by AC
Some employees have been upset since mid march they are not getting hazard pay for going to work. We had a small outbreak the end of march and many people stopped going to work then and because of the new rules Trump put in place you can call off at any time and not be fired. We were falling behind but still doing our best to fill orders.
Then all hell broke lose. One employee died of “flu like symptoms” and we wanted to know if he had covid. No one would give us an answer. We lost a few more employees at this time. Then a few days later Trump ordered meat packing plants to stay open. This was like the straw that broke the camels back. Suddenly employee moral was at a zero. I was the only one not worried about this at all. The management got harder and threatened people that did not come to work. At this point we were so far behind and down so many employees we were working 6 12s. There is no catching up at this point so we just crack along the best we can.
Then came last friday. We got an email that several states were doubling food stamp amounts so we had to step up production to meet demand. People were furious we have been going as fast as humanly possible and they acted like we have been taking it easy. 3 people walked out on saturday. On sunday we had employee protests and they organized a strike to get hazard pay at least. On money only 10 of us showed!!! The management called us into the office and told us they are closing down until they can figure out which way to go from here. We have to use out pto before we can get unemployement. Its looking bleak for us folks. Take care shit is about to get ugly I fear!
Disclaimer: This is a guest post and it doesn’t necessarily represent the views of IWB.