Ruth Silver Taube was quoted in a Santa Clara Magazine article about how workers who’ve been laid off due to Covid have felt the economic pain from pandemic closures more than most. Professor Taube and others are trying to solve at the local level by asking cities to pass rules requiring certain workers to be recalled in order of seniority.

“This short term crisis could become a long term disaster,” says Taube, who also supervises the Santa Clara County Office of Labor Standards Enforcement legal advice line. “We get a lot of calls from hotel workers and others who don’t know how they will support themselves. You can hear the desperation in their voices.”