Group holds vigil at convenience store to speak up for workers’ rights

A group of young people kept a vigil all night outside an East Vancouver Mac’s convenience store to speak up for workers’ rights.

They are calling for ‘Grant’s Law’ to be restored to its original version. The legislation was created in memory of Grant DePatie, a gas station employee killed while trying to stop a gas-and-dash in Maple Ridge.

The original version of the law required a physical barrier, or for two employees to work overnight shifts, however some businesses said the measures cost too much.

“Mac’s is one of the businesses that pushed for the watering down of Grant’s Law and pushed for a third option, which meant that instead of two workers being on site or a worker being in a cage, that they would be connected to a panic button,” said activist Alanna Mullholland. “That panic button could just go to a supervisor and often gets unheard.”