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Fall was meant to mark the be-ginning of the end of the laborshortage that has held back thenation’s economic recovery. Ex-panded unemployment benefitswere ending. Schools were re-opening, freeing up many care-givers. Surely, economists andbusiness owners reasoned, a floodof workers would follow.

Instead, the labor force shrankin September. There are five mil-lion fewer people working thanbefore the pandemic began, andthree million fewer even lookingfor work.

The slow return of workers iscausing headaches for the Bidenadministration, which was count-ing on a strong economic reboundto give momentum to its politicalagenda. Forecasters were largelyblindsided by the problem anddon’t know how long it will last.

Conservatives have blamedgenerous unemployment benefitsfor keeping people at home, butevidence from states that endedthe payments early suggests thatany impact was small. Progres-sives say companies could findworkers if they paid more, but theshortages aren’t limited to low-wage industries.

Instead, economists point to acomplex, overlapping web of fac-tors, many of which could be slowto reverse.

The health crisis is still makingit hard or dangerous for some peo-ple to work, while savings built upduring the pandemic have made iteasier for others to turn down jobsthey do not want. Psychology mayalso play a role: Surveys suggestthat the pandemic led many to re-think their priorities, while theglut of open jobs — more than 10million in August — may be moti-vating some to hold out for a bet-ter offer.

The net result is that, perhapsfor the first time in decades, work-ers up and down the income lad-der have leverage. And they areusing it to demand not just higherpay but also flexible hours, moregenerous benefits and betterworking conditions. A record 4.3million people quit their jobs inAugust, in some cases midshift totake a better-paying positiondown the street.

“It’s like the whole country is insome kind of union renegotiation,”said Betsey Stevenson, a Univer-sity of Michigan economist whowas an adviser to PresidentBarack Obama. “I don’t knowwho’s going to win in this bargain-ing that’s going on right now, butright now it seems like workershave the upper hand.”

Rachel Eager spent last fall athome, taking the last class for herbachelor’s degree over Zoomwhile waiting to be recalled to herjob at a New York City after-school program. That call nevercame.

So Ms. Eager, 25, is looking forwork. She has applied for dozensof jobs and had a handful of inter-views, so far without luck. But she

Economic Gains HobbledAs Labor Market Shrinks

Wielding Rare Leverage to Push Demands,Workers Are in No Hurry to Return

By BEN CASSELMAN

Retailers are desperate for help.KENDRICK BRINSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A13

AGUADILLA, P.R. — Fouryears after Hurricane Maria leftPuerto Rico’s electrical grid ashambles and the entire island inthe dark, residents had expectedtheir fragile power system to bestronger now. Instead, unreliableelectricity remains frustratinglycommon, hindering economic de-velopment and daily life.

In June, a private consortiumknown as LUMA Energy tookover the transmission and distri-bution of electricity. And yet thesituation has only worsened.Surging demand in August andSeptember led to rolling blackoutsaffecting a majority of the island’s1.5 million electrical customers.

Last week, several thousandpeople marched along a mainhighway in San Juan, the capital,blocking traffic with the latest in aseries of protests over the seem-ingly unending electricity prob-lems plaguing the island.

“The people can’t take it any-more,” said Iris Delia Matos Ri-vera, 69, a former employee of theisland’s longstanding electricalutility who attended a recent dem-onstration.

Many Puerto Ricans are diabet-ic and need refrigerated insulin tosurvive. The coronavirus pan-demic has also put some people onrespiratory therapies requiringelectrical power at home for oxy-gen machines. Some Puerto Ri-cans are still studying or workingat home.

Ashlee Vega, who lives in north-western Puerto Rico, said thepower fluctuations this month

In Puerto Rico,Protests GrowAs Power Fails

By PATRICIA MAZZEI

Continued on Page A13

As New York City struggles torevive its economy from the dev-astation wrought by the pan-demic, one key element is stillmissing: big-spending foreigntourists.

