Jan. 7, 2022 "Grocers pressured to bring back 'hero pay' amid Omicron surge": Today I found this article Brett Bundale on CBC news:
The failure of Canada's grocers to reinstate "hero pay" for employees amid an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases is "about greed, period," the head of the country's largest private-sector union said Friday.
Unifor national president Jerry Dias said while
front-line supermarket workers are facing the biggest risks,
executives are receiving the biggest rewards.
Top grocery bosses have cashed multi-million dollar bonuses as sales and profits soar during the pandemic
— even as they refuse to bring back pay bumps for employees, he said.
"Employees on the front line are at risk every day
and yet it's the executives being rewarded handsomely," Dias said.
"They're making record profits but don't have the decency to pay their employees what they're worth."
His comments come after the federal NDP critic for economic development, MP Brian Masse, sent a letter to the heads of Canada's biggest supermarkets this week saying workers are doing risky work and again deserve a wage premium to keep stores open and shelves stocked.
Three grocery chains — Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys — ushered in a $2-an-hour pay bump in the early days of the pandemic. It was cancelled after the first wave subsided.
While each chain has sporadically reintroduced either wage bonuses or other incentives, it appears none have offered workers pay premiums as a result of the Omicron surge.
Loblaw did not respond to multiple requests for comment, while Metro declined to comment.
However, Sobeys shared a letter CEO Michael Medline sent in response to Masse's concerns.
"We are the only retailer in Canada who publicly committed to reinstating our Hero Pay/Lockdown Bonus program when regions or provinces go back into lockdowns that close all non-essential retail," he said.
Sobeys has distributed over $110 million in "hero pay" and bonuses to its front-line team members since the beginning of the pandemic, Medline said.
Sobeys spokesperson Jacquelin Weatherbee said in an email that the company is closely watching the constantly changing restrictions.
If government-mandated lockdowns once again close all non-essential retail, the grocer will reinstate its lockdown bonus, she said.
Risk never greater, Dias says
Yet Dias said the risk of catching COVID-19 has never been greater for retail workers as infections surge across the country.
"Pandemic pay was a recognition that front-line workers are at an increased risk from the coronavirus," he said. "That danger is still there."
Dalhousie University professor of food distribution and policy Sylvain Charlebois said other parts of the food industry, including processing and distribution, have seen wages increase permanently during the pandemic.
"Employees in stores also deserve higher wages," Charlebois said. "It's time to look at wages seriously."
Other retailers, such as Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. and The Home Depot Canada, replaced temporary pandemic bonuses with permanent wage increases.
However, part of the issue in food retail is that it's a "high volume, low margin environment," Charlebois said.
"If grocery chains raised wages by $2 an hour across the board, most of the stores in their networks would likely run at a loss," he said.
"That's the reality of grocery shopping."
Increasing automation
Meanwhile, increasing automation could reduce the number of workers companies need to run a grocery store, but those people could be better paid, Charlebois said.
"Knowing the financial realities of running a grocery store,
you can't afford to keep the same amount of people
(and increase both automation
and wages across the board)," he said.
But Dias said employees deserve a living wage.
"You can always find justification not to do the right thing," he said.
"The bottom line is those on the front lines deserve to have decent hours and to make a decent living wage."
UFCW Canada, which also represents grocery retail workers in Canada, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Grocers pressured to bring back 'hero pay' amid Omicron surge | CBC News
It's almost understandable that people could forget the lessons from the influenza pandemic 100 years ago, but there's no reason to forget the lessons learned less than two years ago.
some of who are unvaxxed. And they make low wages and
work hard.
Yet, the gov't made such a big deal out of a few unvaxxed MPs.......
Ridiculous.
Jan. 10, 2022 "For those who can't work from home, the dangers of COVID-19 are ever present": Today I found this article by Mark Grollum on CBC news:
At this point in the pandemic, B.C.-based WestJet flight attendant Crystal Hill says she no longer spends a lot of time worried about getting COVID-19 through her job that requires regular face-to-face interaction with the public
"You go to work and you understand that exposure is very likely," she said. "Or could be very likely.
"But it has been here for two years," said Hill. "At some point it's almost like you have to numb yourself a little bit to it."
Nearly two years into the pandemic, thousands of Canadian front-line workers who are unable to do their job from home continue to put themselves at greater risk of contracting COVID-19. And with the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, those pressures, for many, have just intensified.
For flight attendants — on top of the fear of contracting COVID-19 from a passenger — there are struggles with federal mask mandates and passenger compliance.
"It's just really been the last, I'd say, month that things have devolved to that feeling of where everyone's exhausted," said Hill, who is also vice-president of CUPE 4070, the union that represents WestJet flight attendants.
Risk not recognized, says pharmacist
Toronto-based pharmacist Kyro Maseh, owner of Lawlor Pharmacy, says the stress of his job over the past couple years has him waking up multiple times a night because "there's a million thoughts going through my head."
He has lost weight, as well — not from dieting, but from skipping lunch. He said he simply doesn't have the time to eat.
But mostly he said he's "livid" because he doesn't feel the government has recognized that pharmacists are facing the same risks as other front-line health-care workers.
"We're the ones kind of
triaging,
recommending,
answering questions
and obviously filling prescriptions," Maseh said.
"So we are the most front-line health-care professional in the Canadian health-care system. And the most accessible by far."
And for those experiencing any kind of COVID-19-related symptoms?
"The first point of contact that you've had, guess where it was? It was me," he said. "And I wasn't provided with [personal protective equipment], I wasn't even considered a front-line health-care professional worthy of a vaccine when It was released. So you see the frustration."
Facing people by the thousands
In Waterloo, Ont., part-time grocer Brent Lambert said he too feels that those providing services in grocery stores day-to-day are somewhat underappreciated compared to health-care workers who get the majority of the compassion.
"We're next in line. There aren't any other industries that have faced people by the thousands," he said. "We are. And … putting ourselves in harm's way of a fatal virus."
But it's not just the threat of contracting COVID-19, he said, but virus-related absences that have added pressures to the job.
"We're just short-staffed," he said. "If you're doing the work of three people, it's burnout and that's the biggest thing."
'I feel like I'm doing something'
In Mississauga, Ont., Canadian Tire store employee Julian Mason said for him, there's always a concern about getting the virus and bringing it home to his family.
He started a year ago and was happy to be employed, unlike many others who were losing their jobs. But he's also a Type 1 diabetic, meaning he has a compromised immune system.
"So it's a little scary for me to work while this is all happening," he said.
Nadim Farid, who has been a Canadian Tire automotive technician for seven years, said that "you never know if a customer has COVID when they come to the shop, that's how it is. You're taking the risk."
Still he believes he's providing a valuable service, in particular, for those health-care workers who need their vehicles in good working order so they can carry out their important tasks.
"If someone needs to go to work, they come to us, get their car fixed," he said. "They still have to go to the hospitals. If it snows, they need to get their tires on, their rigs checked, everything like that. I feel like I'm doing something."
Meanwhile, at the Ford plant in Oakville, Ont., which has been idled at times during the pandemic, many of the workers coming into their afternoon shift had few concerns about contracting the coronavirus in their workspace.
"It's been actually a breath of fresh air," said Mike Legere, who's been working at the plant for 40 years. "I get to go to work everyday. I'm not stuck in my house.
"Everybody's safe. We're all wearing masks"
Line assembler Ledda Macera said she also has few worries about getting infected at the plant.
"It doesn't mean that you have to get it at the workplace," she said. "You can get it anywhere."
For those who can't work from home, the dangers of COVID-19 are ever present | CBC News
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