Month: November 2020

UFCW 1518 members in Community Health, Social Services, and home support have been sounding alarm bells over conditions in in-home care during the COVID-19 pandemic. These workers always wear masks when they enter their clients’ homes to provide care. However, they often encounter members of the household and visitors who do not wear masks while the workers are administering care to their clients.

“This situation puts the workers, their families, and all of the other clients that they encounter at risk,” said UFCW 1518 President Kim Novak. “An important next step is to require those interacting in their homes with health care workers to be masked as long as they are medically able. Such an order would provide an additional layer of protection for workers and clients against the transmission of COVID-19.”

Today, President Novak sent a letter to Dr. Bonnie Henry, Minister of Health Adrian Dix, and Minister of Labour Harry Bains asking that everyone who comes into contact with a health care worker in their home wear a mask if they are medically able to do so.

The letter follows an earlier letter sent to Dr. Henry that makes the same request and comes after Dr. Henry issued sweeping mask orders and restrictions for in-home social visits.

In-home care workers make visits to multiple homes in the course of their work and interact with elderly and vulnerable clients. They frequently have close physical contact with their clients, increasing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. These workers are asking the government to help them flatten the curve on the COVID-19 pandemic by issuing an in-home care mask order.

Community Health, Social Services, and home care work is a critical part of our public health system. And like all working people, these workers deserve to feel safe at work. UFCW 1518 will continue to advocate to have government and employers make things right and commit to make their safety a priority.

UFCW 1518 would like to thank Dr. Bonnie Henry for instituting a mandatory mask policy for anyone entering a grocery store, coffee shop or retail location in British Columbia. This much needed public safety measure, which Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth will roll out in the coming week, will go a long way towards keeping frontline grocery and retail workers safe. These workers are doing an incredible service for their communities, keeping everyone supplied during a pandemic, and they deserve strong health and safety protections and recognition for the work they are doing.

Now that there is a mask mandate, and most restrictions in place by the public health office, we ask the public, employers, and public health authorities to remain vigilant against this disease. If you are entering a grocery or retail store you must wear a mask correctly, but you must also still maintain two metres of distance from workers and follow directional arrows while shopping. You must still stay at home if you are sick. Please shop alone if you can, and don’t linger in stores longer than you need to.

Employers must still restrict the number of people allowed in stores to the level that the Public Health Office deems acceptable. And we expect all Employers to comply with the directions of the Public Safety Minister regarding the enforcement of mask-wearing and any other Public Health orders that keep workers safe. And as always, there must be zero tolerance for any abusive behaviour towards workers.

Yesterday’s orders from Dr. Henry recognize what UFCW 1518 has been advocating for months: steps must be taken by government to protect workers in this pandemic.

We also continue to advocate for all frontline workers by calling on all Employers to recognize the important work their employees are doing by paying pandemic pay – because all frontline workers deserve to make a living wage.

While we are grateful to Dr. Henry for issuing this order to protect grocery and retail workers, we are still calling on the Public Health Office and all healthcare employers in British Columbia to require anyone coming into contact with in-home care workers to wear a mask. In-home care workers from our union have been telling us that they frequently encounter family members and visitors who do not wear masks. These situations put in-home care workers and their other clients at risk. We will continue to call for appropriate protections and recognition for workers in in-home care as they continue to help keep the most vulnerable cared for in the comfort and security of their homes.

In a win for workers, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced today that anyone entering a grocery or retail store must wear a mask if they are medically able to do so.

In late October, nearly 2,000 members sent letters of support to Dr. Henry asking for a mask mandate for anyone entering a grocery or retail store. The union continued pouring pressure on the Public Health Office, the provincial government, and on individual retailers to do the right thing and protect workers by requiring mask-wearing for everyone entering a grocery store. We sent letters to every retailer where we have members in BC, followed up with Dr. Henry, and copied every politician in a position to create this change.

Throughout the pandemic, UFCW 1518 has heard from members who were speaking out in favour of mandatory mask-wearing in stores and in-home care settings. Shop stewards and health and safety committee members were inundated with mandatory mask requests, which they brought to the attention of the employer and the union.

