12 : Thus They Fought

3Some people of Joppa also committed this outrage: they invited the Jews who lived among them, together with their wives and children, to embark on boats which they had provided. There was no hint of enmity toward them.4This was done by public vote of the city. When the Jews, wishing to live on friendly terms and not suspecting anything, accepted the invitation, the people of Joppa took them out to sea and drowned at least two hundred of them.

12 : Thus They Fought

13He also attacked a certain city called Caspin, fortified with earthworks and walls and inhabited by a mixed population of Gentiles.14Relying on the strength of their walls and their supply of provisions, the besieged treated Judas and his men with contempt, insulting them and even uttering blasphemies and profanity.15But Judas and his men invoked the aid of the great Sovereign of the world, who, in the days of Joshua, overthrew Jericho without battering rams or siege engines; then they furiously stormed the walls.b16Capturing the city by the will of God, they inflicted such indescribable slaughter on it that the adjacent pool, which was about a quarter of a mile wide, seemed to be filled with the blood that flowed into it.

24Timothy himself fell into the hands of those under Dositheus and Sosipater; but with great cunning, he begged them to spare his life and let him go, because he had in his power the parents and relatives of many of them, and would show them no consideration.25When he had fully confirmed his solemn pledge to restore them unharmed, they let him go for the sake of saving their relatives.

26e Judas then marched to Karnion and the shrine of Atargatis,* where he killed twenty-five thousand people.27After the defeat and destruction of these, he moved his army to Ephron, a fortified city inhabited by Lysias and people of many nationalities. Robust young men took up their posts in defense of the walls, from which they fought valiantly; inside were large supplies of war machines and missiles.28But the Jews, invoking the Sovereign who powerfully shatters the might of enemies, got possession of the city and slaughtered twenty-five thousand of the people in it.

29Then they set out from there and hastened on to Scythopolis,* seventy-five miles from Jerusalem.30But when the Jews who lived there testified to the goodwill shown by the Scythopolitans and to their kind treatment even in times of adversity,31Judas and his men thanked them and exhorted them to be well disposed to their nation in the future also. Finally they arrived in Jerusalem, shortly before the feast of Weeks.

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt broadly, but not equally. Low-wage workers have experienced vastly greater job loss due to the fact that low-wage jobs are concentrated in sectors that are getting hit particularly hard because they involve more social contact (such as restaurants and bars, hotels, personal services, events, and brick-and-mortar retail). Further, due to racial and ethnic differences in labor market outcomes caused by occupational segregation, discrimination, and other disparities rooted in systemic racism, Black, Latinx, and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities have experienced much greater job loss. While white non-Hispanic workers saw a peak unemployment rate of 12.8%, Black non-Hispanic workers saw a peak unemployment rate of 16.7%, Hispanic workers saw an unemployment rate of 18.5%, and AAPI workers saw an unemployment rate of 15.0%. This recession also saw greater job loss among women than among men, and, at the intersection of race and gender, unemployment rates peaked at incredibly high rates for women of color: 17.3% for Black non-Hispanic women, 20.5% for Hispanic women, and 16.1% for AAPI women.3

While the majority of workers who are currently working onsite at their workplaces believe they face considerable risk of COVID-19 infection, Black and Hispanic workers are more likely to fear risks from work than are white workers. Results from one survey indicate that Black essential workers are nearly twice as likely as white essential workers to express concern about infection risk (Hertel-Fernandez et al. 2020).8 In fact, Black workers make up one in six of all front-line industry workers, putting them and their family members at greater risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 (Wilson and Gould 2020).9

Without unions, many workers are forced to work without personal protective equipment or access to paid leave or premium pay. And when nonunion workers have advocated for health and safety protections or wage increases, they have often been retaliated against or even fired for doing so (Paul 2020; Davenport, Bhattarai, and McGregor 2020; Kruzel 2020; Eidelson 2020; Miller 2020). The lack of these basic protections has led to thousands of essential workers becoming infected with the coronavirus, and many are dying as a result (Bhattarai 2020; Kaplan and Kent 2020; Jewett, Bailey, and Renwick 2020).

Employers are charged with illegally firing union activists in nearly 20% of all NLRB election campaigns (McNicholas et al. 2019). Employers know illegal firings are effective in derailing campaigns and that they will face no real consequences. (Firing workers for trying to organize a union is one of many illegal tactics U.S. employers have proven willing to use to thwart worker collective action because the penalties are so minimal, as detailed in McNicholas et al. 2019.)

Earlier this year, more than 1,600 nurses at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, tried to get an NLRB election at their workplace so that they could bargain collectively with the hospital over safety and other issues (Gordon 2020). The nurses filed a petition with the NLRB that included the requisite showing of support and got a hearing date. Then the Trump NLRB unilaterally decided to stop holding elections and canceled the hearing. After a lengthy process, during which the employer twice sought an extension for filing its papers and postponement of the hearing date, the NLRB scheduled a telephonic hearing to take place six weeks after the union had initially filed its representation petition (Cotiaux 2020a).

MapStatus of collective bargaining rights for state and local public workers, by stateStateStatus codeStatus of collective bargaining lawsAlabama2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Alaska1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Arizona2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Arkansas2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.California1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Colorado2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Connecticut1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Washington D.C.1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Delaware1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Florida1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Georgia2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Hawaii1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Idaho2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Illinois1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Indiana2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Iowa2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Kansas3Kansas law covers local governments only if they opt in.Kentucky2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Louisiana2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Maine1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Maryland3Maryland has no state law covering local employees. The largest local jurisdictions have their own laws.Massachusetts1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Michigan1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Minnesota1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Mississippi2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Missouri2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Montana1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Nebraska1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Nevada1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.New Hampshire1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.New Jersey1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.New Mexico1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.New York1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.North Carolina2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.North Dakota2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Ohio1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Oklahoma2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Oregon1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Pennsylvania1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Rhode Island1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.South Carolina2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.South Dakota2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Tennessee2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Texas2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Utah2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Vermont1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.Virginia2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Washington1Laws provide collective bargaining rights to a majority of public employees.West Virginia2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Wisconsin2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.Wyoming2No comprehensive bargaining laws. Some of these states have laws covering various groups of employees. In some states, local jurisdictions have passed laws.var epi_mapsettings = epi_mapsettings ;epi_mapsettings["206491"] = data: format: 'number', columns: '2': format: 'percent', percision: 1, active: true , '3': format: 'string' ,legend: type: 'discrete', count: 3,sections: [start: 0, stop: 1.1, color: 'hsl(170, 85%, 30%)',text: 'Comprehensive laws protecting collective bargaining rights for a majority of public workers' ,start: 1.1, stop: 2.1, color: 'hsl(170, 0%, 80%)',text: 'Weak laws with limited rights, no laws, or outright bans on collective bargaining for public workers' ,start: 2.1, stop: 3.1,color: 'hsl(170, 80%, 45%)', text: 'State or local laws that guarantee full rights but only to some local government workers' ] , map: click: true, sticky: true , plugins: [ 'values' ], values: hide: '1': [2], '2': [2] ;While federal laws provide most private-sector workers and federal government workers with the right to unionize and bargain collectively, there is as of yet no federal law guaranteeing that right for state and local government workers like teachers. A patchwork of state laws provides inconsistent rights for these public workers. 041b061a72