Grocery worker: I know how much my company is making…

Anonymous – WA

I am a grocery worker. I live in Washington, where we lost our first person to COVID-19 on February 29th.

We have received no hazard pay, we are provided zero PPE, and we are not guaranteed paid time off if we get sick due to COVID-19.

We’ve been working through this pandemic with no protection since Day 1. We asked for masks to be provided, but we were told no masks were permitted. Some of us are making cloth masks to give away to all of our co-workers. I have access to view the sales of any of our 130 stores. I know how much money my company is making during this crisis. I have heard from corporate that "we can't afford masks" and "it wouldn't be right to take them from doctors and nurses." These are all empty justifications for not providing them. My company has also limited the sanitizing of my dept to "no more than 10-15 minutes" and "a quick wipe down" for a department with over 1,300 items for the customers to self-dispense. 

I have offered unsolicited advice to my company since early March. I have suggested requiring masks for all employees and customers. I have suggested what I call "single shoppers": no couples, and absolutely no families (with exceptions for elderly and single parents, of course). I would also recommend one-way aisles whenever possible. Metering the door and authorizing employees to enforce the 6ft rule would be a good start for any business. Doctors’ notes for sick employees should not be required at all during this time. 

Meanwhile, my kids struggle with mental health and are suicidal, both of them. I have asked for time off work to care for them, and I was told it was approved, only to be called later that day by HR, which said I have to file through FMLA instead. I am no closer to getting help for my kids, and I am getting phone calls to come back to work.

I can see the fear in all of my co-workers faces. Our cashiers work insane hours; all of our people are broken and defeated. We want to feel safety for the first time since this all started, but sadly there is no relief in sight. We are thankful to have money coming in, but no, we are not thankful to be working. Customers can be oblivious and careless, and also intimidating or threatening at times. We are "trespassing" customers at an unprecedented rate—we are removing them from the store for threatening employees or other customers. Two people were "trespassed" in less than one week for threatening me. 

We are scared, with no hazard pay, no masks, no protections, for our "employee owners." Although we have an ESOP (employee stock ownership program), at no point do we have any input within our company, which is a major corporation out of Idaho.

Hazard pay is temporary. I believe anyone working through this deserves hazard pay, but I believe we need to go beyond fighting for temporary measures. Living wages are something we all need, not just now, but always.

We need better protection from our companies, from firing at will, wage discrimination (and discrimination in general), hour cuts, unsafe working conditions. We need a higher minimum wage. Anyone working 40 hours a week in this country should be able to support themselves and their families. 

This pandemic proved that.