Essential workers are on the frontlines of this pandemic, and many are working in high-risk conditions without appropriate equipment, safety standards, or job protections. Workers who remain on the job without the ability to telework during this emergency include health and home care workers, grocery and drug store employees, domestic workers, food service workers, government employees, janitorial staff, farm workers, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, transit workers, and child care workers. These workers put their health on the line when they go to work every day.

In New York City, 41 transit workers have died as of April 8, and reports of essential worker deaths are on the rise. There are grocery workers who are denied sick leave and whose employers won’t provide personal protective equipment (PPE) or allow masks to be worn in stores. And health care workers are working long hours to save lives while their own families are on the edge of health and financial disaster.

The country has a moral responsibility to protect essential worker’s health, to create financial security for their loved ones, and to offer peace of mind during a time of heightened mortal and emotional stress.

This includes policies like healthcare, paid sick leave, and workplace health standards to protect against more workers getting sick. We need essential worker pay and childcare to properly compensate the risk workers are taking to benefit us, and enable them to keep coming to work. And we need to hold corporations who don’t follow these guidelines accountable because lives are on the line.

As Congress continues to debate more relief efforts, the coronavirus pandemic throws us deeper into health and economic crisis. The next bill must be an Essential Worker Bill of Rights that provides workers with:

1. Health and safety protections;
2. Robust premium compensation;
3. Protections for collective bargaining agreements;
4. Truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave;
5. Whistleblower protections;
6. An end to worker misclassification;
7. Health care security;
8. Childcare support;
9. Treat workers as experts; and
10. Holds corporations accountable for meeting their employer responsibilities.

Sign the petition: Demand Congress pass the Essential Worker Bill of Rights!

Participating Organizations:
350.org
5 Gyres
ActionAid USA
AFGE Local 705
Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments
Americans for Democratic Action
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Center for Coalfield Justice
Center for Sustainable Economy
Climate Justice Alliance
Daily Kos
Environmental Health Strategy Center
Friends of the Earth Action
Green America
Greenpeace USA
Labor Network for Sustainability
Mothers Out Front
Oil Change U.S.
The People's Lobby
Plastic Pollution Coalition
Presente.org
Pride at Work
Progress America
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
Rethink Trade
Rising Tide North America
Sustainable Energy and Economy Network
Tax March
United for Respect
Women's March National
Zero Hour