Tis the Season for Appreciation and Gifts

Tis the season.

Holiday gatherings, festive lights, music, and decorations galore — at home, in stores, in city, town, and community centers. It’s also a time to reconnect with old friends with calls and cards, not to mention  those [add your own adjective here] typed holiday letters about everything that happened over the past year.

It’s also a time for gift giving, including to the many worthy causes out there, including for example some of the pro-worker organizations suggested at the end of this post. So, I decided to spend some time thinking about gifts for the workers in our lives. No, not the presents we might put under the tree or give to our family and friends. But what could and should be given to the myriad unnamed workers who support our daily lives.

Like the utility workers who keep our lights and power on; the farmers who grow our food and the farmworkers who work in the hot fields to harvest it; ;  the poultry and meat packing workers who work in dark, damp and dangerous plants to process and prepare our meat for distribution and sale; the transportation workers who drive the trains, busses, taxis, and ride share services that get us where we need to go; the health care workers who treat us when we’re sick, help us keep healthy, and care for our loved ones in nursing homes; the mail carriers who trek through the worst weather to deliver our mail; the teachers who educate, counsel, and put up with our children; the highway and roadway workers who repair and keep our streets safe; the wastewater treatment plant workers who are on the other end of our flushed toilets, the reporters who give us the good, the bad, and the ugly news sometimes risking their lives in the process, and the workers in religious and non-profit organization who provide information, resources, and physical, social, and emotional support when needed.

What Our Nation’s Workers Want and Deserve for Christmas – Gifts That Keep on Giving

• A safe workplace, so they can come home in one piece at the end of the day
• A healthy workplace, so they don’t suffer and succumb to work-related cancers, respiratory and cardiac disease, and live to watch their grandchildren grow up
• Access to personal protective equipment (PPE), especially in high-risk jobs or during health crises like COVID-19.
• Compliance with workplace safety regulations J
• Journalists who will write hard-hitting, change-inspiring investigative pieces that illuminate unsafe and exploitative working conditions and what needs to be done.
• Legislators – local and national – who listen to workers, understand their working conditions, and will fight to improve their work lives.
• A living wage
• Comprehensive health benefits
• Retirement or pension benefits
• Paid time off, including vacation days, holidays, and personal leave to support work-life balance
• Paid family and medical leave, including maternity and paternity leave.
• The right to unionize
• Training and advancement opportunities
• Respect — and acknowledgement of their work

What Each of Us Can Give to Workers We Encounter – On Holidays and Every Day

• A smile
• A thank you
• Tips: For service workers like waitstaff, delivery drivers, and cleaning staff, extra holiday tips are always appreciated.
• Gift cards to popular stores, coffee shops, or online retailers
• Cookies/ homemade baked goods
• Holiday cards with a personal note of gratitude
• Social media shoutouts
• Hot tea on a cold day; cold water on a hot one

And if you want to give more tangible gifts (like cold cash), there are many organizations that deserve your support to fight the battles of the next four years. We may have missed giving Tuesday (or was it Thursday?), but there’s never a bad time to support the organizations that support workers.  You can even kill two birds with one stone: Instead of buying someone a gift they don’t really need, make a contribution in their name. Every little bit helps.

(Note: The danger of compiling lists like this is that I’ll inevitably miss a few good organizations. Instead of cursing the dedicated workers at Confined Space Headquarters, feel free to email Jordan add them to the comments below.)

Some Pro-Worker Organizations We Can Support

• Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.
• Fe y Justicia Worker Center
• Fight for a Union; Fight for $15
• Jobs With Justice
• National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (or individual COSH Groups)
• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
• National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
• National Employment Law Project (NELP)
• Nebraska Appleseed
• Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United)
• Sur Legal Collaborative
• Workers Defense Project

Investigative Journalism

With both houses of Congress in the hands of MAGA members enthralled with Project 2025, the only institutions that can provide effective oversight is investigative journalism. Beyond the big news outlets like the New York Times, the Washington Post and others, there are several investigative journalism outfits that can provide the oversight that Congress can’t (or won’t.)

• ProPublica
• Public Health Watch
• Reveal (Center for Investigative Reporting)
• Your local National Public Radio Affiliate

Labor News

Here are some labor oriented media outlets you can subscribe, listen and contribute to:

• The American Prospect
• In These Times
• Labor Notes
• Mother Jones
• The New Republic
• Payday Report
• Portside Labor
• Power At Work
• The Rick Smith Show
• And, of course, Confined Space 😊

With best wishes to all Confined Space readers for a happy holiday season and a safe, healthy, and peaceful new year.