来源：《经济学人》
原文刊登日期：2021年4月8日
During the pandemic one part of the workforce did not get to wear pyjamas during the day. The people known as “key”, “frontline” or “essential” workers had to be in public spaces and often in close proximity with their colleagues. Many died.
在新冠大流行期间，一部分劳动力白天不能穿睡衣在家工作。被称为“关键”、“前线”或“重要”员工的人必须呆在公共场所，并且经常与他们的同事近距离接触。这其中许多人死了。
Describing a worker as “key” is an arbitrary exercise. It usually includes occupations necessary to meet everyone’s basic needs—food, heating and transport, not to mention health care. Most such jobs cannot be done from home. Essential workers are more likely to be ethnic minorities. They are also relatively badly paid. The Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think-tank, reckons that the average key worker in Britain earns 8% less than other employees.
将一个工人描述为“关键”是一种随意的做法。“关键”通常包括满足每个人的基本需求所必需的职业——食物、取暖和交通，更不用说医疗保健了。大多数这样的工作不能在家里完成。“关键”员工更有可能是少数族裔。他们的工资也相对较低。一家名为财政研究所的智库估计，英国“关键”员工的平均收入比其他员工低8%。
The pandemic has reminded key workers that without them society would grind to a halt. In its early phase homebound folk in Britain stood outside their front doors once a week and applauded the “heroes”. Yet as Camilla De Camargo and Lilith Whiley, two sociologists, argue in a paper, giving essential workers “an almost mythologised status and value” obscures the human suffering that many have endured.
疫情提醒“关键”工作者，没有他们，社会就会陷入停滞。在早期阶段，英国被困在家里的人们每周都要站在家门口，为“英雄们”鼓掌。然而，正如社会学家卡米拉•德•卡马戈和莉莉丝•威利在一篇论文中指出的那样，赋予“关键”工作者“一种近乎神话的地位和价值”，掩盖了他们中许多人所忍受的人类苦难。
Going to work during a pandemic can be a terrifying experience. According to a study in England, frontline workers have had “significantly higher prevalence estimates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD”. Part of the difficulty facing many key workers is that they cannot easily voice their grievances. Head offices are closed, and many do not have access to internal communication channels, such as a corporate email account.
在大流行期间去上班可能是一种可怕的经历。根据英格兰的一项研究，前线工作人员“抑郁、焦虑和创伤后应激障碍的患病率明显更高”。许多关键员工面临的困难之一是，他们无法轻易表达自己的不满。总部关闭，许多公司无法使用内部沟通渠道，例如企业电子邮件账户。
Many essential workers have little bargaining power, so that if they feel unsafe there is not much they can do about it. One courier in England reports that his firm did not supply personal-protective equipment, leaving many riders unprotected. Colleagues who complain about clients not respecting anti-covid protocols have been fired. Governments are slow to hold careless employers to account, notably in the meatpacking and warehousing industries.
许多“关键”工人几乎没有讨价还价的能力，所以如果他们感到不安全，他们也无能为力。英国的一位快递员报告说，他的公司没有提供个人防护装备，导致许多骑手得不到保护。抱怨客户不遵守抗冠状病毒协议的同事已被解雇。政府在追究粗心雇主的责任方面行动迟缓，尤其是在肉类加工业和仓储行业。
Imbalances of power are bigger in some places than others. A study in Toronto found that the death rate from covid-19 in the neighbourhood with the most essential workers was more than twice as high as in the one with the fewest. A study in California found that people of working age saw a 22% increase in mortality from March to October 2020. But bakers saw mortality rise by 50%, and line cooks by 60%. One class of people stayed home in their pyjamas; others went into workplaces that probably killed them.
在一些地方，权力的不平衡比其他地方更严重。多伦多的一项研究发现，“关键”工人最多的社区新冠肺炎死亡率是“关键”工人最少社区的两倍。加利福尼亚州的一项研究发现，从2020年3月到10月，适龄劳动人口的死亡率增加了22%。但是面包师的死亡率上升了50%，流水线厨师的死亡率上升了60%。一类人穿着睡衣呆在家里；其他人进入的工作场所可能要了他们的命。