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Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

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Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#41
post #9
post #4

Wonder if grocery store workers will largely be forced to unionize and fall under similar terms as airline industry with regards to limitations on a strike. "Essential work"

Aren't many grocery chains already unionized? I believe Safeway, Raleys / Nob Hill, and Albertsons are, at least.

In the Seattle area, nearly every grocery store (except Whole Foods) employs workers represented by UFCW 21: https://www.ufcw21.org/shop-union

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#42
post #14
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-Immediate shutdown of any location where a worker tests positive for COVID-19. This seems likely to shut down the majority of Whole Foods stores in short order. An unreasonable request, IMO. Grocery stores are genuinely essential to society and the death rate for I do think high-risk employees should basically be allowed to stay home, though.

Hospitalization rate is hovering between 10% and 20% Edit: source https://covidtracking.com/data/

We don't know the hospitalization rate. That site counts confirmed cases; epidemiologists seem to think total cases are greater by a factor of at least 10x. It also doesn't break out by age group.

Taken together, these considerations imply hospitalization rate for I don't know the hospitalization rate for < 40yo, but the death rate is thought to be around 0.1%. It would be very surprising if the hospitalization rate were more than a couple percent.

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#43
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Guaranteed paid leave for all workers who isolate or self-quarantine instead of coming to work. Does anyone have any idea how they're supposed to operate their business if they have to pay workers who don't work? I mean, they would have to hire replacement workers - who also don't need to come to work? Or are the replacement workers supposed to be second-class vs. the original workers?

Its not going to work, if you pay people to not work, who is going to work then ? Money will become useless.

Paying people to not (come into) work is pretty much critical to not getting a huge number of people (not necessarily the same people!) killed in a pandemic.

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#44
post #42
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hospitalization rate is hovering between 10% and 20% Edit: source https://covidtracking.com/data/

We don't know the hospitalization rate. That site counts confirmed cases; epidemiologists seem to think total cases are greater by a factor of at least 10x. It also doesn't break out by age group. Taken together, these considerations imply hospitalization rate for I don't know the hospitalization rate for < 40yo, but the death rate is thought to be around 0.1%. It would be very surprising if the hospitalization rate…

You are correct. The estimates are taken from the confirmed cases. I just wanted to point out that it is easy to dismiss the risk service workers are taking if you only look at the fatality rate. The hospitalization rate seems to be one or two orders of magnitude higher.

Edit: grammar.

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#45
post #16
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hospitalization rate is hovering between 10% and 20% Edit: source https://covidtracking.com/data/

What's the hospitalization rate for starvation?

Disrespectful snide aside, probably 8-10 weeks with water supply, dependent of course on your excess body fat.

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#47
post #30
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

-Immediate shutdown of any location where a worker tests positive for COVID-19. This seems likely to shut down the majority of Whole Foods stores in short order. An unreasonable request, IMO. Grocery stores are genuinely essential to society and the death rate for I do think high-risk employees should basically be allowed to stay home, though.

If they're essential to society, do you support free medical care for all the employees who get sick during this time? Do you support paying for the ongoing costs of an employee that suffers the rest of their life due to complications or after effects from COVID-19?

Yes (granted I'm a Canadian who supports countries covering medical expenses for all citizens), but are we also going to close hospitals if any of their employees test positive?

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#48
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think discarding any product said employee could have touched (eg. baked goods) and sanitizing the store would be cheaper than a full shutdown.

How will you track every product a cashier touched while ringing up customers during a shift? Every product touched while restocking shelves? Every cart touched while collecting them from the parking lot? Will you sanitize the store nightly or weekly? Will you communicate when you do to customers? Will you communicate when the last confirmed case was in your store? How often are workers replacing PPE and is enough av…

At this point I assume everything I buy might have coronavirus sitting on the outside packaging. I wipe every item down with a soapy cloth after getting home, wash fruits with soap, reheat meats that are not completely sealed, etc.

I think everyone should be doing this, there's no way to track possible infection through the entire supply chain but since the virus dies after some time, inner packages are probably safe if they've been untouched for a while.

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#49
post #43
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not going to work, if you pay people to not work, who is going to work then ? Money will become useless.

Paying people to not (come into) work is pretty much critical to not getting a huge number of people (not necessarily the same people!) killed in a pandemic.

Surely you agree there are some workers to whom that does not apply? I'm fairly sure we can't send all the utility workers home, can we?

Re: Whole Foods employees are staging a nationwide 'sick-out'

#50
post #10
post #3

Here's what they're asking for: https://www.coworker.org/petitions/global-retail-worker-sick... -Guaranteed paid leave for all workers who isolate or self-quarantine instead of coming to work. -Reinstatement of health care coverage for part-time and seasonal workers. -Increased FSA funds to cover coronavirus testing and treatment for all team members, including part-time and seasonal. -Guaranteed hazard pay in the fo…

> -Guaranteed paid leave for all workers who isolate or self-quarantine instead of coming to work. This should be required by law of all employers. > -Immediate shutdown of any location where a worker tests positive for COVID-19. This seems like overkill. How about having all employees wear masks (not N95) and cleaning the store thoroughly if someone tests positive? Or do they mean a few-hour or one-day shutdown?

Staff should be wearing gloves and masks already! After someone has been infected and all their contacts should be isolated is a bit late!
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