Today at the outdoor retail company I work for there was a massive power outage in the area. Let’s just say they have a super “liberal” image to their company ethics but don’t actually follow it. It was pushing about 98 degrees Fahrenheit in the city I’m in so we were left without an AC, no nearby places for food were open and the food many of us brought required freezing or heating up, and the backrooms were completely dark. It started to heat up in the store pretty quickly so I assumed we would close up then head home.
NOPE, since our truck of stock came in today they wanted us to stay and unload both in the heat and in the dark using headlamps. This required moving ladders and climbing with boxes in the dark and using box cutters and shit without being able to see clearly. Not to mention the lack of functioning fire alarms and all the other OSHA violations I’m sure they were breaking. Management old us if we left we wouldn’t get emergency pay for the rest of the shift despite getting an emergency alert email from headquarters saying we were closed for the outage. They still had employees come in for shifts later that day, as it got increasingly hot with no food accessible. They insisted it was only because they need people in the store if the power happens to go on, which we know is bullshit. I left as soon as I had my lunch scheduled since I had no options of food to eat, but many of my coworkers stayed since they couldn’t sacrifice pay.
Last I heard from a few of them people were getting sick from working in the heat and not having normal access to food. The managers were told by hr after I and others called to complain that they needed to let people go home, but it sounds like they’re still telling people to go in. It’s hard to see my coworkers stay without feeling safe because they need the money. As soon as I get to talk to one of our managers I’m gonna fight to get pay for the people who left today, cuz I know given the conditions it was absolutely unsafe and no one should have been in the store once we got customers out. The company has been dealing with stores unionizing lately and this got the conversation going with my coworkers, which has at least made me hopeful about where that could go.