As COVID-19 infection rates in Georgia soared throughout 2020, so did interest from the state’s hospitality industry workforce in calling attention to wage and health care disparities, sexual harassment, and a host of other issues laid bare by the pandemic. With restaurants devastated — hospitality and leisure workers account for 39 percent of jobs lost in the United States in the past year, and one in six restaurants in the country has closed since the health crisis began — unions and political canvassing became a lifeline for workers forced to choose between a paycheck and their own health, which comes at the risk of struggling to pay for rent, health care, and basic living expenses while unemployed. But in right-to-work states like Georgia, advocating for workers’ rights means navigating the state’s tricky labor laws, which too often favor big business