UFCW 1518 redoubled its efforts to secure a mask mandate after thousands of members told us in a health and safety survey that they felt unsafe at work and wanted more action taken to protect them. Many reported aggressive and abusive behaviour from customers when they were asked to maintain distance or follow other COVID-19 protocols while shopping.

UFCW 1518 members have been required to wear masks while at work since the summer. While many grocery and retail businesses had already required anyone entering the store to wear a mask, several major retailers still allowed customers to shop unmasked.

“We thank Dr. Henry for taking this important step to protect frontline workers from COVID-19,” said UFCW 1518 President Kim Novak. “Grocery and retail workers have been doing their part to help flatten the curve on the pandemic, and they deserve the strongest health and safety protections possible.”

The majority of UFCW 1518 workers do not feel safe at work during the COVID-19 pandemic and want to see mandatory mask mandates for all people entering grocery and retail stores in British Columbia.

UFCW 1518 sent a survey out to members on Monday, November 9, that asked several questions about member health and safety and their experiences working through the pandemic.

The survey found that 61% of nearly 2,000 polled members do not feel safe at work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 90% stated that they do not feel safe from COVID-19 at least some of the time while they are working and over 82% of polled workers interact with unmasked members of the public every day as part of their jobs. A further 95% are forced to interact with an unmasked member of the public at least once per week.

“The fact that customers are not wearing masks and keeping distance puts us at risk,” said one survey-taker.

Some major grocery employers have made mask-wearing mandatory for all employees while they are at work but have not extended the same policy to customers or any of the other people who routinely enter grocery stores. Those who have not instituted mandatory mask policies for customers have requested a clear order from the provincial government before requiring customers to wear masks.

UFCW 1518 continues to call on the provincial health office and the provincial government to issue an order requiring masks to be worn in retail and grocery stores.

UFCW 1518 members want stronger safety measures enforced

Many survey-takers wanted to see better compliance from the businesses they work for and more effort from the government to keep them safe:

“The company has cut cleaning and safety measures as well as our hazard pay. It’s sad the government isn’t holding these businesses accountable while they are making more money than ever,” said one survey-taker.

Many members reported inadequate plexiglass installations at tills and other areas where they interact with customers. Others reported being met with abuse when asking customers to observe distancing protocols or to wear masks:

“Mask usage should be mandatory for all public places and regulated and enforced by the government,” said one survey-taker. “We cannot be responsible to enforce [mask-wearing] in the store and be subject to harassment and abuse by customers.”

UFCW 1518 has been working since the beginning of COVID-19 to put additional safety measures in place for retail, grocery, food processing, and community health and social service workers. These measures include restrictions on the number of people allowed in a store at the same time, crowd-control measures like directional signs, and calls for mandatory-mask wearing in retail, grocery, and in-home care settings.

Workers Want Pandemic Pay Back

The survey also revealed that UFCW 1518 workers do not feel that they are being compensated fairly in exchange for the added risk they are taking on as front-line workers in the fight against COVID-19. 94% of polled members believe that they should be receiving pandemic pay for the work they have continued to do on the front-lines. This is especially relevant due to the dramatic increase in cases we are seeing in British Columbia.

Many polled workers spoke about the low morale they experienced when interacting with non-masked members of the public for no additional pay: “without hazard pay and the expectation of compliance, most of us feel we are expendable,” said one member who works at a grocery store. “Seemingly, the company feels the value of our lives is, in most cases, minimum wage, while their profits soar. We are tired, verbally abused, disheartened, overworked, and broke.”

Since the beginning of COVID-19, grocery stores throughout British Columbia have been receiving record-breaking profits. These profits have remained high throughout the pandemic, despite fluctuations in the transmission rates.

Many major retailers have refused to reinstate Pandemic Pay for their front-line workers since it was eliminated earlier in June.

UFCW 1518 takes action

In response to the survey, UFCW 1518 sent a letter to all retail employers today asking for the reinstatement of pandemic pay and for mandatory mask policies for everyone entering a grocery store. Letters were sent out last week to all health care employers with UFCW 1518 members asking for mandatory mask-wearing for anyone who comes into contact with an in-home care worker, including family members and guests.

UFCW 1518 continues to call on all employers to reinstate pandemic pay for front-line workers because all workers serving on the front-lines of this global crisis deserve to make a living wage.