For the last year, essential workers - such as grocery store clerks, bus drivers, and people in food service - have been working through a pandemic to ensure that families can continue to eat and stay alive. We are truly public servants, risking infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its mutations in service of the general public. Workers can’t control other people, such as those we interact with daily who do not take this pandemic seriously. We are tired of putting on a friendly tone to ask customers, coworkers, and managers to please pull their masks over their noses. We are exhausted from going to work day after day, not knowing if today might be the day we bring home the virus that could kill us or our family members. Our field is diverse; we are Black, disabled, immigrant, indigenous, Latinx, parents, students, working class. The federal government’s National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness calls for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. We urge you to listen to experts who say that essential workers should be vaccinated now. Consider our sacrifices over the past year, and commit to repaying us by prioritizing us for the vaccine.

Schedules are posted on short notice, often only 2 days in advance, but we are expected to follow any changes without question. Because of this, we often do not have time outside of work for ourselves. This also means shifts are cut without proper notice; once we are on the schedule, we expect those hours to be on our paycheck, and the decision to cut them can be detrimental. Many of us have missed rent payments and other bills which can have a long term impact on our finances. We are negatively impacted by clopenings because of the lack of sleep and are never able to function at 100%. This can cause employees to become irritable, fatigued, and at times dangerous to ourselves and others. The grease, water from leakage, and other liquids on the floors cause a daily slipping hazard. Handrails on the stairs are loose and splintered, while the stairs continue to lose grip due to the fry gunk built up on them. Many of us have reported slipping on the floor, resulting in more serious injuries like hitting our head, cracking ribs, and falling on the grill. The floor is just one example of the hazards that are left for employees to handle on their own and deprioritized by management. Many of us across different locations have endured instances of sexual harassment by both staff and management over a long period of time. This has become a pervasive issue that needs to be addressed immediately. There is currently no way to safely or anonymously report, and when someone does come forward it is not taken seriously and answered with responses like ¨they’re not like that.¨ Currently, human resources is not a safe option for employees to turn to, and there is no option in the chip app to assure anonymity or confirm that any complaint will be addressed. Without anonymity there is the fear of backlash from any complaint which has led to a toxic culture of keeping people quiet. After a few short months, management has failed to keep up with COVID guidelines. Sanitation has gone from happening hourly to a few times a day with none on night shifts, and masks aren’t being enforced with customers and staff. This has created an unsafe work environment. We are left to enforce mask-wearing with customers which causes a huge amount of stress, and are unsupported by management or security. Many of us avoid confrontation out of fear of how customers will react, putting ourselves at risk or forces coworkers to step in and away from their own work.

We, students of University of California Santa Cruz continue to be in solidarity with AFSCME 3299 dining hall workers and student workers. Being a student at the University of California is a privilege we hold. While many of us are studying from home and the few are living on campus full time, workers continue making UCSC run. It has become increasingly clear that without students and workers on campus, the university does not feel like a university. While many of us have the privilege of staying safe at home, that is not the case for AFSCME 3299 workers. Workers continue to go to work and risk their safety during a pandemic. Many workers are part of communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Essential workers already face the risk of working during a pandemic. On top of those risks, workers at UCSC Dining Halls have to go to an unsafe, toxic workplace environment created by their management. And when workers take back their power, they are faced with retaliation from management. Since he began his tenure as an Associate Director of Dining Administration at UCSC, Clint Jeffries has routinely failed to advocate for dining hall workers. One manager, Lilian Galdamez Mijano, routinely belittles AFSCME 3299 workers to the point of tears. She attacks the quality of their work and punishes all workers for small mistakes. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, students do not see these aggressions taking place in the Dining Halls; they are living far from campus, and even those students living on campus do not enter the dining halls. This diminished student presence has worsened a toxic work environment at UCSC dining halls. When workers ask Clint for support or request that he talk to Lilian about her problematic behaviors, they are met with disappointment. Clint unconditionally and consistently supports dining hall managers over the workers he is supposed to help and serve. Clint’s refusal to support AFSCME 3299 dining hall workers reflects UCSC’s failures to support students and workers, especially during a pandemic and financial crisis. We understand that these issues do not start nor end with Dining Hall management but extend to UC administration. Specifically, Barbara Greening and her anti-worker and anti-union attitudes when meeting. Despite her role within UC labor relations she routinely disregards workers' concerns, speaks over , belittles, and degrades them creating an even more hostile and discouraging environment. We know from lived experiences that what affects the worker affects the student. It is our responsibility to use our privilege as students to once again raise our voices and demand respect alongside AFSCME 3299 members. It is clear that the UC administration does not care about workers or their safety during a pandemic and the UC will only listen to our collective demands if we target their corporate greed. Clint Jeffries and management have failed to advocate for workers’ safety and thus students’ safety. We know that our care, safety, and well being is tied to community care, it is dependent upon students and workers coming together.

