The following are excepts from SEIU 1021 President Joseph Bryant’s Labor Day op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle.

This Labor Day is unlike any other. We recognize that tens of millions of essential workers continue to risk their lives every day to fight this pandemic — feeding our families, caring for the sick and keeping our communities running. But properly honoring their contributions and their sacrifices will require more than one day of recognition; this moment requires action.

Immediately, frontline workers deserve a greater role in charting our economic recovery, since they’re the ones risking it all. Looking forward, we need a broad economic transformation that will fix the pain and inequality facing essential workers, the majority of whom are people of color. Recent uprisings over systemic racism have made it clear that the current system is untenable.

Immediately, we recommend forming official councils that bring together government, private employers and frontline workers to chart a path for recovery that incorporates the experiences and sacrifices of those doing the work.

But we shouldn’t stop there: In counties up and down the state, employers, government, and workers can come together in each industry to create a plan that keeps workers and customers safe during this pandemic and on the path to recovery.

Read the full op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle.