Safety & Justice for Philly Sanitation Workers
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Managing Director Brian Abernathy, and Streets Department Commissioner Carlton Williams
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Philly's sanitation workers have maintained an essential city service without sufficient PPE, testing, or hazard pay. Sanitation workers and their family members are falling sick due to unsafe working conditions. Meanwhile, Mayor Kenney's is threatening to cut funding for the streets department by $18 million, while increasing funding for the police by $14 million. This is unacceptalbe! Sign this petition in solidarity with Philly's sanitation workers as they stand against cuts to public services and dangerous working conditions!
Petition by
To:
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Managing Director Brian Abernathy, and Streets Department Commissioner Carlton Williams
From:
[Your Name]
The proud members of AFSCME District Council 33, Local 427, of the Philadelphia Department of Streets have continued to provide essential services to our city throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As sanitation workers, we come into physical contact with every household, business, and institution in our city, putting us at high risk of infection. Yet we continue to work without sufficient PPE and a living wage. We work in dangerous conditions even without a pandemic: many of us do not survive to see retirement because we regularly handle hazardous material without protection. Just compensation for our sacrifices, and safety equipment to protect ourselves and our families, is long overdue.
We demand that Carlton Williams, Commissioner of the Department of Streets,
Brian Abernathy, Managing Director, and Mayor Jim Kenney immediately act on the following:
For members of AFSCME DC 33, Local 427:
1) Provide appropriate PPE for all sanitation workers, including: N-95 masks, prick-proof gloves, safety boots, and rain gear.
2) Provide hazard pay for all sanitation workers during and after the COVID-19 crisis, reflecting the dangerous nature of our work.
For all essential workers in the City of Philadelphia:
3) Expand testing eligibility to all essential workers.
4) Enforce, in all workplaces, regular cleaning and disinfecting protocols, sending sick workers home, limiting customer access, and establishing safety zones.
5) Use the full powers of the Office of the Mayor to reopen Hahnemann hospital for public use.