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Bullcsrl*� Kepple, Litten,'N.p.ff, O'Malley, Rader,
<br />Sh achner
<br />RESOLUTION 2020-56 BY:
<br />A RESOLUTION supporting an essential workers bill of rights.
<br />WHEREAS, our country has been under the grips of a raging pandemic that has mercilessly
<br />spread across our nation, taking lives and livelihoods without warning or recourse for thousands
<br />of workers and families; and,
<br />WHEREAS, since the beginning of the crisis, heroes have emerged from within our
<br />community, dutifully continuing to do the work that is needed to keep our country and our
<br />communities afloat, to care for us and our loved ones, to keep us fed, to educate and care for our
<br />children, to keep our lights on, and to give all of us the ability to live, work, and learn; and,
<br />WHEREAS, because these workers were needed to keep our country from complete
<br />collapse, these workers have been designated by the government as "essential workers," giving
<br />them the ability to continue to go to work despite lock -down orders that were put in place around
<br />the country because it was not safe for people to go out; and,
<br />WHEREAS, essential workers include, but are not limited to, domestic workers,
<br />farmworkers, first responders, doctors, teachers, nurses, home care workers and other healthcare
<br />workers, grocery store and drug store employees, food service workers, federal, state, and
<br />municipal employees, janitorial staff, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, transportation workers,
<br />frontline financial workers, and child care workers; and,
<br />WHEREAS, even as essential workers have been celebrated by the people, communities,
<br />policymakers, and institutions that depend on and benefit from their labor, too many of them are
<br />low -wage workers, who: face risks to their health and safety at workplaces that continue to be
<br />unprepared, often lacking workplace controls, protocols, and personal protective equipment; face
<br />higher rates of getting sick or dying from COVID-19; experience long-standing workplace
<br />inequities and injustices due to a lack of enforcement of even the most basic legal protections; and
<br />who have no guarantee of basic, legal, health and economic security, including but not limited to
<br />a minimum wage, living wage, overtime pay, fair scheduling, paid sick leave and health benefits,
<br />and the right to unionize; and,
<br />WHEREAS, essential workers at the greatest risk and with the fewest protections
<br />disproportionally include women of color and immigrants; and,
<br />WHEREAS, many essential workers have been excluded from the benefits of coronavirus
<br />relief and the existing safety net, and are falling further behind due to exorbitant medical bills,
<br />bankruptcy, and the high cost of housing, among many other factors; and,
<br />WHEREAS, this crisis has revealed with acute clarity the costs and moral bankruptcy of
<br />these vast and tragic long-standing inequities impacting essential workers and provided the
<br />opportunity for building a better world; Now, therefore,
<br />BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD, OHIO:
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