Walmart starts temperature checks and Amazon is building its own COVID-19 testing lab as retail workers across America threaten to walk out over risk of getting virus
Corporate America is taking steps to protect its workforce from coronavirus as retail giant Walmart announced it will take the temperatures of its workers while Amazon said it is developing a lab that will screen employees for the pathogen.
Millions of Americans have been made jobless as a result of the pandemic while those who continue to work are vulnerable to contracting the virus.
That has forced large-scale companies to allay worker concerns by implementing measures that are designed to reduce the risk for employees while allowing business to continue operating in this new environment.
Doug McMillon, the president and CEO of Walmart, said on Friday that his company is adapting to the new reality.
Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon said on Friday that his company has taken steps to protect employees from coronavirus, including plexiglass barriers at cash registers, enforced social distancing among customers, and temperature checks
‘In Walmart, we’ve made a number of operating adjustments,’ McMillon told NBC’s TODAY Show on Friday.
‘We’ve reduced our hours, we’re cleaning the stores overnight, we’ve got masks and gloves for our associates so that they can use those.
‘We’ve put up plexiglass [barriers] at our cash registers and the pharmacy. We’re taking the temperature of our associates starting today before they start in our stores, clubs, and distribution centers.’
McMillon said that Walmart has also started to ‘meter’ the number of customers that can enter any store at one time in order to ‘create more social distance.’
‘I think those are examples of how each business is going to prepare and respond,’ the CEO said.
Walmart employs 2.2 million people worldwide and 1.5 million in the United States alone.
Earlier this week, the family of a Walmart employee from Illinois who died after contracting coronavirus filed a lawsuit against the company saying it did not do enough to screen and protect workers.
The estate of Wando Evans filed the suit in Illinois on Monday, saying the Walmart store south of Chicago was not properly cleaned and employees were not given masks, gloves, antibacterial wipes or other protective equipment.
Meanwhile, Amazon says it has started building its own labs that will screen employees for COVID-19. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is seen above in September 2019
Dozens of Amazon employees at warehouses and fulfillment centers have tested positive for COVID-19, sparking anger among the workforce who say the company is not doing enough to protect them
Amazon on Thursday released images showing employees setting up a testing lab for coronavirus
Evans, 51 died on March 25, and another employee at the same store died four days later from complications due to coronavirus, according to the complaint.
The outbreak has now infected more than 470,000 nationwide and killed at least 16,700.
Arkansas-based Walmart said it had conducted 'a deep-cleaning of key areas' in the Illinois store, which has passed a health department inspection and a separate third-party review over the last week, according to a statement provided by a spokesman.
'We have taken steps across the country to protect our associates and customers, including additional cleaning measures, installing sneeze guards at registers, placing social distancing decals on the floors and limiting the number of customers in a store at a given time,' the company said.
The lawsuit filed by Evans' estate accuses Walmart of negligence and wrongful death in violation of Illinois law.
According to the complaint, Walmart did not follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Labor for maintaining safe workplaces, such as implementing social distancing.
Walmart also hired new workers in an expedited process without properly screening them for symptoms of COVID-19, Evans' estate says.
Tony Kalogerakos, a lawyer for the estate, said in a statement the lawsuit was the first wrongful death case filed in Illinois on behalf of a person who has died from COVID-19.
On Wednesday, Bezos paid a surprise visit to an Amazon warehouse in Dallas, where he received a temperature check from an employee
'The Centers for Disease Control has designated Walmart stores as 'high-volume retailers,' making them responsible for taking additional precautions to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19,' he said.
Meanwhile, Walmart’s competitor, Amazon, is working on building its own lab to test workers for the coronavirus.
In a blog post, the world’s largest retailer said that it, too, has taken steps to protect its workforce.
The company said it has begun distributing masks to employees. It has also started to take temperature checks of workers at company-owned warehouses, fulfillment centers, and grocery stores.
Jeff Bezos, the company founder and CEO, was filmed on Wednesday taking a temperature check and wearing a mask on a surprise visit to a Dallas-area warehouse and Whole Foods.
To get the economy back up and running, Amazon said that it would require ‘regular testing on a global scale across all industries.’