Gig workers ARE essential workers. Gig workers are the people who drive passengers for companies like Uber and who deliver food for companies like Doordash and Instacart. They have provided many of us with services we’ve relied on in order to safely shelter in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is for this exact reason that many states list gig workers as “essential workers”. As the COVID-19 vaccine is distributed, it is imperative that the Center for Disease Control include gig workers in their Phase 1b recommendation for vaccine distribution for “Frontline essential workers”. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, gig corporations were quick to petition that their workers be classified as essential, while refusing to provide them with personal protective equipment or healthcare. The people who drive for ride hailing companies and deliver our food and groceries safely to our homes, have been forced to spend the last ten months exposing themselves to a deadly virus in order to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Despite this, many state governors have failed to include gig workers in vaccine roll out efforts. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo excluded rideshare drivers and food delivery workers from the next phase of the state’s vaccine rollout. This is unacceptable and dangerous for both workers and consumers alike. The CDC must properly prioritize gig workers as essential workers in vaccine roll out plans across the country. Many gig workers have had no choice but to continue working or return to work during a deadly pandemic because the platform corporations they work for have unilaterally abandoned them. These corporations have refused to pay a dime into state unemployment funds and have actively advocated that their workers be excluded from state unemployment benefits, all while denying them access to crucial benefits like health insurance, paid sick leave and proper protective equipment. The majority of gig workers in the United States are Black or Brown, representing the communities hardest hit by the pandemic while receiving the least amount of protection and support. It is crucial that the CDC’s vaccine plan includes gig workers as essential workers. We demand that the Center for Disease Control include gig workers in their Phase 1b recommendations for vaccine distribution for “Frontline essential workers”.

Burgerville workers have demanded hazard pay in the past, and Burgerville has denied these requests. Now there is a way for workers to get increased pay at no cost to Burgerville: credit card tips at the drive thru. Workers feel this urgency now more than ever. Due to management error, credit card were briefly enabled at the Convention Center Burgerville in November. This resulted in workers making an extra $5 an hour from the generous contributions of appreciative customers. The community of customers have demonstrated they want to tip when they are given the opportunity, and this gesture makes a huge difference in worker compensation. This is the pay they deserve as they risk their life to serve customers.

Hops Burger Bar has already had COVID-19 cases at multiple of their locations and have failed to properly notify their workers, or respond in a timely way! Management delays means the virus has time to spread.

Carhops at Sonic are paid a tipped wage of 5 dollars an hour. Since we are a fast food establishment, many customers don't realize that we are tipped workers. Including a prompt to tip your carhop in the check-out will communicate that carhops must be tipped. During my time at Sonic, I've had several customers ask why they can't tip on the card. Staff is expected to wear a mask at all times, to mitigate the spread of covid-19. However, there is no policy that requires that customers extend the courtesy. This puts employees at greater risk, because masks are effective at containing pathogens, in other words they are only effective if both parties wear them. Sonic has the responsibility to provide a safe working environment. In late January Sonic began rolling out card tips for orders through the Sonic app. This is a step in the right direction, but this only makes up a small percentage of card orders. We must push them to update the software in the stalls as well.

More than 7.3 million gig workers, independent contractors, and self-employed workers will see their unemployment benefits cut on December 26 if the government doesn’t act. Millions of people who work for gig companies, such as Uber and Lyft drivers, were directed to apply for unemployment benefits through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Only some have been able to access state unemployment benefits. In any event, these benefits were—and continue to be—extremely meager. The average payment given to workers is between $114 and $357 a week—below the poverty line in most states. Now, some people who were directed to apply for PUA are even being notified that they have been overpaid and may be responsible for returning the overpaid amount . This is not only unrealistic, it is inhumane. Many gig workers are behind on rent and struggling to keep food on the table, and do not have extra cash on hand to return to the state. While drivers, couriers, and shoppers are struggling to stay safe and pay their bills, gig corporations have gotten richer and have not paid a dime into state unemployment insurance funds. For example, through misclassifying their workers, Uber and Lyft avoided paying a total of $413 million into California’s unemployment insurance fund between 2014 and 2019. Sign on today and stand with gig workers who are demanding an extension on their benefits and relief for any overpayment.

Both the New York Times and ProPublica have written about the impact of COVID-19, reporting that in states where Black communities make up only a relatively small portion of the population, nearly half — if not majority — of all COVID-19 deaths are members of the Black community. Given that T2212 is located in a primarily working class, Black community, Target is responsible for the protection of both its employees and the community that it serves. If Target is truly dedicated to racial equality, then it must provide a minimum of $2 hazard pay to mitigate the extreme risk that its essential workers face on a daily basis at this location.

Workers at Meadow Park in St. Helens have been trying to get management to have their COVID risk taken seriously. Now there is a substantial COVID outbreak affecting both workers and residents.

Bookshop Santa Cruz workers, who are not currently offered health insurance by their employer, have concerns about the management’s inconsistent communication regarding health and safety at the store, as well as concerns about the rising cost of living in Santa Cruz and the sustainability of the store. The workers want job security, an option for healthcare, and additional employee support systems. The workers’ organizing committee says, “We felt we could garner greater support as a collective rather than as individuals. 2020 has been a difficult year for small businesses everywhere and we hope to collaborate with management to create a sustainable path forward for one of the only independent bookstores in the area.”

THIS STORE HAS BEEN HERE AS FAR BACK AS THE 70'S THAT I KNOW OF. IT SHOULD BE A HISTORICAL LANDMARK.