Collective Action, Trusted Messengers, and UNITE HERE's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fighting to Survive: Collective Action, Trusted Messengers, and UNITE HERE's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Jenny Breen, Gretchen Purser

Labor Studies, February 2025

Gretchen Purser

Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry

Advocacy and Activism

Law, Society and Policy, B.A.

COVID-19

Labor

United States

Labor Studies

Gretchen Purser

Unions played differing roles in terms of addressing the public health challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. This article presents a case study of UNITE HERE's fight for survival in the wake of 98% of its members experiencing job loss in the initial months of the pandemic.

Two features of UNITE HERE's pandemic response—the articulation of public health messages driven by a commitment to solidarity and its embrace of its role as a trusted messenger grounded in its ongoing organizing work—highlight the unique ability of unions to mobilize its power resources to serve as important public health actors, particularly in an era in which misinformation is likely to play a role in public health campaigns moving forward.