"The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s official death toll stands at 15,162 after 269 deaths and 10,537 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Saturday. Overall, the county’s confirmed case total reached 1,064,887"(COVID-19 toll deepens in Los Angeles County as more than 5,000 die in less than a month by Andrew J. Campa from The Los Angeles Times). It is no secret that Amazon is notoriously known for being one of the worst companies to work for but here we are again to bring awareness of the cruel, unjust, unfair, the awful exploitation of workers and inhumane conditions we the workers have to deal with as being "essential" here at Whole Foods Market/Amazon.

Goals: 

• Work towards forming a Union here at Whole Foods Market/Amazon. We live in a democratic nation but when it comes down to our workplace(mind you most of us work 40+ hours a week and spend most of our lives at a company) we are stripped from our voice, exploited for our labor to create profit for the 2nd richest business man in the world. A business can survive without a CEO but a business cannot survive without its workers.
• Bring back the extra 2$ raise(ncrease wages), pay workers the time and a half Hazard Pay we deserve for working through a pandemic. Helping ensure that we can pay rent and have money for emergencies during a time of crisis. 
• Urge leadership to stop breaking CA safety regulations. How can we social distance when the company is exceeding the amount of people allowed in the store at a time? Customers are walking into the store shopping with no PPE.
• Provide us with on-sight free testings.Though there is free public testing, CA residents must have a car to drive up to most testing sights. Some Team Members rely on public transportation so for our convenience, safety and security please provide us with free testing.  

Confirmed Cases here at 3rd/Fairfax:

• April 11, 2020- 3 cases have been reported
• April 15, 2020- 1 case has been reported
• June 5, 2020- 1 case has been reported
• June 29,2020- 1 has been reported 
• August 3, 2020
• August 9, 2020
• August 24, 2020
• August 30, 2020
• September 23, 2020
• September 30, 2020
• October 1, 2020 multiple cases reported
• November 4, 2020
• November 13, 2020
• November 30, 2020 multiple cases reported
• December 3, 2020 multiple cases reported
• December 8, 2020
• December 10, 2020 multiple cases reported
• December 11, 2020
• December 13, 2020
• December 15, 2020
• December 16, 2020 multiple cases reported 
• December 18, 2020
• December 21, 2020 multiple cases reported 
• December 22, 2020
• December 30, 2020
• December 31, 2020 multiple cases reported 
• January 1, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 3, 2021
• January 6, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 8, 2021
• January 10, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 12, 2021
• January 16, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 17, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 21, 2021 multiple cases reported
• January 23, 2021

We ask those to whom it may concern to bring back our extra pay. As we clock into work not only are we risking our lives but we risk the lives of those around us-our family, coworkers and friends. It is sad to see the day that Whole Foods no longer holds itself to the high standards it once did, what ever happened to our core value, "We Support Team Member excellence and Happiness"? We are not happy, we are scared, we are stressed, we are overworked, we are taken advantage of and most importantly we are tired. How can we be risking our lives everyday and yet barely make ends meet while those under Government aid recieving unemployment checks are earning more than us "essential" workers? Help us feel safe, help us feel as if we matter because right now our spirits are low. Who wants to come into work knowing you can get paid more to stay at home? With hazard pay we can cut back on days we work, instead of working 5 days a week we can work 3 days but because of the extra pay it will balance itself out and also help the social distancing between team members. We won't be overworking our employees as well. The spread of this virus has not stopped and it will continue to grow in rapid rate.

There have been a handful of days when im at work and I see a huge line that wraps around nearly halfway across the store, turn over to the entrance door and notice that the security guards and leadership are still allowing people to enter the grocery store. How can we social distance from the public when we were not regulating on how many people enter the store at a time? 6 confirmed cases and yet not one word has been said to the public. We are withholding information which i firmly believe is a violation to public safety. Who wants to go to a grocery store that has had confirmed cases? We check temperature for our Team Members but what about the public? For obvious reasons we do not check their temperature but its why we have regulations of letting people in in the first place. Just last week we have had 3 incidents of shoppers who refused to wear a mask and it is not uncommon to see shoppers walking around with their mask worn improperly. A suggestion I have is to minimalize the contact with the public by not primarily being a walk in store and become a mainly curbside pickup location. Everyone has a phone and for the time being give free memberships for Amazon Prime for shoppers to order online. We lower the risks of more cases and minimalize the contact with the public. There are stores in the area who have altered their stores to be curbside pickups so it can be done.

Lastly Whole Foods and Amazon should provide its workers with free Covid Testings. In the article "Capatalism is literally killing America" written by  Umair Haque he states "Jeff Bezos is worth $113 billion...Either Bezos or Zuck or Buffett — or any number of penny-ante mega-billionaires — could pay for all the ventilators America needs right now, and not even blink. Not even think twice.". With that type of money it would make sense to be able to provide free testing. Bring an outside party to come into our store and provide the test. Sure California has free public testings now but as I stated there are a few team members who do not own a car or have a reliable source of transportation.

UPDATE(January 24, 2021): after exploiting workers Jeff Bezos' net worth is now 191.5 billion(Forbes, Real Time Net Worth Jeff Bezos).

"All employers need to prioritize the health and safety of their workforce at this time" says Stuart Applebaum who is a labor representative of the Retail, Warehouse, Department Store Union(RWDSU) in New York and right now after being in the middle of a pandemic for almost 4 months now, I can strongly say that Whole Foods and Amazon has not stepped up. Firing Christian Smalls (former Amazon warehouse employee) and those who protested against the harsh working condition, protested against the violations of human rights in thier workplace in New York shows where the priorities are here at Whole Foods/Amazon, they prefer profits over people. When signing the petition it isn't just for my store but for all store nationwide. I strongly urge you to sign, share this petition and bring awareness to this situation. We aren't just your local grocery store workers, we are your friends, your brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, we are human beings. Together we can make a change!

Thank you for your time to read through and helping us out in our time of need. I really don't know how this will play out but im tired of sitting around, seeing another one of my friends, another co worker of mine get sick. Im tired of feeling hopeless working for a titan of a company that is Amazon/Whole Foods Market. At this point i dont know what the next step is after this petition, I cant do it alone. If you have any leads or can point me to the right direction please don't be afraid to come out!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart,

Your friend, your neighbor, your family member, your local essential worker.