A Lucky’s supermarket in Oakland. These workers are just as important as doctors or nurses and deserve the same protection.

Please sign the petition and pass it on.

Grocery workers are essential workers and their health and safety is as important as anybody else’s. Yet in this Covid-19 emergency, the stores are not doing what they can to look out for and value them. Marc Perrone is president of the United Food and Commerial Workers (UFCW), the union that represents them. As grocery workers, their families and supporters, we urge Brother Perrone to raise a public campaign to get the stores to take the following actions:

Require that all shoppers wear masks and provide masks for all workers in the store, including outside contract workers.

Establish strict limits for how number of shoppers in store at one time.

Agree that any sick days taken during this crisis not be counted against sick day bank.

Pay time-and-a-half hazard pay for all regular hours worked and double time for all overtime.

Agree to no mandatory overtime.

Agree that any sick time be automatically accepted as work related and be covered by workers compensation.

Note: Oaklandsocialist believes that ultimately grocery workers, like all workers, will have to take matters into their own hands and impose the health and safety measures they feel are necessary, but it’s also important to urge the union leaders to act.