Governor Abbot has spent the past year fighting against restricting in-door dining, reduced capacity, and the mask mandate. Through executive order, Gov. Abbot is lifting the mask mandate and reinstating full capacity across the state of Texas. Abbott is declaring that the lives of food, beverage, grocery, and other essential workers are worth sacrificing to win his culture war against masks. A month prior to this executive order, Gov. Abbott advocated for COVID-19 liability protections for businesses. In short, businesses that have employees die from COVID-19 are not liable for tragic deaths that they failed to prevent through proper safety protocols. It cannot be stressed how urgent it is now that food & beverage and grocery store workers must be able to be vaccinated now. These vaccinations can no longer wait.

After months of not lifting a finger to protect us, and further putting workers in harm’s way, Greg Abbott has made it clear that he cannot be reached nor treated as a rational man. That is why we are asking our community—the workers, business owners, customers—to join us in demanding that the COVID-19 Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel (EVAP) prioritize the vaccinations of food, beverage, and grocery workers.

Furthermore, we ask that the businesses in our community commit to adhering to the CDC’s guidelines and safety protocols until the end of the pandemic.

Finally, let the Covid-19 EVAP chair, Imelda Garcia, know you wish to see essential workers in Food & Beverage and Food Production be escalated to the current vaccination group by sending a copy of your signed petition to their email or calling them at the number listed below.

coronavirus@dshs.texas.gov

Co-Sponsored by:

Austin Mutual Aid

Austin Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC)