Letter from a grocery store worker
By Achilles*
Ever since it broke out, the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world. It disrupted and pushed lives of many into a state of uncertainty. But for essential workers, the show must go on.
I work at one of the grocery stores in Kingston, Ontario, owned by a big corporate chain. We have been working hard to keep the store well stocked amidst all the panic. We kept ordering stocks in large quantities which we usually only do during Christmas. The only protective equipment we get are disposable gloves. We have a safety tutorial pasted on the wall showing how to properly wear a mask, but we don’t have any masks. Customers keep running into us and we are exposed all the time.
Apart from the risky environment where workers keep getting exposed, the workload itself has been overwhelming. We got a $2 raise for a month for all the increased workload and risk, but the pay still falls short of Kingston’s living wage. At the time of this crisis where most of you are worried about your own safety, many of my co-workers are grateful that they are making a little extra money.
So much for getting labelled as essential workers, right?
I am an immigrant working part time at this moment with no healthcare plan. Ontario’s provincial health insurance doesn’t take immigrants into consideration [they must work 6 months before qualifying for OHIP, and have no insurance with their employer]. If I were to catch the virus and fall sick, I will certainly go bankrupt to access basic healthcare.
I get paid minimum wage and most of my earnings go towards paying rent. Should I really worry about getting exposed or should I feel grateful that I am going make a couple of hundred dollars extra on top of my monthly pay?
We don’t need appreciation from you for working during these times. We don’t want to be labelled as “heroes”. All we need is a better pay – during all times. We need some protection from getting exposed at work and essential workers deserve a better life too. Every single time I glance down the sheet that outlines profit margins per item in my department, I keep questioning if minimum wage is what we deserve. At the end of the day, some of us go searching for cheap grocery deals on flyers of various stores to get our own groceries, because we simply cannot afford them at the very store we work for.
The next time you think about customer service, keep these people in mind. They get paid minimum wage even after working for years and are exploited by the corporate chains for their greed and remember, it took a pandemic to bring these issues to limelight! Give them some space when you walk in to get groceries on your next visit.
*Achilles is a pseudonym. We have protected the worker’s identity to prevent employer retaliation.
Powerful letter, thank you for writing. The Ontario gov says they are extending health coverage for COVID services for all uninsured, though of course pressure is needed to ensure they follow through, and to hold them accountable for the health and safety of all workers during and beyond this pandemic. There’s no reason why anyone should be denied health care coverage.
If anyone get this virus.trump passed were everyone is cover.and we have to pay 700.00 a month.thats how most people have ins.stay safe.go to other stores to buy mask or make them.im a care giver and that’s what we do.
He very clearly said hes in Canada. Please pay attention to what people are writing.
This letter exposes the hypocrisy behind our exploitation of immigrant and temporary foreign workers. They don’t need accolades; they need decent pay and protection from disease.
the sad thing is…it isn’t just immigrants that face struggles working in retail, it is EVERYONE.
Exactly!!
Hear hear. And not just $2/hour more, if not a decent increase that reflects the bravery and unfair disadvantage these workers are facing during the pandemic. They don’t get to stay home, even if they wanted to. I mean the stores are making who knows how much money more nowadays due to the very pandemic. They are making an incredible increase of profits/revenue due to the very pandemic while exploiting their employees, exposing them to extreme work conditions and safety risks…
Just as an FYI that information about applying for a OHIP isn’t right. Your employer’s insurance doesn’t matter. If you are on an open work permit they have to INTEND to employ you for at least 6 months full-time. You can provide a letter saying that or you can provide your employment contract, you don’t have to wait for the 6 months to be over. Especially now when there is no waiting period.
Thank you for putting your story into words. Storytelling is more powerful than numbers sometimes.
That’s what I was thinking, too. Real recognition for these brave essential services workers is higher wages (even if just during the pandemic) justifying their brave and unfair exposure to the pandemic while all of us get to stay home… Hello employers…
Oh and by the way a reasonable hourly wage for a grocery store employee would be $18 to $20.
Ive been at my job for 20+years and only getting 14.10 hr … im an essential worker also ….
Thanks for brining this to light but, I’ll mention it’s all workers, not just immigrants, temporarily foreign workers it domestic workers all in this essential industry that all make minimum wage. Not one employee you see in a grocery store from a cashier to the person stocking the shelves day and night makes anything higher. As minimum wage goes up they pay everyone that minimum wage oh wait 15 cents more to be competitive. So once again thanks for bringing this to light.
Organize!
The truckers delivering your stock get decent waged. ..they are teamsters. The meat cutters get decent wages…they have their union. If 50% +1 employees want to have union representation, then the union they wish to join files for “certification” and the employer must yield to union representation. They can either become signatory in a contract for fair wages as negotiated, or go out of business.
There’s a 50/50 chance in that city they’re in a union. And their union is so broken apart and weak that they can’t do anything. They were applauding themselves about the $2 wage increase (which is only for previous workers, not new hires)
I also work at a grocery store…the dept I work in leaves us very vulnerable to the customers. To protective glass..no directional arrows…customer still walk right up to where we are working trying to reach for product. People need to start using their voices…kindly ask if they can get the product and we will gladly step away. Also still seeing couples shopping together or young families with children in strollers. Its these people that will cause this pandemic to continue. Stay safe!
The public has no idea what is going on behind the scenes of the grocery chains. I also work at large chain..we cannot say anything if fear of getting written up….Believe me when I say there is no deep cleaning of the store as they tell the public. You have employee’s and management going around with the same gloves and j cloth cleaning all the carts and door handles..management dont even follow the physical distancing. People are getting written up for taking an extra break because they are so emotionally drained. It’s even getting to the point where employees are turning on each other…fulltime employees have not had a raise in almost 9years..I applauded the government for giving the part time employees a hire wage..most now are making the same as a full time employee..they went from 14 to 19 per hr.which is great for them but fulltime employees have been making the same wage for 9 years with no increase. Parttime only allowed to work a max of 24 hrs a week fulltime 39. Most people dont even take all there breaks because there is so much work to do and if you dont get it done you get questioned why…I see everyday people starting before there shift starts to get ahead of the game and then running to the punch clock to punch in at there regular time.if we punch back in early from lunch or later after a shift we are told not to do that. We are NOT HEROES we are grocery clerks. Yes we are getting 50.00 extra a week while our managers are getting 10 times that as most of them sit in the office and we are on the floors stocking shelves and trying to stay safe and keep out distance from customers. as I said we are not heroes. We need a job to pay bills like everybody else. We would love to be staying home with our love ones and not be scared that we might be bringing something deadly home to them..all over social media we see people complaining how bored they are. We only wish…we have customers coming in swearing at us because we wont let them in the store without putting on hand sanitizer.. customers not following the distancing even though marked on the floor, posted signs and now PA announcements. I didnt sign up to take all this abuse..I thought long and hard about writing this as I might loose my job over it…be safe everyone