Posted inUncategorized

We have a problem in aisle 5

Grocery workers assess the risks they face
by Sarah Betancourt
04/10/20
A shopper dons a mask outside of Trader Joe's in Cambridge during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Sarah Betancourt)

EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE these days to be inside a supermarket, but few people know what it’s like to be in the shoes of the essential workers who keep those stores running.

On the Codcast, Boston-based Stop and Shop employee Jose Lopes and Whole Foods worker Dan offered their assessment of the risks they face these days working at grocery stores during the coronavirus pandemic. (Dan has asked that his last name not be used.)

Lopes unloads groceries from trucks, and spends the second part of his shift on the floor. “It’s extremely hectic. I wouldn’t imagine in the 38 years I’ve worked at Stop and Shop that I’d be seeing this,” he said.

Stop and Shop has provided its workers with gloves and a N95 mask, which must be reused several times since they are in short supply. Lopes said he’s concerned about wearing the mask so many times when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends only wearing it once.

“I go in with the mask and gloves. I try not to take them off, to take a break, or eat anything,” he said. “Keep the mask on until you go home.”

Dan, a shelf stocker, said it’s almost impossible to not come in contact with customers who pass by in aisles and come up close to workers to ask questions. Whole Foods has tape on the floor spacing people out, but besides the six-foot distance from whomever is checking out at the cash register, customers don’t always respect that spacing.

Lopes said the new rule allowing in only customers equal to 40 percent of the capacity of the store at a time is “not enough.”

The two employees also have concerns about how their stores handle situations when workers test positive. “We’re calling for stores to be shut down until they’re safe for employees and customers to come back and reopen,” Dan said.

“At Stop and Shop it’s really hush-hush,” said Lopes. “They try to find out information about who the person was in contact with so they can call that person, but they’re not informing anyone.”

Lopes said more disclosure is needed. “This is not a game. This is extremely dangerous. Employers need to take every precaution for employees and customers,” he said. Just last week, 59-year-old Market Basket employee Vitalina Williams died of coronavirus, marking the first death of a grocery store worker in Massachusetts.

Stop and Shop offers employees paid sick-time, recently negotiated by Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers. At Whole Foods, employees get two weeks of paid sick-time if employees prove they tested positive for COVID-19.

The attitude toward masks has also changed, as it has in society at large. Whole Foods employees were instructed in March not to wear masks, with many employees reporting they were told that this would scare customers. A Whole Food email to employees on April 13 said the company will require all employees and shoppers to wear masks.

On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal for an “essential workers’ Bill of Rights” that would include work site evacuation after someone tests positives to allow for proper cleaning, premium compensation, and paid sick and medical leave.

There are believed to be around 21 cases of COVID-19 at Whole Foods locations across Massachusetts that have been reported in the media, and have been mentioned privately to employees, according to the Whole Worker National Organizing Committee, a group of hundreds of Whole Foods employees.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced Sunday that grocery store workers can now get tested free of charge for COVID-19 at the drive-thru testing site at Gillette Stadium and at the Big E fairgrounds in West Springfield.

Grocery store employees do not need to be symptomatic to be tested, but they do need to have a request for testing from a supervisor. Appointments can be scheduled for the next day, with results turned around within 48 hours for symptomatic employees, and three to five days for those without symptoms.

Hazard pay is a 10 percent increase in the workers’ base pay. Lopes thinks it’s not enough and says he should be paid time-and-a-half. Dan said Whole Foods has increased hourly wages by $2 an hour. “But consider the risk people are taking,” he says. “Workers have started dying and, with the concern of bringing it home to grandparents and family, it needs to be more,” he said.

Sarah Betancourt is a long-time Latina reporter in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Commonwealth, Sarah was a breaking news reporter for The Associated Press in Boston, and a correspondent with The Boston...

Posted inThe Download

We have a problem in aisle 5

by CommonWealth Staff
04/10/20
A shopper dons a mask outside of Trader Joe's in Cambridge during the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Sarah Betancourt)

Everyone knows what it’s like these days to be inside a supermarket, but few people know what it’s like to be in the shoes of the essential workers who keep those stores running.

