No one ever imagined that a time will come when places like supermarkets will become ground zero in times of crisis. Following the scary situation, the workers at Costco are now anonymously expressing their fear, exhaustion, and frustration at the lack of gloves, masks, sanitization equipment, and protocol which increases the chances of them getting infected with the virus.
#1 Costco employees are at great risk of getting infected with the virus
Becoming the first responders in Coronvirus pandemic, the employees at Costco are underprepared to deal with such a disaster. They are not even provided with sufficient protective supplies to keep themselves from getting infected.
According to the US, thousands of Costco employees work at hundreds of warehouses where they are daily coming in contact with panicked customers hustling to restock on their essential items.
#2 Profit coming at the risk of employees health
Employees are putting in grueling hours with them wearing only masks and putting in extra shifts. According to reports, the global retailer has earned some great profits during this time of panic and chaos but the employees believe that this profit can come at the risk of their health because during this pandemic they are literally ground zero with no sufficient protective measures.
#3 Working at Costco is same thing as a first responder
“My biggest concern is people are saying, ‘Where do I get a mask? Where do I get a mask?’ On a daily basis, you have people cough in your face or talk when they spit,” a member of the sales team at a Costco in Culver City, California, told BuzzFeed News. “Never did I think that working at Costco would be the same thing as a first responder. We’re fucking ground zero.”
#4 Criticising the poor working conditions that they are facing
In private Facebook groups and chats, the workers are criticizing the working conditions they are facing which is bound to get them infected. "Yeah we've done very little at our store. 'Limiting' 1000 people in the building at one time...have to say as a 13yr employee I'm extremely disappointed with the way our company is handling the situation" an employee from Billings, Montana, commented in a group.
"Our door counts have been in the 900s," another in San Jose, California, posted Friday. "My location has not started limiting on how many people come in at a time."
#5 Stores are wiped off in the early morning leaving workers to buy nothing for themselves
In addition to not having the proper gear for protection, the employees are also not able to buy goods for their own families since they can only do so once their shift ends and an hour after the opening of the stores, the stores are wiped off of every essential item.
“My staff hasn’t been able to buy anything. We’re turning our own employees away from milk and diapers,” she said. “We stand on the foundation of taking care of our employees. We are a wholesome company. An American company. But our employees can’t buy food for their families. It breaks my heart to see employees not be able to buy water. We’re hurting here.”