Essential work, precarious labour: The need for safer and equitable harm reduction work in the era of COVID-19

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. 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.