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Whole Foods Employees Stage ‘Sick Out,’ Issue List Of Coronavirus Demands; Whole Foods Responds

   DailyWire.com
In this photo illustration the American electronic commerce and cloud computing company Amazon logo seen displayed on a smartphone with a computer model of the COVID-19 coronavirus on the background. (Photo Illustration by Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Citing COVID-19’s “very real threat to the safety of our workforce and customers,” employees of Whole Foods are staging a nationwide “sick out” Tuesday and demanding the Amazon-owned company make some significant changes to how they are handling the crisis, including how they are paying employees.

“On March 31, Whole Foods employees will call in sick to demand paid leave for all workers who stay home or self-quarantine during the crisis, free coronavirus testing for all employees, and hazard pay of double the current hourly wage for employees who show up to work during the pandemic,” Vice reports.

The “sick out” is being organized by the national Whole Foods employee group, Whole Worker, and is being conducted by employees in stores across the country, including in New York City, Chicago, and cities in California and Louisiana.

Vice notes that Whole Foods has already taken some action regarding compensation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, temporarily increasing hourly pay for workers by $2 an hour and offering two weeks paid sick leave to workers who test positive for the virus and no penalty for those who call in sick. But Whole Worker says the measures are not enough, demanding double hazard pay rather than the $2 temporary increase.

“COVID-19 is a very real threat to the safety of our workforce and customers,” Whole Worker said in a statement. “We cannot wait for politicians, institutions, or our own management to step in to protect us.”

In response to the “sick out,” a spokesperson for Whole Foods stressed in a statement to Vice that the company is taking “extensive measures to keep people safe,” including their employees, who are “on the front lines serving our customers.”

“As we address unprecedented demand and fulfill a critical need in our communities, Whole Foods Market is committed to prioritizing our Team Members’ wellbeing, while recognizing their extraordinary dedication,” the spokesperson said. “We have taken extensive measures to keep people safe, and in addition to social distancing, enhanced deep cleaning and crowd control measures, we continue rolling out new safety protocols in our stores to protect our Team Members who are on the front lines serving our customers.”

As CNBC reported, Whole Foods’ parent company, Amazon, just fired an employee who staged another strike. “Chris Smalls, a management assistant at the facility, known as JFK8, said he was fired Monday afternoon following the strike,” the outlet reported Monday. “Smalls and other employees walked out to call attention to the lack of protections for warehouse workers. The workers are also urging Amazon to close the facility after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus last week. The organizers said that at least 50 people joined the walkout.”

“Amazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our families, and our communities safe,” Smalls said in a statement. “I am outraged and disappointed, but I’m not shocked. As usual, Amazon would rather sweep a problem under the rug than act to keep workers and working communities safe.”

An Amazon spokesperson explained to CNBC why the company felt compelled to fired Smalls. “Despite that instruction to stay home with pay, he came onsite today, March 30, further putting the teams at risk,” an Amazon spokesperson told the network. “This is unacceptable and we have terminated his employment as a result of these multiple safety issues.”

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