Personal protective equipment rally sanitation workers, janitors

Handling trash is risky business. While some municipal collection agencies have enhanced sanitation practices and provided additional protective personal equipment, or PPE, to employees, other workplaces have been slower to adapt to the pandemic.

In early April, workers at a McDonald’s in San Jose went on strike, after demands for PPE went unanswered.

“Health is first,” said Jorge Tellez, one of the striking workers. “The health of my customers and the health of my family.”

Sanitation worker
A sanitation worker makes his rounds around downtown Sunnyvale, Calif., picking up litter in parking lots and consolidating trash in the city's public bins. April 14, 2020. (Vanessa Ochavillo/Peninsula Press)
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Correction: The original version used an incorrect pronunciation of David Biderman’s name.

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