Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods - Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law

Oct 3, 2026

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Examining how the COVID-19 pandemic affected workers’ health, income, and legal standing, the report links real workplace cases to broader questions of legal classification and rights protection. It analyzes approaches to categorizing COVID and the pandemic, then details strategies and legal challenges used to fight for safety and livelihoods. Subsequent essays present country and sector studies—from warehousing and domestic work to maritime and remote work—highlighting courts, unions, and employment status issues.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages167

Reading Time7 h 1 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Classifying Covid and the Pandemic

Fighting for Lives

Fighting for Livelihoods

Conclusion

Essays

U.S. Covid-19 Case Study: Amazon Warehouse Workers

Changes to Working Conditions in the Wake of the Pandemic in Mexico: The Illegality of Unilateral Salary Reductions

The IWGB Case and Employment Status in the Covid Pandemic: A Matter of Life and Death

Covid 19 & Worker Health & Safety: The Case of Glove Factory Workers in Malaysia

Victory is Not Enough: Fighting for Meaningful Access to Wage Support for South Africa’s Domestic Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Logistics Workers’ Union Resilience Amidst Covid-19 in Ukraine

Remote Work and Telework: The Spanish Experience

Argentina Covid-19 Case Study: Covid as an Occupational Disease

Employers’ Safety Obligation in Times of Health Crisis: Observations Pursuant to the Ruling of the Court of Appeal of Versailles of 24 April 2020

Role of Trade Unions in Protecting Workers’ Rights During Covid-19 in India

Maritime Covid-19 Case Study: Abandoned at Sea

Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law August 2023 International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network The International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW) Network is a membership organization composed of trade union and workers’ rights lawyers worldwide. The core mission of the ILAW Network is to unite legal practitioners and scholars in an exchange of information, ideas and strategies in order to best promote and defend the rights and interests of workers and their organizations wherever they may be. Design: Natalie Tate Cover photo: Workers wait in line behind barbed wire to be tested for COVID-19 after their hostels are placed under lockdown. November 19, 2020. Selangor, Malaysia. © [Mickey-12/Shutterstock.com](Mickey-12/Shutterstock.com) The information contained in this report is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. Information in this report may not constitute the most upto-date legal or other information. The report contains links to other third-party websites, the ILAW Network does not recommend or endorse those contents, the links are only for convenience for the reader. The views expressed are those of the individual authors-not those ofthe ILAW Network as a whole. No reader should act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without first seeking legal advice from counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. [2] Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network Table of Contents Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law Jason Moyer-Lee Introduction 5 Classifying Covid and the Pandemic 17 Fighting for Lives 25 Fighting for Livelihoods 51 Conclusion 70 Essays U.S. Covid-19 Case Study: Amazon Warehouse Workers 74 Frank Kearl Changes to Working Conditions in the Wake of the Pandemic in Mexico: The Illegality of 86 Unilateral Salary Reductions Alejandra Martinez Gil The IWGB Case and Employment Status in the Covid Pandemic: A Matter of Life and 95 Death Alan Bogg Covid 19 & Worker Health & Safety: The Case of Glove Factory Workers in Malaysia 103 Noraida Endut Victory is Not Enough: Fighting for Meaningful Access to Wage Support for South 111 Africa’s Domestic Workers During the Covid-19 Pandemic Amy Tekie and Maggie Mthombeni Logistics Workers’ Union Resilience Amidst Covid-19 in Ukraine 120 Inna Kudinska and George Sandul Remote Work and Telework: The Spanish Experience 125 Francisco Trillo Argentina Covid-19 Case Study: Covid as an Occupational Disease 131 Diego Zang Employers’ Safety Obligation in Times of Health Crisis: Observations Pursuant to the 139 Ruling of the Court of Appeal of Versailles of 24 April 2020 Yassine Mouhib Role of Trade Unions in Protecting Workers’ Rights During Covid-19 in India 149 Gunjan Singh Maritime Covid-19 Case Study: Abandoned at Sea 158 Jonathan Warring [3] Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law International Lawyers Assisting Workers Network ‘Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.’ -Frederick Douglass* * Douglass, F.‘No Progress Without Struggle’. Available from The W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center, [http://www.duboislc.org/html/BlackStruggle.html](http://www.duboislc.org/html/BlackStruggle.html). Quoted in: Frederick Douglass,“Frederick Douglass Declares There Is “No Progress Without Struggle”,” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, accessed November 1, 2022, [https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1245](https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1245). [4] Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law Jason Moyer-Lee1 It was mid-December when Wei Guixian got sick at work. Very sick. This is perhaps unsurprising; the 57-year-old woma

FAQs

What is the main focus of Fighting for Lives and Livelihoods: Workers, the Pandemic, and the Law?

The report focuses on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted workers and how law and legal advocacy can defend workers’ rights and interests, especially regarding health and livelihoods.

How does the report address the classification of COVID and the pandemic?

It includes a dedicated section, “Classifying Covid and the Pandemic,” examining how COVID-19 and the pandemic are framed within legal analysis before turning to workers’ rights issues.

What kinds of topics do the included essays cover?

The essays cover country and sector case studies, including workplace health and safety, employment status, wage support, trade union roles, occupational disease, remote work, and safety obligations in health crises.

Oct 3, 2026

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