Media Advisory: As FDA Moves To Approve Vaccine, Local Warehouse and Temporary Staffing Agency Demand To Not Be Overlooked
As FDA Moves To Approve Vaccine and the Second Surge Rages, Warehouse and Temp Workers Urge Public Official To Include Them In Vaccine Deployment Plan
December 8th, Chicago, IL- Local essential warehouse and temporary staffing agency workers, along with local labor organizers, will host an Emergency Essential Worker Town & Press Conference to weigh in on vaccine plans currently being made by local and state health departments on the eve of the FDA’s COVID-19 vaccine approval. Outside of long-term care facilities, warehousing and manufacturing sites account for the largest portion of COVID-19 infections in Illinois, outpacing restaurants, bars, schools and social gatherings. While organizers believe the Illinois Public Health Departments (IDPH) and others understand the need to prioritize manufacturing and warehouse sites, concerns remain that IDPH is not making accommodations to address structural impediments in heavily “temped-out” industries where layers upon layers of subcontracting exist.
Of the 675,000 workers in Illinois’ temporary staffing industry, Illinois Department of Labor statistics reveal that 85% of this workforce are Black and Latinx. “We have to prioritize both direct hire employees in warehousing and manufacturing and the layers of subcontracting within this workforce, which include temporary staffing agency employees who are overwhelmingly people of color,” said Tommy Carden, organizer with Warehouse Workers for Justice. “We believe there is a correlation to high infections in these workplaces that then spread to Black and brown communities. If we want to address COVID-19 transmission in these communities, we need to vaccinate where people work, which includes the temp workers.”
WHO: Warehouse Workers for Justice, Chicago Workers Collaborative, Chicago Jobs With Justice and the Raise the Floor Alliance
WHAT: Emergency Essential Worker Town Hall & Press Conference
WHERE: Facebook Live via the Warehouse Workers for Justice Page
WHEN: Tuesday, December 8th 12pm CST
SPEAKERS: Chicagoland Warehouse, Factory Workers and Temp Workers
PRESS CONTACTS
Primary: Roberto Clack, Associate Director, 312.450.1972, roberto@warehouseworker.org
Based in Joliet Illinois, Warehouse Workers for Justice is a worker center fighting for stable, living-wage jobs in warehouses and distribution centers. We educate workers about labor rights, teach folks how to enforce their rights, organize in the workplace and community and fight for public and private policies that promote full-time work at decent wages in the warehouse industry.
The Chicago Workers Collaborative promotes the creation of stable, living-wage jobs with racial and gender equity for 650,000 temporary workers in the state of Illinois.
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