But in the absence of readily available testing, the company said it has ‘begun the work of building incremental testing capacity.’
‘A team of Amazonians with a variety of skills – from research scientists and program managers to procurement specialists and software engineers – have moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative,’ the company said.
The family of Wando Evans, 51, a Walmart employee from Illinois who died after contracting COVID-19, is suing the company for wrongful death
‘We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our front line employees soon.
‘We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant timeframe, but we think it’s worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn with others.’
Amazon employees have staged walkouts and work stoppages in recent weeks to protest what they believe to be the company’s failure to provide adequate protection from coronavirus.
Grocery and warehouse workers - many in low-wage jobs - are manning the frontlines amid worldwide lockdowns, their work deemed essential to keep food and critical goods flowing.
They are insisting employers pay them more and provide masks, gloves, gowns and access to testing.
Arkansas-based Walmart said it had conducted 'a deep-cleaning of key areas' in the Illinois store, which has passed a health department inspection and a separate third-party review over the last week, according to a statement provided by a spokesman
Earlier this week, the company announced that it would be tracking its warehouse staff closely to make sure they are adhering to social distancing guidelines.
Amazon has pledged to fire any employee who fails to socially distance themselves from their co-workers.
Staff at an Amazon delivery facility in Chicago protested last Saturday, looking for more protections as they work.
Police who broke up the vehicular picket were told they should be 'ashamed' of themselves, Patch.com reports.
Their colleagues in New York City also walked out last week and one worker was fired after protesting at the Staten Island facility.
Five senators have written to Amazon founder Bezos after the worker, Chris Smalls, was fired from his job following a protest at the company's Staten Island plant.
In the letter they express 'continued concern about working conditions at Amazon'.
An internal document leaked in which Amazon's general counsel described Smalls as 'not smart, or articulate.'
The company has since said it testing the use of disinfectant fog at the warehouse in Staten Island.
In a handful of states - Minnesota and Vermont were the first - have given grocery workers a special classification that allows them to put their children in state-paid child care while they work.
Unions in Colorado, Alaska, Texas and many other states are pressing governors to elevate grocery workers to the status of first responders.
To alleviate the concerns of some their workers Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said it is rolling out face masks and temperature checks at all its U.S. and European warehouses by next week.
The company has also been in contact with the CEOs of two coronavirus test makers as it considers how to screen its staff and reduce the risk of infection at its warehouses, according to internal meeting notes seen by Reuters.
Workers at the Chicago facility who went on strike over the weekend said they were concerned about a lack of communication when one of their colleagues tested positive for the virus.
'There is no such thing as social distancing [in there] because you're all up close on each other.'One driver said: Two people got confirmed with coronavirus and they never told us it was in the warehouse. The drivers also, we've got to go in the warehouse, load our vans and everything.
Amazon said they have made 'several changes to align with social distancing guidance' including increased cleaning and disinfecting at sites, no longer holding stand-up meetings during shifts, and a new cell phone process for those who need to be in contact with their families or childcare providers'.
A spokesman told the DailyMail.com: 'Our employees are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis.
‘Like all businesses grappling with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are working hard to keep employees safe while serving communities and the most vulnerable.
'We have taken extreme measures to keep people safe, tripling down on deep cleaning, procuring safety supplies that are available and changing processes to ensure those in our buildings are keeping safe distances.
‘We are committed to protecting our employees through our preventative health measures, enhanced cleaning and sanitation, and a broad suite of new benefits, including extended paid leave options for fulltime employees, additional $2 per hour, double time for overtime, and paid time off (PTO) benefits for regular part-time and seasonal employees.
‘We enforce strict 6’ social distancing on our property and throughout our facilities.
'We also communicate when a COVID-19 case is confirmed in one of our buildings to all individuals who work at that site - not just to those who’ve come in close contact with the diagnosed individual.'
Walmart starts temperature checks and Amazon is building its own COVID-19 testing lab as retail workers across America threaten to walk out over risk of getting virus
![Walmart starts temperature checks and Amazon is building its own COVID-19 testing lab as retail workers across America threaten to walk out over risk of getting virus]()
Reviewed by Your Destination
on
April 11, 2020
Rating:
No comments