I’m a telemarketer, and wasn’t allowed to work from home.

Matt B – Mikwaukee, WI

Up until the governor ordered non-essential workplaces to close on Wednesday of this week, going to work was full of risk for me and my family. I work in a small office with about 15-30 people on any given day. I take the bus to work. The bus company in Milwaukee will not tell us which route the bus driver worked on who tested positive. You could tell there was no extra cleaning on the buses; they were as dirty as ever. 

The bosses literally have the ability to let us work from home but because the state government was slow in shutting down businesses, we were being required to come in. A lot of my coworkers were upset about the risk. I live with two family members who have compromised immune systems. Other coworkers are in the same position. 

Management said desks, which are shared, were being cleaned, but there was no evidence of that. In fact, one day I came in and found bits of food on my keyboard. One coworker, a supervisor, was clearly sick with cold symptoms at work. We don’t have any benefits or sick time at my job, so people don’t have good choices if they’re not feeling well.  

I don’t have any choice but to keep working. One of my family members got laid off already, and we could lose our house. 

Finally, because of the governor’s order, I’m working from home now. I’m glad the governor is moving in the right direction but a lot more needs to be done to make sure workers get through this crisis. I still don’t think he understands the gravity of the situation. People are not taking his “safer at home order” seriously. We need free healthcare with mass testing for coronavirus. Rent and mortgage payments should be suspended with no back payments owed. Every worker needs adequate sick pay. 

One thing that is positive is that people are starting to band together because they don’t have income and they can’t make rent. We need a lot more of this on a bigger scale to build a political force for working people that challenges the status quo. We are all in this together.