On the Codcast, Boston-based Stop and Shop employee Jose Lopes and Whole Foods worker Dan offered their assessment of the risks they face these days working at grocery stores during the coronavirus pandemic. (Dan has asked that his last name not be used.)

Lopes unloads groceries from trucks, and spends the second part of his shift on the floor. “It’s extremely hectic. I wouldn’t imagine in the 38 years I’ve worked at Stop and Shop that I’d be seeing this,” he said.

Stop and Shop has provided its workers with gloves and a N95 mask, which must be reused several times since they are in short supply. Lopes said he’s concerned about wearing the mask so many times when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends only wearing it once.

“I go in with the mask and gloves. I try not to take them off, to take a break, or eat anything,” he said. “Keep the mask on until you go home.”

Dan, a shelf stocker, said it’s almost impossible to not come in contact with customers who pass by in aisles and come up close to workers to ask questions. Whole Foods has tape on the floor spacing people out, but besides the six-foot distance from whomever is checking out at the cash register, customers don’t always respect that spacing.

Lopes said the new rule allowing in only customers equal to 40 percent of the capacity of the store at a time is “not enough.”

The two employees also have concerns about how their stores handle situations when workers test positive. “We’re calling for stores to be shut down until they’re safe for employees and customers to come back and reopen,” Dan said.

“At Stop and Shop it’s really hush-hush,” said Lopes. “They try to find out information about who the person was in contact with so they can call that person, but they’re not informing anyone.”

Lopes said more disclosure is needed. “This is not a game. This is extremely dangerous. Employers need to take every precaution for employees and customers,” he said. Just last week, 59-year-old Market Basket employee Vitalina Williams died of coronavirus, marking the first death of a grocery store worker in Massachusetts.

Stop and Shop offers employees paid sick-time, recently negotiated by Local 1445 of the United Food and Commercial Workers. At Whole Foods, employees get two weeks of paid sick-time if employees prove they tested positive for COVID-19.

The attitude toward masks has also changed, as it has in society at large. Whole Foods employees were instructed in March not to wear masks, with many employees reporting they were told that this would scare customers. A Whole Food email to employees on April 13 said the company will require all employees and shoppers to wear masks.

On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal for an “essential workers’ Bill of Rights” that would include work site evacuation after someone tests positives to allow for proper cleaning, premium compensation, and paid sick and medical leave.

There are believed to be around 21 cases of COVID-19 at Whole Foods locations across Massachusetts that have been reported in the media, and have been mentioned privately to employees, according to the Whole Worker National Organizing Committee, a group of hundreds of Whole Foods employees.

Gov. Charlie Baker announced Sunday that grocery store workers can now get tested free of charge for COVID-19 at the drive-thru testing site at Gillette Stadium and at the Big E fairgrounds in West Springfield.

Grocery store employees do not need to be symptomatic to be tested, but they do need to have a request for testing from a supervisor. Appointments can be scheduled for the next day, with results turned around within 48 hours for symptomatic employees, and three to five days for those without symptoms.

Hazard pay is a 10 percent increase in the workers’ base pay. Lopes thinks it’s not enough and says he should be paid time-and-a-half. Dan said Whole Foods has increased hourly wages by $2 an hour. “But consider the risk people are taking,” he says. “Workers have started dying and, with the concern of bringing it home to grandparents and family, it needs to be more,” he said.

SARAH BETANCOURT

BEACON HILL

Even though Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday predicted the surge peak in new COVID-19 cases would come nearer April 20, the state hit that level on Sunday. (CommonWealth)

A mask-wearing Baker warns of “invisible” carriers. (CommonWealth)

At least some, and possibly many, of the roughly 1 million masks Baker secured from China with help from the New England Patriots team plane are not industry-standard N95 masks but KN95 masks, which some hospitals and providers are reluctant to use. (Boston Globe)

The state unemployment insurance site now has the actual application form in Spanish. (CommonWealth)

The state is expanding resources for victims of domestic violence, as people are stuck at home with their abusers. (The Salem News)

A worker at the Registry of Motor Vehicles office in Haymarket likely had COVID-19, union says. (CommonWealth)

An eviction protection bill remains hung up in the Legislature. (Boston Herald)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS

Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone stresses boldness in addressing the COVID-19 crisis, which sometimes puts him at odds with Gov. Charlie Baker. (CommonWealth)

In Lawrence, the city will impose $300 fines on businesses that are not following proper guidelines for social distancing, cleaning, and preventing the coronavirus spread. (Eagle-Tribune)

Lynn Mayor Thomas McGee orders a mandatory nighttime curfew. (Daily Item)

Construction of an apartment building is halted after allegedly violent protests by union members who claim proper procedures are not being followed at the work site. (Daily Item)

Chelsea City Councilor Judith Garcia talks with WGBH Morning Edition host Joe Mathieu about her city, which is experiencing the worst coronavirus outbreak in the state.

WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

President Trump was warned repeatedly about the threat to the US of the coronavirus pandemic but was slow to absorb the “scale of the risk” and act, according to a lengthy report by the New York Times.

The Times traces how Biogen officials became “super spreaders” of the coronavirus.

LIVING WITH CORONAVIRUS

Grocery workers can now get free, priority testing for coronavirus at two sites that had been reserved for first responders. (MassLive)

Funeral restrictions leave Cape Cod families waiting for final goodbye. (Cape Cod Times)

ELECTIONS

The editorial board of The Salem News says state policymakers should ease signature requirements and make it easier to get on the November ballot.

Joe Biden lays out his plan to reopen the economy after the COVID-19 outbreak (MassLive)…as a former aide accuses him of sexual assault. (New York Times) The charge against Biden is dividing Democrats and leading to criticism of the Times over its handling of the story. (Boston Herald)

Republicans are ramping up a campaign against mail-in voting. (Boston Globe)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

Landlords worry about what happens to them if small businesses can’t pay rent. (Gloucester Daily Times)

Two months ago, Worcester Public Market held its grand opening to high hopes for success. Now, it’s closed. Vendors wonder what happens next. (MassLive)

EDUCATION

As parents, we’re all now our own school superintendents, says Keri Rodrigues. (CommonWealth)

Boston University coronavirus plan includes possible January 2021 reopening. (WBUR) More from BU Today.

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Two Chelsea nursing homes on Sunday reported 10 people dead from COVID-19. It’s unclear when exactly the deaths occurred, but on Saturday the city said a total of 14 people had died of the disease. (Boston Globe) The deaths are another reminder that 45 percent of the deaths from COVID-19 statewide are occurring in nursing homes. (CommonWealth)

The experimental antiviral drug remdesivir “may have clinical benefit” in treating COVID-19, according to a new study. (CommonWealth)

The Washington Post tracks how unfounded claims about the benefits of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19 rocketed through the internet, onto Fox News, and got ultimate lift-off from President Trump.

State-employed health care workers will begin getting hazard pay. (State House News Service)

A group of health providers is urging the Department of Public Health to revise guidelines it issued for prioritizing use of ventilators in the event of a shortage, saying they would disadvantage blacks, Latinos, and other populations. (Boston Globe) State Rep. Jon Santiago, Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins, and US Rep. Ayanna Pressley co-author an op-ed raising similar concerns. (Boston Globe)

Towns on Cape Cod differ greatly on the release of coronavirus data. (Cape Cod Times)

The Brockton Enterprise has an interactive graphic showing Chelsea, Lawrence, Revere and Brockton have the highest reported rates of infection in the state, among municipalities larger than 40,000 people.

ARTS/CULTURE

The Norman Rockwell Museum furloughs 42 of its 65 employees for four weeks. (Berkshire Eagle)

‘Hingham on Hold’: Historical society seeks stories to document pandemic (Patriot Ledger)

TRANSPORTATION

Jim Aloisi’s advice: Let’s plan for the “new normal.” (CommonWealth)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

Coronavirus infection in state prisons is more than twice the statewide rate—and the number grew very quickly at MCI-Framingham.  (CommonWealth)

A state correction worker describes his harrowing experience with getting COVID-19. (Eagle-Tribune)

Fall River, Westport gun shops among those suing the state after Baker’s closure order (Herald News)

MEDIA

McClatchy, the owner of 30 US newspapers, furloughs 4.4 percent of its employees. (CNN)

PASSINGS

Tony King, the last living member of Springfield’s American Legion Post 21 baseball team, which famously gave up its championship tournament berth because a black teammate was kept off the field, dies at 102 of COVID-19. (MassLive)

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