Right now, as “stay at home” orders mandate many people stay at home to protect society, essential workers are putting their safety at risk every day to make sure the rest of us are healthy and fed.
Beyond gratitude, workers need customers and employers to be better allies to help protect them as frontline workers who cannot stay at home. In solidarity and action, here are 10 important ways you can support and protect essential workers right now!
1. Call 1-888-907-6639 right now to demand your Senator supports an Essential Worker’s Bill of Rights. You can tweet at them too!
2. Message your Senator right now and tell them to pass the Essential Worker Bill of Rights in the next stimulus package (The HEROES Act). Sign this petition demanding Congress pass an Essential Worker Bill of Rights now!
3. Tell your local grocery store you support and commit to UFCW’s #ShopSmart pledge. When you visit the grocery or any store — wear a mask both outside and inside the store, keep at least 6 feet between yourself and shoppers or workers, and never toss your gloves on the floor or ground.
4. Put yourself in the shoes of grocery workers and other workers on the frontlines. Let them know you appreciate them. Say hello, thank workers, comply with new policies, and be patient.
5. Comply with store policies, including whether you can bring reusable bags in. Bag your own groceries whenever possible to reduce contact. If you prefer reusable bags, place groceries directly in the cart and bag them outside the store (to reduce contact).
6. Tell Congress to pass “no oil bailout” legislation and stop sweetheart deals for the oil industry. We need COVID-19 relief legislation that puts workers, families, and our planet first, not more bailouts for fossil fuel CEOs.
7. Demand Walmart and Amazon protect their workers. Sign this petition to Walmart and sign this petition to Amazon.
8. Support the Kern County Community Resiliency Fund to provide immediate support for impacted workers and residents in Kern County, CA, and to lay the foundation for a more sustainable and resilient economy.
9. As many struggle to pay rent, or watch loved ones put their own health at risk on the frontline — industries are exploiting this crisis to seize power and gut environmental protections for their own profits. Sign this pledge to hold the plastic industry accountable for exploiting the COVID-19 crisis to sell single-use plastics.
10. Demand brands and retailers respect the human rights of all workers in their seafood supply chains. Tell Bumble Bee and the retailers that sell their tuna products to take these four steps to address modern slavery on the Taiwanese fishing vessels from which they source.
