Tens of millions of people in the US are either out of a job or still working without meaningful protections, benefits, or wage increases. And if something goes wrong, workers mostly have to figure it out on their own.

This is the first in a special five-part series made by Sam Harnett, Alan Montecillo, and Chris Hoff. These five episodes will air on The Bay from July 6-10.

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On Monday, we're airing the first in a special five-part series by KQED reporter Sam Harnett and editor Alan Montecillo. It digs into how workers in the US have lost benefits, power, and protections over the last few decades.

Today, we're sharing a sneak preview. These episodes will air from July 6-10.

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Tech companies in Silicon Valley are turning to Black employees and other workers of color to help them respond to Black Lives Matter protests nationwide. While some employees feel good about having their company’s ear, it also exposes tech's diversity problem at the top and how the burden of responding to racism often falls on workers of color, who may be jeopardizing their careers.

Guest: Nitasha Tiku, tech culture reporter for The Washington Post

You can read Nitasha's full story on this topic here.

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New records obtained by KQED show local Bay Area hospitals have reported supply chain problems and the need for support and equipment from public agencies to deal with the coronavirus pandemic since January. Today, local hospitals can't sufficiently rely on federal or state help for obtaining adequate supplies of personal protective equipment or PPE. So they're largely left to figure it out on their own.

Guest: Molly Peterson, reporter for KQED News

Read more of Molly's reporting on this issue and the records obtained by KQED here.

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Within one week in June, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at San Quentin State Prison grew more than 700 percent. Prison authorities have now reported that more than 500 incarcerated men have the virus, and that doesn't even count the dozens of guards who have contracted it too. Between prison over-crowding and prison employees entering and leaving, the implications of the outbreak at the state's oldest correctional institution could extend beyond its walls.

Guest: Kate Wolffe, reporter and weekend host for KQED

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In Oakland, a city that’s seen school closures and a rapid rise in homelessness in recent years, the police budget takes up around 44% of the general fund. Among those calling to defund the police there are artists in Oakland who have plenty of ideas about what a police-free Oakland would look like if that money were reinvested into the community.

Guest: Nastia Voynovskaya, reporter and editor for KQED Arts and Culture

See photos of art around Downtown Oakland here.

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Growing up, Sarah Mizes-Tan's father encouraged her to always stand up to anti-Asian racism whenever she saw it. That's because he had experienced discrimination in the U.S. since immigrating from Singapore as a kid. After the death of George Floyd and protests for Black lives, Mizes-Tan knew the racism her dad experienced, and the racism Black folks experience, are connected struggles. So they talked about it. But depending on one's class, education, or citizenship status, Asian Americans are relating to the Black Lives Matter protests in different ways.

Guest: Sarah Mizes-Tan, Capital Public Radio reporter covering race and communities of color

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You can’t separate labor from the police violence and oppression that’s being called out this Juneteenth - the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. That’s why local Bay Area dockworker unions in San Francisco and Oakland are joining other local unions in shutting down the West Coast ports on Friday. This kind of action isn't new. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union has fought against racism and police violence here in the Bay Area for decades.

Guests: Clarence Thomas, retired leader of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 and co-founder of the Million Worker March Movement and Peter Cole, professor of history at Western Illinois University and author of Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area

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In January, the Anti Police-Terror Project launched a community first responder program in Sacramento called Mental Health First. Throughout the night, Friday through Sunday, Mental Health First volunteers respond to people in crisis — all without police.

Guests: Niki Jones, Peer Crisis Counselor/Volunteer Coordinator with Mental Health First and Asantewaa Boykin, co-founder of Anti Police-Terror Project

Read the transcript here.

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Lisa Fagundes is a San Francisco librarian who also helps track and prevent the spread of COVID-19. As more Bay Area residents leave their homes, the state is hiring thousands of people like Lisa to contact people who have tested positive for the virus. Health officials expect the work of contact tracers to become increasingly important as shelter-in-place orders loosen and mass protests continue.

Guest: April Dembosky, KQED health correspondent

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