Babaamaajimowinan (Telling of news in different places)

Thousands Support Instacart Workers Strike, Join UltraViolet in Demanding Companies Provide Workers with Paid Sick Leave, Basic Health Protections

Women’s Group Says Delivery Workers Are Essential in This Crisis and Always, Providing Them With Paid Sick Leave Will Protect Everyone from the Spread of the Coronavirus

Yesterday, Instacart delivery workers across the country walked off the job, protesting Instacart’s refusal to provide them with basic workplace protections, including hazard pay for their work during the covid-19 pandemic, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes to keep them safe on the job, or paid sick leave for vulnerable workers with preexisting conditions or whose doctors have recommended that they self-quarantine.

In solidarity with the striking workers, UltraViolet, a leading women’s advocacy organization, launched a petition demanding Instacart provide the more than 175,000 essential workers with hazard pay of an additional $5 an order, safety gear like hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and soap; and paid sick leave for workers with pre-existing conditions who have been advised by their doctors not to work at this time. The petition has been signed by more than 10,000 people in less than 24 hours.

SEE THE PETITION HERE: https://act.weareultraviolet.org/sign/instacart_worker_strike/

Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of UltraViolet, explained:

“All workers deserve to be treated with dignity and provided basic health protections—but now, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic—Instacart’s refusal to offer to provide necessities to keep their workers safe and protect vulnerable populations who depend on their services is wholly unacceptable.

“These workers, more than half of whom are women, are essential - in this crisis and always. They are putting themselves on the frontlines of this crisis, working day-in and day-out to get people sheltering in place the food and medicine that they need to stay home and reduce the spread of the disease. Without these workers, containment strategies would simply not be effective. For Instacart to refuse to treat these essential workers with dignity and provide them with what they need to keep themselves and their customers safe and healthy in the midst of this pandemic is shameful.

“This crisis has highlighted how essential these workers are - and how Instacart’s refusal to provide these workers with fair pay, important workplace safety products, and paid sick leave endangers us all. We stand with the 175,000 Instacart workers who are courageously demanding the basic health care protections that all workers in the US should receive, and will continue to do so until their demands are met.”

 

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Rendered 03/26/2024 05:14