Coronavirus puts Bay Area grocery workers in the path of a pandemic
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - MARCH 13: A shopper wearing a mask purchases grocery items at a Target store on March 13, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. Some Americans are stocking up on food, toilet paper, water and other items after the World Health Organization (
OAKLAND, Calif. - To work at a grocery store right now is to potentially risk exposure to a virus that has caused a global pandemic. That’s not the job that most employees signed up for, and many Bay Area workers are upset and scared to go to work amid the coronavirus crisis, especially if they aren’t receiving hazard pay or offered paid leave. Some workers, including those at Safeway, Whole Foods and smaller, independent grocery stores, are organizing.
Employees who received increased pay and benefits described less disconcert, and more willingness to keep working than those who have the same pay, and no changes to benefits. For those with no hazard pay and no additional paid leave, and whose jobs have changed swiftly and indefinitely, work can be a source of dread and anxiety.
Many employees interviewed for the story were not able to give their names, as they’ve been instructed by management not to speak with the press. Others wished to stay anonymous for fear of retaliation by their employer for speaking about their work conditions.
“Basically somebody needs to sit everybody down and say, I'm sorry...your job description has changed overnight,” an employee at Good Earth Natural Foods, which has locations in Fairfax and Mill Valley, said. “And you are now in a hazardous situation...And then we're like the envy of everybody, because supposedly you still have a job. But then nobody wants to really speak up or make waves, because we're just like, happy that we have a job.”
A manager at a Bay Area grocery store described an environment of mounting chaos and dissatisfaction among employees, who do not feel sufficiently compensated or protected by the company.
“Our government is limiting interaction of everyone else, but because we are essential workers we have no choice,” the manager wrote in an email to KTVU. “We want to work, but our company will not provide hazard pay, and will make us use our own sick/vacation time if we want to stay home. Our concerns are that the two entities that govern our lives are not caring for our lives in this trying time.”
While some workers have negotiated increased pay or bonuses at their stores, many are still making little over minimum wage as they’re putting themselves at a tangible risk for infection.
Whole Foods employees who are part of the group called “Whole Worker”, which is working to unionize, staged a “sick-out” on Tuesday, using employees’ accrued sick time to protest a lack of healthcare for part-time and seasonal employees, guaranteed hazard pay and proper sanitation equipment.
The Good Earth employee said that she was upset to learn about other grocery store employees getting hazard pay, when there appears to be no plan for that at her job. She said Good Earth stepped up on controlling the amount of customers and sanitation, but that she had to bring her own mask to wear to work.
“They are giving us gloves, but nobody has a mask, nobody can find masks,” she said. “I have my own personal mask. And then there's like a weird pressure—I've actually been like, made fun of for wearing the mask. I've had somebody say ‘What's better than a mask is iodine.’”
Al Baylacq, an owner at Good Earth, said that the company has masks for employees, which he did not announce, and which employees must request in order to receive. He said that he thinks employees know about their stock of masks, and the company does not require employees to wear them.
He also said that he is not providing additional pay or hazard pay for employees. The store is also not providing additional sick leave across the board. Baylacq said that the company addresses both additional sick leave, and financial hardship on a case-by-case basis.
Jessica Hurtado, the Director of Marketing for Good Earth, told KTVU on Wednesday that the company waived their attendance policy, so employees are now not penalized for staying at home.
She also said that Good Earth did not provide an hourly increase to wages, but instead expedited their quarterly profit-sharing program, and is adding company funds beyond profits to the pool, which will go to all employees.
"What we've done instead is enhance and expand our quarterly profit share program," she said. She added that the profit share is typically only available to employees who have been working for 9 months, but for this quarter, they're giving it to all employees as a form of increased payment.
Hurtado also said she has been in touch with the local health department about guidance for grocery store workers wearing masks, and they have not yet required them. She said that she has been trying to get more masks to no avail.
She added that Good Earth started an emergency PTO program for people who are sick, and for staff members who are over the age of 65. For people who apply and are eligible, they will receive about 80% of their pay during their extended amount of time at home.
“We do not want people coming in here sick,” Baylacq said. “And one of the reasons we know with this level of staff, you know, this class of folks can't necessarily afford to...if they got a cough or a sniffle, they’re still going to work.”
Baylacq said that he recently saw a cashier crying at work while speaking to her manager, and he understood that she was upset because she lives with her mother, who lost her job, and was unable to come up with money for rent this month. He said her situation is “pretty dramatic” and that the company would try to help her, and others, on a case-by-case basis.
“I got 500 people that work for us in two stores,” he said. “So we're, we're a relatively small business in the corporation world. And so our ability to take care of everybody in situations like this, even those who maybe don't necessarily need it, is where we draw the line.”
The Good Earth employee, who reported that she makes $16.15 an hour, said that she thinks employees don’t want to speak up because they’re happy they still have a job. Some employees supported a petition online was started two weeks ago, asking that Good Earth’s owners grant workers a living wage.
Similar petitions, such as one at Berkeley Bowl market, have proven successful. After amassing thousands of signatures online, employees were granted an additional $2 per hour hazard pay through April 18th.
Safeway, which is one of the Bay Area’s largest private sector employers, passed an agreement with their union, United Food & Commercial Workers Local 5, towards the start of the shelter in place order.
A veteran butcher of over 20 years, who works at a Bay Area Safeway, said that he was pleased with the results of the agreement. That agreement also includes an additional $2 per hour raise, as well as up to two weeks pay for people who are sick or need to quarantine.
“It's been busier, believe it or not. Lots of overtime,” he said. “You know, and working six, seven days a week,” he said. “It's kind of weird. I mean, a lot of people are sitting at home and getting laid off and we're working tons of hours. It's crazy.”
Samia Shahin, who works at a grocery store in Contra Costa County, also said that she has been working a lot more since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, including overtime. She said that she is appreciative of all the extra business at her store, because she can make more money.
Shahin said that overall, most customers visiting her store have been fine to deal with, but when certain customers lose their composure, it’s taxing and frustrating.
“Some people understand, some have attitude with you,” she said. “And, the other day, I had this incident where I was shocked...we had a long line, very long line, and this lady...apparently she didn't want to wait in line, and she came up to my line...And I told her, ‘Ma'am, I apologize, but the line is all the way there.’ And she just threw everything. She just threw everything on the floor.”
The Good Earth employee said that she is worried about the elderly shoppers who come into the store, because she worried she could be a “silent carrier” of the virus without showing any symptoms. She said she felt extremely guilty when she got diarrhea and spoke with her doctor, who would not give her a test, but she continued going to work.
“In the non-union part of the industry, I mean, workers are really at the whims of their employer,” said Jim Araby, the Director of Strategic Communications for Local 5. “They have no say in anything.”
Araby said that when coronavirus hit the Bay Area, his union created a form online where members can submit questions and concerns. Grocery store employees seem to be asking 3 main questions: what if someone in my family is at high risk for the virus, and I could bring it home to them? What if I, myself, am at high risk for the virus? What protections are in place for me as a worker?