If you have to work during this pandemic, it’s best if you have a union. Research from the Columbia University Labor Lab found that essential workers who belong to unions were more likely to receive testing for COVID-19, be provided protective personal equipment on the job, practice good social distancing at work, and be guaranteed paid sick leave in the event that they contracted the virus despite all precautions.

Unfortunately, the US unionization rate is at a historic nadir. And with lives on the line and time of the essence, workers facing danger on the job can’t simply snap their fingers and get unionized to protect themselves, their families, and the broader public from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, non-unionized essential workers need to improvise.

Enter the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, founded to provide logistical support to workers who want to organize for better pandemic-related working conditions, but don’t have a union to rely on. EWOC was started and is run by a group of independent members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and organizers for the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).