Here at the Seattle flagship we have a LOT of co-workers. We may not know everyone by name or their favorite place to be outside, but we genuinely care about each other. That’s why it was a hit to our whole community when we heard that many of us were laid off on July 15. We are now told it’s time to hire new employees, but we believe in order to uphold the Co-Op way we must rehire - at their rate and benefit status as of July 14th - any laid off employees who wish to return. It’s distressing to know our coworkers were laid off in the middle of a pandemic. REI claims to “feel it is important to take care of our employees” (foryourbenefit-REI.com). However, all of these coworkers could have been kept on an indefinite furlough until we found ourselves in a place to rehire, like we are now. Offering to rehire these employees will show Respect for those who dedicated so much of their time to REI. This will also promote the Integrity of our company. REI headquarters and management cited business needs as the reason for lay-offs; now, less than 2 months later, it seems as though our business needs more employees. Let’s bring back the people that already know the Co-op and how this store works. We are operating under unprecedented stress levels and regular daily call-outs. Having seasoned veterans to help the team would ease many worries and abate some of the problems that newer hires tend to have - lack of knowledge and awareness of processes, giving misinformation, etc. REI has long prided itself upon its quality Service and a vast employee knowledge base. Veteran employees are already familiar with the store demands, much of the product, and the local area. In order to provide quality service to the customers, who are risking their safety to be in the store, rehiring employees will allow us to feel confident that we are upholding the special standard of flagship service. With all sincerity, if REI chooses to espouse Authenticity as a core value, the company cannot merely say that it cares about its employees - the Co-Op must actually show up for them. REI built its reputation with these values as a cornerstone and it is now time to truly live them. Offering to rehire the employees, who were unjustly laid off, at their old rates and benefit status is a declaration of true intent by REI to live it's values. We, the undersigned employees of REI Store 11, believe we will all be better off if REI responds to this demand. image credit: https://poshmark.com/listing/REI-Coop-Adventure-Vest-5b35326545c8b3105a688334

Putnam Science Academy has publicly and consistently stated that the safety of its students and staff is its highest priority. Doubtless, the risk of transmission of COVID 19 is greatly increased by inviting students back into the classroom. It is therefore prudent to ask if anything is gained by this decision. Due to the unique challenges of instructing a student body which is divided between those present on campus and those attending classes remotely, it is unfortunately concluded that the answer is often, “No.” Regrettably, many classes simply do not benefit from the addition of in-person meetings. Since teachers are responsible for teaching online students in tandem with students in the classroom, they must often resort to using remote-learning techniques with all students simultaneously, regardless of their physical presence or absence in the classroom. Several teachers have found it necessary to conduct most or all of their classes through Zoom, even with the students present in the classroom. The result is instruction equivalent to online learning, with the only substantive difference being the greatly increased risk of the transmission of COVID 19. Let us be clear: this increased risk is not negligible. Within the very first days of in-person learning, when classroom policies were fresh in everybody's mind and enthusiasm was presumably at its zenith, students repeatedly removed their masks or failed to wear them correctly, ignored social distancing mandates, and congregated at choke points and foyers. The added stress this causes the teachers responsible for student safety (and, indeed, for their own safety) only exacerbates the myriad difficulties of managing a split online/in-person classroom. Having concluded that student instruction is often identical to that which they would receive online, and that student presence in the classroom increases the risk to both students and staff, it must be asked: should in-person classes be a mandatory policy? No. Not when there is a perfectly feasible alternative available. Rather than opting to strictly enforce a policy which offers high risk often without reward, teachers should be empowered to choose for themselves whether or not in-person classes are practical or profitable. If a teacher feels they or their students are experiencing an unnecessary risk, they should be given the option to teach online classes. These classes can follow the agreed-upon schedule, and could in every respect adhere to the guidelines for class times presented in the student handbook. This would not interfere with those classes or teachers who feel that in-person instruction is indispensable, and any teacher who wished to continue in-person or mixed in-person/online teaching would be able to do so. Desiring to teach online does not indicate a lack of enthusiasm for teaching, a lack of devotion to student progress, or a contrarian attitude towards the administration. It is evidence only that the teachers genuinely believe that they can best serve the students, and best keep them safe, by providing online instruction.

Because we have been there on the front line from the beginning working long and hard extra hours and risking getting sick with covid or bringing it home to our kids and now from what I hear quite a few Payless stores are cutting workers hours and we cant make a good living off our normal wage

This is important to all essential worker for going above and beyond is such a trying time. We put our health and mental health at risk daily.

Albertson’s flimsy excuse from doing this has been that we can’t require people who claim an ADA medical exemption from wearing a mask. What they fail to mention to employees is that the ADA does not cover exemptions that put others in danger. Not wearing a mask in public places others in direct harm and should not be allowed.

