As the U.S. begins to shut down more and more non-essential operations, those that are essential are becoming more and more critically evident. Certainly, the necessity of our medical professionals, EMT, EMS, paramedics, fire, and police forces go without saying, but many unsung heroes have yet to be acknowledged. Beyond an acknowledgment they are also being left behind with respect to proper safety protocols to prevent exposure to COVID-19.

Dwarfed behind the known shortages of masks and other necessary equipment reserved for the medical field, there are few if any mentions of the shortage of critical protective gear for our essential employees in the food and grocery industry. This change.org petition is a call to action to all leaders within the grocery industry, including our government, to establish an immediate action plan to distribute protective equipment to the front lines of this pandemic. Our grocery employees are asked each day to subject themselves to the masses and a large number of people infected with the corona virus with nothing more than an alleged promise of paid sick leave, for which guidelines are still being established.

Much of the grocery industry employees are low-income and often part-time. As such, they rely explicitly on their revenue to sustain their families and their own wellbeing. These atypical first-responders, just as many other first-responders, are unable to work remotely to escape the dangers of this pandemic through quarantine.  As their ability to work remotely is impossible, all first responders should be immediately be afforded hazard pay in addition to essential protective gear.

The parallels between medical first-responders and grocery store workforce and delivery shoppers (Shipt) can be made as both provide life sustaining duties in our first-world society. A simple google search of toilet paper shortage exacerbates our first-world failure to self-sustain without these unsung heroes’ support. Bearing this in mind, please join this petition through signature and share through social media, as this lifeline of essential services is extremely critical to the general civil rest and sanity of our society.

A personal pen to check action from Doug McMillon (Walmart CEO), Jeff Bezos (Amazon CEO), Rodney McMullen (Kroger CEO), Rick Keyes (Meijer CEO), Jim Donald (Safeway/Albertsons CEO), Paul Gossett (Jewel Osco CEO), Craig Jelinek (Costco CEO), and many more grocer active or past CEOs could quickly alleviate the certainty of spread of sickness to this highly vulnerable working class by providing protective gear to these lifeline employees. 2018 numbers show that the grocery and supermarket industry is a $646.4 billion dollar sector undeniably vital to the healthcare and economic wellbeing of our nation.