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Essential work, precarious labour : The need for safer and equitable harm reduction work in the era of COVID-19 Olding, Michelle; Barker, Allison; McNeil, Ryan, 1982-; Boyd, Jade

Abstract

This commentary highlights labour concerns and inequities within the harm reduction sector that hinder programs’ ability to respond to converging public health emergencies (the overdose crisis and COVID19), and potentially contribute to spread of the novel coronavirus. Many harm reduction programs continue to support people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) during the pandemic, yet PWUD working in harm reduction programs (sometimes termed ‘peers’) experience precarious labour conditions characterized by low wages, minimal employee benefits (such as paid sick leave) and high employment insecurity. Along with precarious labour conditions, PWUD face heightened vulnerabilities to COVID-19 and yet have been largely overlooked in global response to the pandemic. Operating under conditions of economic and legal precarity, harm reduction programs reliance on precarious labour (e.g. on-call, temporary and unpaid work) renders some services vulnerable to staffing shortages and service disruptions during the pandemic, while also heightening the risk of virus transmission among workers, service users and their communities. We call for immediate policy and programmatic actions to strengthen working conditions within these settings with a priority on enhancing protections and supports for workers in peer roles.

Item Metadata

Title
Essential work, precarious labour : The need for safer and equitable harm reduction work in the era of COVID-19
Creator
Olding, Michelle; Barker, Allison; McNeil, Ryan, 1982-; Boyd, Jade
Contributor
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
Publisher
Elsevier
Date Issued
2020-12-10
Description
This commentary highlights labour concerns and inequities within the harm reduction sector that hinder programs’ ability to respond to converging public health emergencies (the overdose crisis and COVID19), and potentially contribute to spread of the novel coronavirus. Many harm reduction programs continue to support people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) during the pandemic, yet PWUD working in harm reduction programs (sometimes termed ‘peers’) experience precarious labour conditions characterized by low wages, minimal employee benefits (such as paid sick leave) and high employment insecurity. Along with precarious labour conditions, PWUD face heightened vulnerabilities to COVID-19 and yet have been largely overlooked in global response to the pandemic. Operating under conditions of economic and legal precarity, harm reduction programs reliance on precarious labour (e.g. on-call, temporary and unpaid work) renders some services vulnerable to staffing shortages and service disruptions during the pandemic, while also heightening the risk of virus transmission among workers, service users and their communities. We call for immediate policy and programmatic actions to strengthen working conditions within these settings with a priority on enhancing protections and supports for workers in peer roles.
Subject
Precarious employment; harm reduction; occupational safety; COVID-19; opioid overdose
Genre
Article; Postprint
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2021-12-10
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0396331
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/77578
Affiliation
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies; Medicine, Faculty of; Non UBC
Citation
Olding, M., Barker, A., McNeil, R., & Boyd, J. (2021;2020;). Essential work, precarious labour: The need for safer and equitable harm reduction work in the era of COVID-19. The International Journal of Drug Policy, 90, 103076-103076.
Publisher DOI
10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.103076
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty; Researcher; Graduate
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International