We are essential workers, "superheroes" by corporate's own admission. They gave us t-shirts that say so, it must be official! The t-shirts request people to stay 6 feet away from workers on the floor. This is not enforced. Wearing a mask is not enforced. Our front line employees are being verbally abused and harassed by people not wearing masks. Our lives are in danger every day, every time we clock in. This isn't metaphorical, it is a scientific fact. If MoC cannot enforce the actions necessary to keep us safe, the VERY LEAST they can do is help us be financially more secure to offset the very real health insecurity we must endure simply to earn a paycheck, especially with the distribution of racial minorities within MoC to the lower paid departments.

When we completed our employee training, we were each deemed "certified sex nerds" but you might know us better as SESAs. The sex educator/sales associates of Good Vibrations Brookline and Cambridge have been proudly providing non-judgmental sex education to their communities for years. We have striven to create sex positive spaces which battle shame with empowerment and now we need your help to create a workplace that feels safe and empowering for us. The collective employees of these two Good Vibes locations known as Solidarity with East Coast Sex Educators or SECSE (yes, it IS pronounced 'sexy') have come together to demand consent and communication in how the company is run amidst this pandemic and beyond it. We want to amplify our voices on the ground and demand that our needs be addressed directly in the decision-making processes of this company. We love our jobs and many of us have proudly served our communities for 3+ years, learning as we teach others and working to continuously reassess accessibility and representation within our spaces. When we put our company name behind supporting LGBTQIA+, black, brown, disabled, sex worker, and otherwise marginalized voices, we at SECSE believe that the company should extend this support to their employees just as much as we provide it to our communities. Our west coast corporate office doesn't agree that our demands address problems which require immediate action. Good Vibrations cannot claim to serve these communities until they support EVERYONE in these communities including the very people who champion their cause during dangerous times. Stand up for quality sex education, stand up for LGBTQIA+ workers, stand up for consent and communication not just in our personal lives but our professional lives as well. Stand with SECSE!

Big Burrito laid off a large percentage of their hourly staff without warning and without addressing our safety concerns, leaving dozens of employees without their employer healthcare in the middle of a global pandemic. In the weeks since the lay off, they’ve publicly begun hiring for positions in their restaurant group and have required former employees to reapply and go through a review process with no guarantee that they will be rehired to their former position or rehired at the same wage. Despite their rhetoric of care and concern, the company has made no effort to change their internal operating procedures to prioritize the safety of their staff or their customers. This is dangerous for both employees and patrons. We don’t want any returning or future employees to have their health and well-being jeopardized in the same manner many of us were during the company’s first attempt at reopening at the beginning of June.

There should be no obstacles to people staying away from work if they could possibly be COVID positive

This letter is a Petition for Immediate Measures to be taken in order to protect and improve the lives of Fullbeauty fulfillment center workers during the COVID-19 crisis. At Fullbeauty we work hard, we look out for each other, and we are invested in the success of the company. We are Proud to work at Fullbeauty. However, Fullbeauty workers are currently subject to unfair, mandatory overtime that can leave us physically exhausted and more susceptible to Coronavirus infection. Furthermore, the excessive mandatory overtime is creating havoc in many of our households, as school schedules are in flux, and high quality, affordable, reliable child care is often difficult to find. Additionally, many of us without school aged children are feeling the pinch as we take on increased roles as caregivers for sick and elderly family members. In short, the current, unfair, mandatory overtime situation is hurting everybody. To make matters even worse, Fullbeauty has taken away our Hazard Pay despite the fact that contraction is again spiking in Indiana and all workers are at continued, serious risk of infection. With over $500 Million in annual revenue, Fullbeauty can certainly afford to reinstate Hazard Pay in recognition of our sacrifice to the company . Consequently, we the undersigned demand that Fullbeauty be a better corporate citizen during this health crisis by: Immediately suspending mandatory overtime for its distribution center employees and Immediately reinstating Hazard Pay for all workers We engage in this collective, concerted activity under the protection of Federal Law, specifically, Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. We are also prepared to engage in further actions that are also protected by the Act, as well as collective action designed to safeguard our immediate health and well-being from imminent danger as defined by OSHA, Standard number 1977.12 (b) (2). We anxiously await your response to our demand.

Grinnell has stated that they want to maintain a high quality college experience and education, even though we face an international crisis. With that in mind, they are asking us to pay the same amount of tuition and take on the same amount of debt. Grinnell works because we do, and that hasn't changed because of the pandemic. Now more than ever, we need paid remote positions so we can pay for our education, broaden our post-graduate opportunities, and provide ourselves and our peers with the same academic, social, and structural support during a time when most things feel uncertain and unsafe.

They are risking health for themselves,their families to serve public and continue to make Starbucks a successful corporation.