The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a motion on March 30 to protect retail grocery, drug store and food delivery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The motion authored by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, 2nd District, and co-authored by Supervisor Janice Hann, 4th District, aims to provide workers with the supplies, tools and equipment necessary to protect them and the public.

“As the necessary precautions to protect our most first responders and health care workers are being put in place across the country, we must not forget our workers in the delivery service industry,” Ridley-Thomas said. “In these difficult times, a visit to the grocery store makes extraordinarily clear that food and grocery delivery drivers are essential workers and we must do all that we can to protect them.”

Since the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency on March 4 and the Los Angeles County Health Officer issued a revised Safer at Home order on March 21, retail grocery and drug stores have remained open to provide essential services while many other brick and mortar stores have temporarily closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many people who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus, including those aged 65 and older or with underlying health conditions, have turned to food delivery services.

“We’re now two weeks into this crisis and we still do not have uniform standards across all grocery stores and pharmacies to protect workers and customers. Grocery workers are essential and they need basic protections no matter where they are working,” said John Grant, president of UFCW Local 770, a union representing grocery store employees and other workers.

The motion calls for employers to sanitize and stock all bathrooms with necessary supplies, clean stores and shopping carts between uses, require employees to wash their hands every 30 minutes and provide sanitizing stations at the entrance of all stores. It also required them to provide adequate security to enforce social distancing, establish operating hours to restock, provide access to COVID-19 testing and support employees in addressing childcare and family needs. The measure prohibits retaliation against employees for exercising their rights.

For information, visit publichealth.lacounty.gov.