Devil's Advocate: In a sane world where nobody uses the Oxford comma, that sentence would be equally as clear. The other meaning would have needed to be writte

Devil's Advocate: In a sane world where nobody uses the Oxford comma, that sentence would be equally as clear. The other meaning would have needed to be written differently, in an Oxford commaless world: >"The canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing (for shipment or distribution) or distribution of:" /End Devil's Advocate Since the law says not to use an Oxford comma, writing the rule should take that into consideration. I'd rule in favor of the workers because distribution is clearly not included in the Oxford commaless list which is what the drafting guidelines say to do. I actually see no ambiguity in this case because the law should have been written without the Oxford comma in mind at all.