No one should ever have to fear for their life while at work. This is why workers have rights to a safe workplace, free from violent harassment, and are protected in the U.S. by the Occupational Safety & Health Act. Despite this, 7-Eleven workers in the Elmwood Village and across Buffalo have repeatedly had their lives threatened.

Over the past three months there have been three armed robberies at our store alone. After one of the robberies the worker, who was faced with a man with a gun, was written up and punished for having too much money in her drawer.

Customers harass the workers with racial and sexual slurs, and there have been threats to rape and/ or kill workers. On some occasions, irate costumers have actually followed workers around the store, and spit on them. These are not just empty threats either: on February 22nd a man raped and robbed a woman working at the 7-Eleven on Hertel and Niagara at 5am.

Workers have requested help from the store manager, and not only has he refused to do anything, he has reduced the number of workers on the overnight shift, from two, to one. The local OSHA office has also been contacted repeatedly about the dangerous work environment. Unfortunately not even the federal administration, charged with responding to violations of workers’ rights, saw anything wrong with the situation.

Given that workers have a legal right to a workplace free from violence, we demand that our local 7-Eleven stores:

1. Hire a security guard for the evening and overnight shifts
2. Have a minimum of two workers scheduled on all shifts

Please, stand with us for the safety of the 7-Eleven workers in the Elmwood Village and across Buffalo.