'The death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter marches that have followed have made headlines the world over. But the longer-term political impact from these events could be more wide-ranging than anticipated — these protests over racial justice also have the potential to seed a new labour movement in the US....

'Since the Covid-19 shutdown, minority workers have fared less well than white workers by almost every metric — from the shutting of businesses owned by black people in higher numbers, to food, poverty and healthcare emergencies. The only reason pandemic-related mass unemployment has not created a larger gap between black Americans (who had a 16.8 per cent unemployment rate as of May) and white ones (at 12.4 per cent) is that minorities are over-represented in essential work such as healthcare and public transport...

'[T]he Black Lives Matter protests might herald a new era, not only for racial justice, but also for economic inclusiveness. The US Senate might agree to ban “right to work” laws, which make it more difficult for workers to unionise. There could also be a higher national minimum wage and corporate taxes. All of it would help address both the problems of race and class — and the persistent connections between the two.'