MEDIA ADVISORY: Southern Workers Assembly to hold press conference on worker safety February 16 at 7:00 p.m.

RALEIGH (February 16, 2022) – Join the emergency statewide day of action on February 16. Members of the Southern Workers Assembly as well as dozens of unions, workplaces, and community organizations are organizing rallies at their workplaces with common demands to keep workers safe. Workplace actions include wearing stickers on the job, workplace rallies, press conferences, and more.

Press can register here for the Statewide Digital Rally press conference at 7:00 p.m. 

The Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus continue to threaten workplace safety. Recently, an Amazon worker at the Garner RDU1 Fulfillment Center as well as a Charlotte City light rail operator died of COVID-19. This is an emergency. Employers and the NC Department of Labor are not moving to implement emergency standards to keep workers safe.

Who: Southern Workers Assembly as well as dozens of unions and labor organizations

What: Workplace rallies and press conferences

When: Wednesday, February 16, from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The statewide Zoom press conference will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Where: At workplaces across the state

Actions are currently being organized in:

  • Fayetteville — Leaflet action at Valley Proteins Plant 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. | For more info contact 910-580-6510
  • Raleigh — Rally at NCSU Chancellor’s Office (20 Watauga Club Drive) at 1:00 p.m.
  • Durham — Rally at Amazon Delivery Station DRT1 (224 N. Hoover Rd.) at 12:00 p.m. | For more info contact 919-539-2051
  • Asheville— Press conference at Mission Hospital (at the intersection of Hospital Drive and Biltmore Avenue) | Organized by NNOC/NNU, contact 865-318-4811 for more info
  • Asheville — Rally at Pack Square at 12:00 p.m. | Organized by ATU Local 128 Bus Drivers, contact 828-423-6737 for more info

Working people are uniting to demand that employers and the government grant the following:

  1. Hazard pay
  2. Universal paid sick leave
  3. Universal healthcare — Medicare for all!
  4. Employer-provided N95 masks each day
  5. Required masking on public transit, public schools, and at public events
  6. Required testing before returning to work after quarantine or positive test
  7. Free weekly testing
  8. Employers to enforce social distancing
  9. Enforced and timely contract tracing and communication
  10. Sanitation of workstations and work vehicles
  11. Employers to share testing rates weekly and work locations
  12. Protect and expand the right to form and join a union

The Statewide Digital Rally report back and press conference will be held at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom. To join, please register here.