Today is Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning. On Tuesday, the Jewish Labor Committee took time to honor those workers who have died from COVID-19 with a moving memorial.
We are grateful to all those of you who were able to make the event. For those of you who were unable to make it, you can watch the full memorial here:
We are grateful to Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants and Jean Ross, RN, of National Nurses United. They are true leaders of the labor movement and they urged us not only to mourn those lost, but also used this as an opportunity to take action for the living.
We are also especially grateful for the participation of Mona Darby, a poultry processing worker and member of RWDSU, and Gladys Betancourt, an apartment cleaner represented by Local 32BJ for sharing their powerful stories.
And of course, we are grateful to Rabbi Barbara Penzner of Hillel B'Nai Torah in Boston who is Co-Chair of the New England Jewish Labor Committee for speaking beautifully about Tisha B'Av and leading us in a Kaddish and to Stuart Appelbaum, President of RWDSU and of the Jewish Labor Committee for his powerful remarks.
Together, we will mourn for those we have lost, and fight like hell for the living.