600 years ago a king tried to deny a post-pandemic labor shortage was real — and it ended up killing hundreds of people

The more vulnerable working class are the ones that are killed off by a Pandemic. The labor force depletes. The labor of people who are willing to work is worth more. People in power before the economic downturn want to deny that labor is worth more.

It's the story of the American labor market in 2021.

The coronaviruses have caused 38 million people to leave their jobs in the next two years. Even without other jobs lined up, people want to pursue more fulfilling careers. Workers are tired of low-paying, dangerous jobs and want to avoid exposure to the Pandemic.

They want more money.

The University of California, San Francisco found that line cooks, warehouse employees, and agricultural workers were at high risk of death in 2020.
The new book by Dan Jones makes clear that labor shortages have been a part of the 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- 888-565- The Wat Tyler rebellion was discussed in his "Powers andThrones" as a result of the labor shortage that followed the Black Death.

It wasn't just an English phenomenon. The economy changed forever after thousands of people died in rebellions throughout Europe.

The government tried to stop workers from exercising their power.
Jones writes that when Europe's population peaked in the early 1300s, there was a healthy supply of serfs, unfree laborers under the control of landlords, whose lands they cultivated in return for the lord's protection.
The continent lost roughly one in every two people when the Pandemic hit. This was a human tragedy, but it also made labor more expensive. Landowners had to make sure their crops didn't die from a lack of harvesters. Land rental prices fell because of the population decline. Landlords were desperate for tenants as land became dirt cheap.
The cost to bring in crops was rocketed even where willing workers could be found. The price of land rents collapsed because of the population decline.

In the US over the next two years, more than one million people will die from COVID, and it is happening on a much smaller scale. 3 million people are missing from the American workforce, and wages have increased for the first time in decades, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
The same kind of shift in worker power 600 years ago caused wealthy landowners to panic. They asked their rulers to save them from financial ruin.
King Edward III of England enacted legislation that made it illegal for workers to claim wages above pre-pandemic rates. The wage ceilings for workers were based on their industry. Every able-bodied person under the age of 60 was required to work.
The Peasants' Revolt, the first great popular rebellion in English history, was triggered by the new taxes and ordinances of the next king, Richard II.

A group of rebels led by Wat Tyler attacked London. They opened jails and put buildings to the torch while marching to the capital, where they demanded an end to serfdom and new labor laws. It was a contract negotiation between the monarch and a common man.

The king agreed to their demands, but he wanted traitors to be turned in. Things went wrong there.
Tyler's mob killed multiple members of the royal council as they rampaged through the city.

Tyler demanded an end to all lordship except the king's and the complete redistribution of church lands when he had an audience with the king.

The number of dead among the rebels was estimated by Jones in a previous book.

Although the poll tax was dropped, King Richard did not follow through on many of his promises. It was the beginning of the end for serfdom if the effect wasn't immediate.

The labor market and social contract have been affected by the swine flu. What will happen to it?