Work safety strike, virus lockdown protest set for May Day | ||
Friday, 1 May 2020 ()
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Essential workers will strike nationwide on May Day to demand safer conditions during the coronavirus outbreak, while other groups plan rallies against tight stay-at-home orders they say are crippling the U.S. economy. Organizers say employees of Amazon, Whole Foods, Target, Fedex and other companies have become the unexpected frontline workers of the pandemic. Employees will walk off the job or call out sick Friday on International Workers Day in cities across the U.S. to demand unpaid time off work, hazard pay, sick leave, protective gear and cleaning supplies. They say flawed policies by employers caused some of their co-workers to contract COVID-19. “For these reasons, we are engaging in a mass sickout and exercising our right to refuse unsafe work conditions,” according to a statement by Whole Foods workers. Demonstrations are planned in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and other cities. Protesters are asking consumers not to cross picket lines or use those companies’ services for the day in solidarity. Meanwhile nurses will take to the streets outside more than 130 hospitals in 13 states to protest a lack of personal protective equipment and the punishments they endure when they speak out about the problem. More than 60 nurses across the country have died of COVID-19, according to organizers. “Nurses signed up to care for their patient. They did not sign up to sacrifice their lives on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Bonnie Castillo with National Nurses United. Across the country, workers who interact with the public — nurses, grocery store workers and delivery drivers among them — have taken action in recent weeks to protect themselves. Rolling job actions have popped up across the limping economy, including... |