As at least 11 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Amazon warehouses and Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S., employees say the company’s statements on safety measures don’t line up with what they’re seeing. Some fear for their safety and the safety of customers.
“People are trusting they will use sanitary practices, but it is nothing of the sort,” said an employee at an Amazon warehouse in Kirkland that handles groceries. “Most employees are handling all the food without gloves…. I think this is a serious health risk to the Seattle area as thousands of bags of groceries are being delivered each day from this one location.”
A lack of gloves was one of several deficits this employee and several others have described in recent days at local Amazon facilities and Whole Foods stores. Other inadequacies they cited include a lack of time to properly wash hands or sanitize shared equipment, a constant emphasis on speed and management indifference.
Moreover, the employees, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said Amazon is still not performing recommended regular health checks, including temperature and respiratory symptom screening, as employees arrive at work.
“They do not screen employees, just tell them to stay home unpaid if they feel it’s unsafe to be there,” the Kirkland employee said.
“No temp checks, no one asking if we’ve had symptoms within 72 hours, no conversation about our health, period,” said an employee at a Whole Foods store in King County.