Before the coronavirus arrived,the city was flooded with recordnumbers of visitors from Europe,Asia and South America. Theyfilled hotels, restaurants, Broad-way theaters and museums,spending billions of dollars and fu-eling a surge of jobs for local resi-dents.

Now that the federal govern-ment has decided to open thecountry’s borders to vaccinatedvisitors on Nov. 8, New York Cityis preparing its most aggressivecampaign to lure them backquickly — in time to salvage, if itcan, the end-of-year holiday sea-son.

While visitors from across theUnited States have streamed backinto the city, the absence of foreigntourists has left a gaping hole inthe city’s economy because theytend to stay longer and spendmore money.

Though many New Yorkers aresometimes cranky about tourists,visitors have played a critical rolein the city’s jobs growth. The tour-ism industry has created an im-portant pipeline of middle-incomejobs, economists say, the vast ma-jority of which do not require a col-lege degree.

Before the pandemic, touristsspent $47 billion annually andsupported more than 280,000 jobs,

City Places BetForeign GuestsStill Love N.Y.C.

By PATRICK McGEEHANand NICOLE HONG

Continued on Page A15

ATUL LOKE FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Thousands are fleeing to India to escape a military junta, raising concern of a refugee crisis. Page A4.Desperate Race Out of Myanmar

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump’s defense secretarythought the idea was outrageous.

In the spring of 2020, Mark T.Esper, the defense secretary, wasalarmed to learn of an idea underdiscussion at a top military com-mand and at the Department ofHomeland Security to send asmany as 250,000 troops — morethan half the active U.S. Army, anda sixth of all American forces — tothe southern border in whatwould have been the largest use ofthe military inside the UnitedStates since the Civil War.

With the coronavirus pandemicraging, Stephen Miller, the archi-tect of Mr. Trump’s immigrationagenda, had urged the HomelandSecurity Department to develop aplan for the number of troops thatwould be needed to seal the entire2,000-mile border with Mexico. Itis not clear whether it was officialsin homeland security or the Penta-gon who concluded that a quarterof a million troops would be re-quired.

The concept was relayed to offi-

Trump OfficialsWanted Troops

To Line BorderThis article is by David E. Sanger,

Michael D. Shear and Eric Schmitt.

Continued on Page A17

SAKHALIN ISLAND, Russia —Sixteen wind turbines are slatedto go up amid the winding coastand wooded hills of this Russianisland in the Pacific, creating awind park bigger than any thatcurrently exists in the vastreaches of the country’s Far East.

The clean energy generated bythe new wind park will go towardmining more coal.

Russia is scrambling to retainthe wealth and power that comefrom selling fossil fuels to theworld, even as the Kremlin in-creasingly acknowledges climate

change to be a human-made crisisthat the country needs to do moreto address.

Last week, President VladimirV. Putin said Russia would stopadding carbon dioxide to the at-mosphere by 2060. It was a re-markable reversal since Mr. Putinhas long dismissed climate sci-ence and many in his country see

international efforts to combatglobal warming as part of a West-ern plot to weaken Russia. His an-nouncement comes two weeks be-fore world leaders are set to con-verge in Glasgow for a pivotalU.N. climate summit.

But it’s unclear if Russia is sin-cere in its new pledge. Russian en-ergy experts and government offi-cials acknowledge the moves arelargely driven by economics, withthe European Union’s plans fortariffs on heavily polluting coun-tries threatening exports fromRussia, the fourth biggest amongnations in terms of greenhousegas emissions. Some elements of

Windswept Island Becomes Russia Climate LabBy ANTON TROIANOVSKI Adding Turbines, but

Amping Up CoalMining, Too

A spruce in a bog, bent by strong winds, on Sakhalin Island, Russia, in the Pacific Ocean.SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A8

WASHINGTON — One day be-fore a mob of former PresidentDonald J. Trump’s supportersstormed the Capitol, Stephen K.Bannon, a former top adviser toMr. Trump, made a prediction tolisteners of his radio show.

