By now, the sight of ravaged grocery store shelves across the United States has become grimly familiar—and those right-wing memes about food shopping in Venezuela are suddenly as scarce as hen’s teeth—as the country struggles to contain the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic. Grocery stores have become ground zero in the battle over social distancing and the site of endless disheartening displays of misguided resource hoarding. Worse, millions of underpaid and overworked grocery store workers are now on the receiving end of the public’s panic over the pandemic—as well as their germs.
Not only does the nature of their work put all grocery store employees—from cashiers to floor workers to those in the warehouse—at high risk of exposure to the virus, they’re also forced to deal with customers’ increasingly nasty attitudes, as supplies run out and shelves sit empty. This added emotional labor is, of course, unpaid, and many hourly workers are braving such conditions without the protection of a union or a living wage, to say nothing of paid sick leave or hazard pay. Through it all, there’s continued pressure coming from above for them to stay smiling as the world around them crumbles. These essential workers are being treated as disposable. As one told me yesterday, “It’s hard to feel like an essential worker when you don’t have health care.”
Even people who work at supposedly more progressive chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (at least until its Amazon takeover) are anxious, tired, and afraid, and they certainly aren’t being paid enough to deal with these extraordinary circumstances—especially when the hand sanitizer runs out, and emotions at the cash register run high.
“None of us ever expected to be emergency workers; the idea of an ‘essential worker’ is a totally new concept that no grocery store bag boy considers when they drop off an application,” a current Whole Foods worker who prefers to stay anonymous told me. “There’s all of this rhetoric around how we’re just as important as the doctors, and yes, that’s true, but we’re getting paid way less, and medical workers have a little bit more of an idea of the risks that they are setting themselves up for. . . . We’re not used to this shit.” (...)
The lack of safety and support in the workplace is even more of a problem now that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has thrust Trader Joe’s workers and their fellow grocery store workers onto the front lines of a public health crisis. As a current TJ’s worker based in a Manhattan store put it, “Trader Joes does not give a fuck about human beings; at the end of the day, this is just progressive-themed corporate retail without a soul.”
Trader Joe’s isn’t the only crunchy liberal favorite that has been coming under fire from its frightened and frustrated workforce. Whole Foods—another grocery chain with a notorious allergy to unions—has also failed its workers during this fraught time. The company has taken only incremental measures to protect them, like promising workers up to two weeks of sick leave contingent on a positive COVID-19 test at a time when the vast majority of civilians cannot access them, and offering a $2 hourly wage increase through April. Meanwhile, the chain’s parent company is literally owned by the richest man in the world. (...)
Back in January, Whole Foods cut health care benefits for 1,900 of its part-time workers, a decision that now appears especially cruel. As the Chicago worker told me, “Any kind of argument about money saving or profitability just seems totally absurd when we’re owned by Jeff Bezos. There’s no rationalization for not giving your workers health insurance during a pandemic.”
A group called Whole Worker has since launched a public campaign to hold Whole Foods accountable. They have organized a sickout today in order to bring attention to their demands, which include guaranteed paid sick leave for workers who self-quarantine, hazard pay, proper sanitation procedures, and reinstating the health care benefits that were lost in January. Since Whole Foods has temporarily relaxed its attendance policy, those who participate in the sickout can do so without fear of reprisal, which is a huge advantage when dealing with a company so adamantly opposed to collective organizing.
Matthew Hunt, a former Whole Foods worker who says he was fired in 2017 for trying to start a union, spent several years with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) before reconnecting with some of his former colleagues and starting Whole Worker. Hunt, who lives in Queens, theorizes that the company is actively trying to cover up the number of employees who have already been exposed. “They’re just protecting their profits. That’s what they do, so I wouldn’t expect anything less from the employing class, especially Jeff fucking Bezos,” he says. “They want people to either quit or to show up to work. They really don’t give a shit about employees.”
Not only does the nature of their work put all grocery store employees—from cashiers to floor workers to those in the warehouse—at high risk of exposure to the virus, they’re also forced to deal with customers’ increasingly nasty attitudes, as supplies run out and shelves sit empty. This added emotional labor is, of course, unpaid, and many hourly workers are braving such conditions without the protection of a union or a living wage, to say nothing of paid sick leave or hazard pay. Through it all, there’s continued pressure coming from above for them to stay smiling as the world around them crumbles. These essential workers are being treated as disposable. As one told me yesterday, “It’s hard to feel like an essential worker when you don’t have health care.”Even people who work at supposedly more progressive chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (at least until its Amazon takeover) are anxious, tired, and afraid, and they certainly aren’t being paid enough to deal with these extraordinary circumstances—especially when the hand sanitizer runs out, and emotions at the cash register run high.
“None of us ever expected to be emergency workers; the idea of an ‘essential worker’ is a totally new concept that no grocery store bag boy considers when they drop off an application,” a current Whole Foods worker who prefers to stay anonymous told me. “There’s all of this rhetoric around how we’re just as important as the doctors, and yes, that’s true, but we’re getting paid way less, and medical workers have a little bit more of an idea of the risks that they are setting themselves up for. . . . We’re not used to this shit.” (...)
The lack of safety and support in the workplace is even more of a problem now that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has thrust Trader Joe’s workers and their fellow grocery store workers onto the front lines of a public health crisis. As a current TJ’s worker based in a Manhattan store put it, “Trader Joes does not give a fuck about human beings; at the end of the day, this is just progressive-themed corporate retail without a soul.”
Trader Joe’s isn’t the only crunchy liberal favorite that has been coming under fire from its frightened and frustrated workforce. Whole Foods—another grocery chain with a notorious allergy to unions—has also failed its workers during this fraught time. The company has taken only incremental measures to protect them, like promising workers up to two weeks of sick leave contingent on a positive COVID-19 test at a time when the vast majority of civilians cannot access them, and offering a $2 hourly wage increase through April. Meanwhile, the chain’s parent company is literally owned by the richest man in the world. (...)
Back in January, Whole Foods cut health care benefits for 1,900 of its part-time workers, a decision that now appears especially cruel. As the Chicago worker told me, “Any kind of argument about money saving or profitability just seems totally absurd when we’re owned by Jeff Bezos. There’s no rationalization for not giving your workers health insurance during a pandemic.”
A group called Whole Worker has since launched a public campaign to hold Whole Foods accountable. They have organized a sickout today in order to bring attention to their demands, which include guaranteed paid sick leave for workers who self-quarantine, hazard pay, proper sanitation procedures, and reinstating the health care benefits that were lost in January. Since Whole Foods has temporarily relaxed its attendance policy, those who participate in the sickout can do so without fear of reprisal, which is a huge advantage when dealing with a company so adamantly opposed to collective organizing.
Matthew Hunt, a former Whole Foods worker who says he was fired in 2017 for trying to start a union, spent several years with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) before reconnecting with some of his former colleagues and starting Whole Worker. Hunt, who lives in Queens, theorizes that the company is actively trying to cover up the number of employees who have already been exposed. “They’re just protecting their profits. That’s what they do, so I wouldn’t expect anything less from the employing class, especially Jeff fucking Bezos,” he says. “They want people to either quit or to show up to work. They really don’t give a shit about employees.”
by Kim Kelly, The Baffler | Read more:
Image: Wikimedia Commons
[ed. See also: We Keep You Alive (The Baffler); “Amazon Is a Breeding Ground”; Nationalize Amazon (Jacobin); and We Need Amazon During the Coronavirus. That’s a Problem. (NY Times).]
