Workers

How did COVID-19 affect the workers of the transportation industry?

The COVID-19 outbreak brought just how highly dependent society is on vital transportation employees. As stated by a COVID-19 behavior blog, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the same workers were frequently left unprotected by the government and institutions, which failed to provide them with adequate protective gear, supplies, and resources to protect them from the virus, resulting in many people quitting or being fired, causing the unemployment rate to rise. “At the end of March 2020, transportation worker activity had fallen nearly 40% below the 2019 normal, and by mid-April 2020, it had fallen nearly 65% below the 2019 average” (Sung & Monschauer, 2020). Examinations of the pandemic's employment-related effects on workers in the transportation industry were explored in terms of how much their lifestyle has changed since the outbreak. According to the Transportation Interdisciplinary Perspective Scholarly Article, the amount of COVID cases involving workers in the transportation industry placed a toll on these businesses because the industry employs such a large number of people, making the population rate decrease indefinitely during the pandemic's early stages. “Approximately 3,000 transportation worker COVID-19 cases each day would occur as a result of workers in the transportation industry being exposed to the virus, and demonstrating how many people were becoming ill at the start” (Kim, 2021). Since the virus wasn't as well-researched and known as it is now, it swept through many states across the country at an alarming rate. Causing many workers to get sick increasing the numbers of COVID-19 cases. Prior to the pandemic, life in the transportation industry was essentially normal. There were no regulations, limits, pay changes, or procedures in place to detect if a virus was transmitted. Following the pandemic, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), a US government organization, issued legally enforceable directives and regulations to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and assist the country in coping with the epidemic. Workers in various transportation services, whether for ground, air, or sea travel, made the move from a traditional way of life to a change-oriented one. After the virus struck, all workers were required to follow protocol, which included masks, 6 feet apart regulations, barriers between driver and passenger in transit modes, equipping sanitizers, and installing digital thermometers to measure passengers’ body temperature in order to eliminate the virus infection threat. Some of the modifications that were included in regards to the COVID-19 protocols were the requirements of drivers that needed to follow the guidelines to help ensure everyone's health was in check. Workers in the industry felt it was the right thing to do, so they followed protocol and went about their day, while others had different thoughts about the virus where they did not comprehend or they would completely refuse to wear a mask or follow protocol, causing havoc and problems in the transportation industry. Vaccines were another complication with the COVID-19 virus; they were not enforced at first, but now that these vaccines have been licensed and firms are preparing for federal and state deadlines to comply with COVID-19 immunization rules, many are wondering what they can do if their employees refuse to get the vaccine. With this, employees were being fired or placed on unpaid leave by some firms, and workers who were unvaccinated, needed to submit to weekly testing in order to access any work related material and take additional safety steps. According to the Center For American Progress Article, “individuals of color, whether black, Hispanic, or Latino, had a greater rate of workers in public transportation companies in the United States, at 4.7 percent, than people of other races, at 3.7 percent” (Zamarippa & Roque, 2021). Since it is known by the public that the workforce for any industry including public transportation is mostly populated by people of color, the pandemic had the biggest impact on them, resulting for them to go back to normal as soon as possible, because occupational segregation and institutional racism have left them with lower levels of income and earnings than any other race. As President Joe Biden and Congress continue to negotiate the terms of the $1.9 trillion stimulus package known as the American Rescue Plan, they must include measures that provide relief to the country's hardest-hit communities, such as a more equitable vaccine rollout, support for struggling renters and homeowners, extended unemployment benefits, an increased minimum wage, and support for undocumented immigrants for any industry including transportation, that includes them. The US government relating to water modes closed its borders, stranding hundreds of migrants at sea. All ships from foreign ports were blocked from entering the country, and all foreign flag ships were ordered to leave. As a result, the protocols like everywhere else, were implemented where sanitation, masks, and strictness of the workers had to be inserted in order to protect everyone on board, reported by a blog regarding the water transportation effects of the COVID-19 epidemic. “The current COVID-19 environment has caused considerable concern among workers about preserving health and safety on these watery transportation services, such as ships, boats, and submarines, that were used by huge groups of people. Ships must now adhere to strict screening and monitoring procedures, adopt extensive sanitary measures with regular inspections, and increase medical staff on board” (Giese & Person, 2020). This didn't happen before the pandemic because the virus hadn't been discovered yet, thus everyone went about their daily lives as normally as possible. According to the COVID-19 Center for Disease Control and Prevention Scholarly Article, “a  surge of new cases of depression and anxiety particularly among aircraft workers has been attributed to limited resources, overwhelming workload, and longer shifts, due to the pandemic” (Wong & Connor, 2021). The illness affected not only the public's physical health, but also their mental health. To help ensure worker health and safety, many new health and biosafety procedures have been established at all of the transportation industries that are used in the daily lives of the general public. The COVID-19 crisis has already had a considerable impact on people's transportation with significant cutbacks in airline and public transportation use. Transportation behaviors will shift in the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe, as people reassess the costs and changes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Kim, K. (2021, March). Impacts of COVID-19 on transportation: Summary and synthesis of interdisciplinary research. Transportation research interdisciplinary perspectives. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7813510/.

Morshed, S. A., Khan, S. S., Tanvir, R. B., & Nur, S. (2021, March 20). Impact of covid-19 pandemic on ride-hailing services based on large-scale Twitter data analysis. Journal of Urban Management. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2226585621000200.

Giese, M., & Person. (2020, July 23). Covid-19 impacts on global cruise industry. KPMG. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://home.kpmg/xx/en/blogs/home/posts/2020/07/covid-19-impacts-on-global-cruise-industry.html.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Covid-19 and workplace fatigue: Lessons learned and mitigation strategies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved November 5, 2021, from https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2021/01/13/covid-19-fatigue/#:~:text=The%20causes%20of%20worker%20fatigue,%2D2%20at%20work.