CWE Surveys Astoria Workers to Model Pandemic Impacts
The Consortium for Worker Education is seeking a detailed snapshot of how COVID-19 and the recession are affecting New Yorkers on the community-level, through a new survey of residents of the Queens neighborhood of Astoria.
For this latest action of the Astoria Workers Initiative, CWE is partnering with James Parrott of the New School Center for NYC Affairs.
“The goal is an up-to-date view of one community,” says Parrott. “How have people been affected by the recession and COVID-19, what are their concerns, what has their experience been with unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance?”
To get wide participation in the community and an accurate cross section of Astorians, CWE and the Astoria Workers Initiative are teaming up with 30 local organizations and unions to distribute the survey to their memberships. By going deep in one neighborhood, CWE expects to include New Yorkers who researchers often miss.
“Astoria is a model for workers in small communities,” says Beverley O'Donnell, Deputy Executive Director of the Consortium for Worker Education. “We are going to the workers themselves and asking them how their families are faring during the COVID pandemic, to build a picture of what economic and social challenges workers face.”
Astoria is an ideal community to focus on in order to understand how the pandemic and recession are impacting precarious workers, says Parrott. While recessions usually start on Wall Street and filter down through the economy as consumer spending decreases, Astoria’s working-class community of union members, gig workers, and immigrants has been hard hit.
“We've never seen an economic event like this before,” says Parrott. “The pattern of displacement doesn't fit the model of a traditional recession. The effects have been lopsided, weighing hardest on face-to-face industries and lower-paid workers like restaurants and the arts."
The Astoria Workers Initiative has already brought together community organizations and service providers to offer a suite of services to Astoria workers, so these CWE partners are well-positioned to respond to the challenges that the survey uncovers.
Analysis of the survey results will be distributed to local organizations, elected officials, and policy makers early next year.The Consortium for Worker Education is seeking a detailed snapshot of how COVID-19 and the recession are affecting New Yorkers on the community-level, through a new survey of residents of the Queens neighborhood of Astoria.
For this latest action of the Astoria Workers Initiative, CWE is partnering with James Parrott of the New School Center for NYC Affairs.
“The goal is an up-to-date view of one community,” says Parrott. “How have people been affected by the recession and COVID-19, what are their concerns, what has their experience been with unemployment insurance or Pandemic Unemployment Assistance?”
To get wide participation in the community and an accurate cross section of Astorians, CWE and the Astoria Workers Initiative are teaming up with 30 local organizations and unions to distribute the survey to their memberships. By going deep in one neighborhood, CWE expects to include New Yorkers who researchers often miss.
“Astoria is a model for workers in small communities,” says Beverley O'Donnell, Deputy Executive Director of the Consortium for Worker Education. “We are going to the workers themselves and asking them how their families are faring during the COVID pandemic, to build a picture of what economic and social challenges workers face.”
Astoria is an ideal community to focus on in order to understand how the pandemic and recession are impacting precarious workers, says Parrott. While recessions usually start on Wall Street and filter down through the economy as consumer spending decreases, Astoria’s working-class community of union members, gig workers, and immigrants has been hard hit.
“We've never seen an economic event like this before,” says Parrott. “The pattern of displacement doesn't fit the model of a traditional recession. The effects have been lopsided, weighing hardest on face-to-face industries and lower-paid workers like restaurants and the arts."
The Astoria Workers Initiative has already brought together community organizations and service providers to offer a suite of services to Astoria workers, so these CWE partners are well-positioned to respond to the challenges that the survey uncovers.
Analysis of the survey results will be distributed to local organizations, elected officials, and policy makers early next year.