments and changes:

Offer hazard pay and a livable wage ($15 per hour, or even more in expensive localities).
End the custodian gender wage gap by ensuring equal pay across genders.
Offer public transit subsidies, or offer free parking in regions with poor access to transportation and limited affordable housing.
Ensure safety from COVID-19 infection, including access to effective personal protective equipment and vaccines and enforcement of universal masking policies.
Offer opportunities for rest and rejuvenation, including adequate break rooms.
Provide ergonomic equipment, such as lightweight, height-adjustable mops, proper harness fittings for vacuum backpacks, protection from harmful chemicals, and comfortable shoes.
Offer paid sick leave for vaccination, symptoms of ill health, COVID-19 testing, and caregiving duties.
Offer affordable, flexible child care.
Offer high-quality, accessible health care.
Protect workers from discrimination and harassment by creating a culture that promotes respect and psychological safety for all workers. Even with those changes, workers need avenues for voicing concerns to managers without fear of retaliation. UW recently launched a bias incident reporting tool where employees can anonymously make such reports. This promising solution should be available to custodial and other low-wage workers everywhere.
Offer robust access to interpretation services and translation of health and work-related materials.
Have ongoing safe, respectful conversations with custodians to co-create solutions that serve unique needs within their workplace context (e.g., better understand the immediate needs, supports, and obstacles faced by custodians, including those in our undocumented community).

These changes will have immediate, short-term costs. However, the low-wage labor shortage is making it even clearer that private sector employers must pay a living wage to be viable. Furthermore, a progressive tax on high earners can fund compensation for workers in public sector jobs. Investing in custodians' well-being will pay off in the long run by reducing health care costs, workers' compensation payouts, and turnover.

Despite the tremendous stress of the pandemic, my mother's satisfaction in her work remains, as it does with other custodians I've met throughout the years. The time is now for us to nurture a culture of care for those who care for our spaces, and to pay and protect them in a way that acknowledges their value as workers who are truly essential to our society.

See this piece's accompanying photo essay, The Dignity of Custodians. For more information and updates, you can follow the UW Custodian Project on Instagram, and visit the website.

Evalynn Fae Taganna Romano wrote this article for YES! Magazine.


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