The coronavirus pandemic threw life into a tumult for American workers, igniting new class struggles and further stoking those already under way. Across the country, essential workers lashed out against low wages, long hours, and safety risks, both with labor union backing and without it. Nurses, teachers, grocery clerks, farmers, food processing workers, and many more fought for higher wages, paid sick leave, better healthcare, and, above all else, increased safety protocols, attracting public support at a level unseen in the twenty-first century. The explosion in worker anger and the resurgence of organized labor's popularity may seem like short-term consequence of the coronavirus crisis, but both trends were long in the making and are likely to last far beyond the pandemic. In Essential , award-winning sociologist Jamie McCallum uncovers the deep roots and seismic impact of essential workers' rage, arguing that today's widespread labor unrest and militancy is both the result and the repudiation of decades of austerity.