Trader Joe's employees have had all Covid benefits given and subsequently taken away within just the first year of the pandemic.

Trader Joe's store employees have been essential workers in the midst of this pandemic for almost 2 years at the time of writing this petition. In that 2 years, we have been given only 10 days of paid leave dedicated to Covid-related work absences. These 10 days had a deadline by which we were supposed to use them before we could no longer utilize them. That deadline was the end of the first year of the pandemic. We have gone another full year with no additional paid days off other than the hours we personally accrue through working, which we are supposed to be able to use for life events and vacations, not just sick days. Now we have to save those days in case we or someone we live with gets Covid.

They were also giving us an additional $2/hr, which later turned into $4/hr only to satisfy local ordinances which have since expired. They called this additional wage "Thank You Pay" for working during the pandemic. However, that Thank You Pay got taken away fairly quickly when it was thought the pandemic was nearing its end. It was never given back when it was realized that the pandemic was nowhere near over. In fact, we also lost what would have been one of our 2 permanent raises we're supposed to get in a year because we were receiving the temporary Thank You Pay at the time, so we will end up actually losing money over time.

Trader Joe's has a $13.3 Billion revenue and is continuing to open more stores around the country.

We believe it is well within the means of the corporation to give its employees more paid time off and the $4/hr Thank You Pay back at the very least. As things are now, there is no incentive at all for us to get tested for fear that we will have to miss work and not get paid for it. Because of this, we have seen an extreme rise in Covid cases amongst coworkers lately. We are human beings who have to pay bills and feed ourselves and our families. Many of us cannot afford to miss work, but we also cannot afford to keep spreading this virus and every workday is becoming a super spreader event. My Trader Joe's location alone has had 10 Crew Members out with covid at the same time, and more cases keep coming every day. People are putting themselves, coworkers, and customers at risk every day because we do not have any safety nets to help us in case we get Covid.

Please help us get the benefits we need and deserve as people who have been working hard to provide you with quality service with a smile while facing these incredibly difficult and unfair situations behind the scenes. Every signature helps show your support for the workers at your local neighborhood Trader Joe's, the real people who make your experiences at our stores great, and lets us know that you care about our wellbeing and livelihood. Thank you so much for your time and support!