Article content continued
“People outside don’t understand because they are getting their parcels every day,” he said. “They don’t understand the slavery that goes into delivering your parcels.”
Amazon does issue surgical-type masks for employees, but doesn’t allow staff to use their own N-95 or other more protective face coverings, arguing it could unduly frighten co-workers, the employee said.
He said he received a text message from the company last week about two new COVID-19 cases in his centre, with few details.
Amazon’s media relations office did not respond by deadline to questions about its pandemic response. But in September. BC.-based executive Jesse Dougherty told the Canadian Press that the company had spent more than $800 million on employee safety since the start of the year. The investments covered areas such as temperature checks, enhanced physical distancing and personal protective wear, he said.
The tightening lockdowns in Ontario and other provinces have tended to target private gatherings and places where the public congregates — stores, restaurants, bars, houses of worship and gyms.
They are not treating their employees as human beings
But factories, food-processing plants and the distribution centres that service a soaring volume of online shopping are generally considered essential and largely exempt from those controls. They’re also much less visible.
Patrick Brown, the mayor of Peel Region’s city of Brampton, has said efforts to control the pandemic should focus more on such workplaces, whose employees in his area often go home to — and potentially infect — multigenerational dwellings. Brown recommends that employees get better access to sick days, that Ontario’s Labour Ministry inspect the plants more often, and an isolation centre be set up in Brampton so employees who test positive can quarantine away from family members.
Recent Comments