Who Benefits from the Reopening of California?

On January 25, California Governor Gavin Newsom lifted the stay-at-home order across the state. Facing a Republican-led recall campaign and with many restaurants and other small businesses on the verge of bankruptcy, this sudden shift in the governor’s reopening plan came amid mounting pressure to reopen the economy at a time when the pandemic is still raging nationwide. The contradictions of capitalism are fully revealed in the conflict between the economy, and the population’s health and livelihood.

The precarious balance between the health of the economy and the health of the population has had dire effects throughout the pandemic, and this time will be no different. As of this article’s writing, 3.4 million people have been infected with COVID-19 in California, and nearly 50,000 people have died. Just in the week after Newsom removed the stay-at-home order, an average of nearly 550 died each day. On January 26, one day after the order was lifted, 722 residents died of COVID-19—the state’s highest daily death rate to date. Compared to when Newsom first implemented the stay-at-home order framework, confirmed cases more than doubled and ICU capacity was lower in almost every region of the state.

The stay-at-home order was put in place last November when ICU bed capacity surpassed the 15% threshold. When it dropped below that level, the order was lifted. With the stay-at-home order lifted, social interactions will increase and the infection rate will swing back up, overloading ICU units and causing more deaths.

Newsom also changed the COVID vaccination rules to prioritize Californians aged 65 and older in an effort to accelerate vaccine distribution. While susceptible groups like the elderly should certainly be a top priority in the fight against the virus, this will significantly slow down the rollout to the nearly six million high-risk essential workers such as teachers, farmworkers, and grocery store clerks—precisely when they are being forced back to work. At the same time, the state still doesn’t even have enough doses to vaccinate the first-priority tier of healthcare workers, and nursing home residents and staff.

This scarcity is inevitable when production and distribution are in the hands of capitalist corporations and their political representatives. Instead of a centralized, nationally coordinated rollout of federally funded and produced vaccines led by healthcare workers themselves, we see the anarchy of market competition and bureaucratic mismanagement—which will mean even more avoidable infections and deaths.

Ultimately, the role of California Democrats and their leading representative, Governor Newsom, highlights the real nature of the Democratic Party even when it has full control over the government. We cannot expect a party that is organically linked to the capitalists to represent workers’ interests. A government of, by, and for the ruling class is organically unable to put lives over profits. Ultimately, the key to fighting COVID-19 and the back and forth between opening and closing the economy rests in the working class, through militant, class-independent struggle.

The president of SEIU California, Bob Schoonover, recently released the following statement on behalf of the union’s membership:

California labeled these workers essential when the state wanted their service through the pandemic; if they are removed from the priority list for vaccination, the state is now saying they are expendable. We call on the governor and our legislative leaders to enact urgent measures to protect all workers, including making sure that all essential workers are part of a clear and robust vaccination plan and renewing pandemic-related paid sick leave.

We fully agree that the mantra of “essential workers” is meaningless to the capitalists, who used the term to praise front-line workers when it suited their interests without actually providing any meaningful relief or protections. However, calling on Governor Newsom and the Democrats in the state Assembly and Senate to take action is not the answer. California is the fifth-largest economy in the world, a single state in the belly of the beast with more economic might than most countries. California’s working class holds enormous potential power in its hands.

Rather than pleading to Newsom to take action on behalf of its union members, California SEIU could mobilize its 700,000-strong membership for political strike action. Their membership includes nurses, doctors, teachers, and a whole slew of essential service workers that would make such a strike extremely powerful. Furthermore, SEIU should call on workers in all unions and sectors of the economy to join them in demanding swift vaccinations and a return to work only with proper safety provisions. But their demands should not stop there. Their fight should include a livable wage for all workers, starting with double pay for front-line workers, union rights, affordable housing capped at no more than 10% of pay, and more. If SEIU took decisive action, these kinds of demands would allow the union to link up with workers in other industries, both in unionized and non-unionized sectors, and build up for a massive California-wide general strike. Needless to say, this would have enormous national and international repercussions.

We live in extraordinary times of upheaval and political change, and the working class is stronger than it has ever been in history. What is needed to deal a real blow against the COVID-19 pandemic and economic crisis is the will and courage to utilize that power. Millions of workers are angry, able, and willing to put up a fight. If the current labor leaders are not able or willing to provide class-struggle leadership that rejects collaboration with the bosses both at work and at the ballot box, it must be built. The IMT is confident that the leaders of a future California-wide general strike—and of the American socialist revolution—are out there in the trenches gaining experience and establishing networks for the struggles of the future. If you agree with this perspective, let’s work together to build the kind of leadership the working class deserves.