“Now we’re on, as they say, thepoint of attack — the point of at-tack tomorrow,” Mr. Bannon saidon Jan. 5 as he promoted a planhatched by Mr. Trump and far-right Republican lawmakers to tryto overturn President Biden’s vic-tory the next day, when Congresswould meet to formalize the elec-tion results. “It’s going to kick off.It’s going to be very dramatic.”

It is because of such comments,which foreshadowed the violencethat played out during the Capitolriot, that the House committee in-vestigating the assault is inter-ested in questioning Mr. Bannon.But the former counselor to Mr.Trump has refused to cooperatewith the inquiry, citing the formerpresident’s claim of executiveprivilege.

The panel voted unanimouslyon Tuesday to recommend charg-ing Mr. Bannon with criminal con-tempt of Congress for defying itssubpoena, sending the issue to theHouse. Representative Steny H.Hoyer of Maryland, the majorityleader, said members would hold avote on Thursday. The chamber isexpected to approve the move andhand the matter over to the Jus-tice Department for prosecution.

“The rule of law remains underattack right now,” said Represent-ative Bennie Thompson, Demo-crat of Mississippi and the chair-man of the committee. “If there’sno accountability for these abuses— if there are different sets ofrules for different types of people— then our democracy is in seri-ous trouble.”

“Mr. Bannon will comply withour investigation,” he added, “orhe will face the consequences.”

Mr. Thompson said he expectedthe full House to “quickly” take upthe matter.

The high-profile confrontationis the first of several that promiseto test the boundaries of executiveprivilege — the presidential pre-rogative to keep official communi-

A House Panel Wants Bannon To Be Charged

Contempt Inquiry OverRiot — Test of Power

By LUKE BROADWATER

Continued on Page A18

Bateau, a Seattle steakhouse, aims toavoid the environmental damagecaused by the meat industry. PAGE D1

Making Beef SustainableSustainability measures paid off for SanDiego this time. But residents stillmight have to do more. PAGE A12

Ready for the Next Drought?

Theater fans are mostly undeterred asthey show proof of vaccination and getrapid Covid tests for children. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

New Rituals for BroadwayHorror-themed restaurants across thecountry are offering comfort food andfun during unsettling times. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-8

Working Up a Fearful AppetiteAfter a unionizing drive began in theBuffalo area, extra managers and ba-ristas were sent to some stores. Work-ers say it has a chilling effect. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Tension at StarbucksA panel is set to recommend masshomicide charges against Brazil’s presi-dent, asserting that he intentionally letthe coronavirus kill people. PAGE A10

INTERNATIONAL A4-11

Bolsonaro Blamed for DeathsA couple indicted on charges of tryingto sell nuclear secrets stewed overmoney and politics. PAGE A19

NATIONAL A12-19

The Lives of Spying Suspects

Beijing wants to avert public panicabout the developer’s financial woes.But it also may want to send a messageto spendthrift corporations. PAGE B1

News Hush on Evergrande

The social media giant will pay $14million over Justice Department claimsthat it discriminated against U.S. work-ers in hiring for over 2,000 jobs. PAGE B1

Facebook Settles Bias Case

Many obstacles remain to gettingpoorer nations access to new antiviralpills reaching the market. PAGE A11

Disparity in Covid Treatments

Lindsay Crouse PAGE A21

OPINION A20-21

Amy Ryan shared her thoughts abouther character in the whodunit comedy“Only Murders in the Building.” PAGE C1

Bassoonist ‘in the Building’

With the team’s regular season begin-ning on Wednesday, the players sharean unlikely feeling: optimism. PAGE B7

SPORTS B7-10

In Upset, the Knicks Look Good

Late Edition

VOL. CLXXI . . . . No. 59,217 © 2021 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2021

Today, abundant sunshine, warmingcontinues, high 75. Tonight, clear,low 58. Tomorrow, partly sunny, re-maining unseasonably warm, high74. Weather map is on Page B10.

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