A Former Labor Secretary’s Message to Essential Workers: When This Ends, “Threaten to Strike”: Essential workers have been heralded as “heroes” during the pandemic, cheered on by applause and music every night in some cities. While the symbolic appreciation is nice, the realities on the ground have been less so. The people who make our health care and food supply systems run, deliver packages and meals, and sanitize public spaces have been hit especially hard by the virus. And so far, these workers haven’t gotten much by way of increased pay and benefits. Congress expanded paid sick and family leave to workers through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act in March, but loopholes in the law left as many as 75 percent of workers without coverage.