With so much focus on the risks taken and sacrifices made by health care workers, clerks who run registers and stock shelves at the neighborhood grocery receive less mention. They’re putting themselves at risk in low-wage jobs that allow the rest of us to sit indoors during the pandemic eating snacks and watching Netflix (Associated Press):
They disinfect keypads, freezer handles and checkout counters as hundreds of people weave around them, sometimes standing too close for comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some work for hours behind clear plastic barriers installed at checkout counters, bulwarks against sudden sneezes or coughs that can propel germs.
They aren’t doctors or nurses, yet they have been praised for their dedication by Pope Francis, former U.S. President Barack Obama and countless people on social media, as infections and death counts rise.
From South Africa to Italy to the U.S., grocery workers — many in low-wage jobs — are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing. Some fear falling sick or bringing the virus home to vulnerable loved ones, and frustration is mounting as some demand better workplace protections, including shorter hours to allow them to rest, and “hazard” pay for working closely with the public.
Two workers at a Chicago-area Walmart have died of the virus. CNN reports several chains have pledged to provide workers with masks, but face the same sourcing problems states and hospitals face. A Walmart vice president told reporters his firm will need over seven million masks per week but does not expect their first shipment for another week or two.
It didn’t have to be this way. The Trump administration in 2018 “received detailed plans for a new machine designed to churn out millions of protective respirator masks at high speed.” The pandemic preparedness project originated in 2015 under the Obama administration. However, Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services never built the machine. “It is sad, because we really did see this coming,” Howard Cohen, professor of occupational safety at the University of New Haven, told the Washington Post. The machine was designed to fabricate 1.5 million masks per day. (Election Day is Tuesday, November 3.)
U.S. grocery and food delivery workers are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing. Whole Foods workers called for a recent “sickout” to demand better conditions, including double pay. A group of independent contractors for the Instacart grocery delivery service walked out to force more protections.
Some chains are responding with pay boosts and protective equipment, and by limiting the number of customers in the store at once. AP reports that Walmart “is taking the temperatures of its nearly 1.5 million employees when they report to work.”
Do them a favor. Wear a mask when you go.
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Note: The pandemic will upend standard field tactics in 2020. If enough promising “improvisations” come my way by June, perhaps I can issue a COVID-19 supplement.