On April 1, Sprouts Farmers Market employees in McAllen delivered a petition to management requesting personal protective equipment (PPE), hazard pay, paid sick leave and the establishment of a safety committee.
Joshua Cano and Michael Martinez, who work in the vitamin department, have become leaders in their workplace to push for these demands from the company.
“Sprouts is failing to see that we’re on the front line,” Martinez told The Rider. “We are putting ourselves at risk. We’re putting our families at risk and they’re just not making it … worth it. They would have to make the pay worth the risk.”
Martinez recounted an incident that made them realize they had to take this into their own hands and push for these demands.
“We had a run-in with a customer who was shopping in our department and, you know, we helped her out and at the very end is when she alerted us that the only reason she was even shopping at the moment was because she was picking up some natural medicine for a family member who had tested positive for the coronavirus,” he said.
Martinez said he had never seen Cano look more scared and has never felt more scared, since they did not know if this customer had the coronavirus.
After this incident, Martinez and Cano said they went to management to tell them.
“Her response, which was kind of a … ‘get back out there and do your job,’ not even caring that … Josh has a sick mom at home, not evening caring what if he takes it home,” Martinez said. “You know, I’m immunocompromised. What happens if I get it? And that right there, just showed us that nobody was gonna listen to us. So, we had to do something about it.”
The Rider contacted a manager at Sprouts Farmers Market in McAllen regarding the workers’ petition, but he referred this reporter to Diego Romero, Sprouts Farmers Market corporate spokesman.
With the help of Michael M. Enriquez, organizer for the Emergency Workers Organizing Committee, and other Sprouts employees, they created the petition and handed it to management.
The Emergency Workers Organizing Committee is composed of union members and workplace organizers helping people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What we’re asking for is for a $3 minimum hazard pay across the entire store and [in] everyone’s paychecks,” Cano said. “And that’s something that is absolutely necessary.”
Forty-four out of 50 employees signed the petition.
“The safety committee would be one representative from each department having up to an hour meeting with management every 48 hours, just to make sure that we are stocked in the PPE … [and] a report on what we could do better in the store and practice of social-distancing roles,” Cano said. “Making sure that employees are being taken care of, at 100% effort.”
Along with the petition, Cano, Martinez and other employees shared their own stories to management about why they are asking for the demands. Cano told The Rider this was key, showing management how they felt and how it was affecting them.
“If someone coughs, it sounds like a gunshot because … you’re, just, always on edge and you don’t know which person, you know, [could have coronavirus],” Cano said. “Sometimes, they get a little too close to you. Sometimes, some people don’t even respect the social distance. So, you’re still there … not knowing what to do, you know, like stepping on glass.”
After meeting with management, the Sprouts employees launched their online petition that has gained the support of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) and has almost reached their goal of 7,500 signatures.
More than three weeks have gone by since the petition. The employees have received PPE but are still demanding hazard pay, paid sick leave and the establishment of a safety committee.
Asked if the PPE received from the company had made them feel safer in the store, Cano replied no, it hasn’t.
He said the employees are being told to reuse equipment and that the equipment is minimal in regard to how protected they are.
“Yeah, maybe you can spray disinfectant on it, but that’s … not really going to protect you in the long run after you’ve been using a mask for a week already,” Cano said.
He also said there is always a short supply of PPE, which is why employees are asked to reuse it.
“We’re constantly using vinyl gloves. … They’re not necessarily meant to be used for on duty, which is what a lot of us do,” Cano said. “We’re opening boxes as well as, you know, stocking products. So, those vinyl gloves, having them on 20 minutes, you’ll find that you have small rips in your gloves already.”
He said it would be better just washing and disinfecting your hands, but he has seen some employees’ hands so dry from repeated washing and sanitizing, they start to blister.
“It’s a double-edged sword because you can have the gloves and have them rip within 10 minutes,” Cano said.
The employees are still terrified to go into work, with their life and health at risk, he said.
“I have a mother who has cancer and some of our co-workers have … family members that are also sick or they’re immunocompromised as well, and we’re still showing up to work every single day,” Cano said. “Not knowing if there’s going to be masks, not knowing if there’s going to be gloves, you don’t know the outcome of the particular day, which is really scary.”
Diego Romero, Sprouts Farmers Market corporate spokesman, told The Rider the store is taking a holistic approach to increase sanitation measures and overall health.
“[Sprouts] implemented social distancing practices across the store, which includes social-distancing markers on the floor and near checkout, plexiglass barriers at checkout and other social-distancing programs,” Romero said.
He said the company is regulating the number of customers allowed in the store at one time and also requiring that all employees wear masks, gloves and complete a health questionnaire before each shift.
Martinez, on the other hand, said Human Resources told the employees because the store is so big, they can fit anywhere between 90 to 100 people while maintaining the 6-feet rule.
“I really feel like they should be minimizing the amount of people that are coming in at once,” he said. “Because the store is able to hold 100 people at once, comfortably, with a 6- feet rule doesn’t mean … all these hundred people can be in here at once. That’s greatly increasing the risk of exposure for the employees.”
In regard to what Sprouts is doing with additional pay for employees, Romero said the company has bonuses, hardship loan programs and a COVID-19 relief fund for those who have been personally impacted by the virus.
“In recognition to our team members’ instrumental commitment to serving our community, sponsors paid two separate bonuses for team members with additional bonuses for the future,” he said.
Martinez said employees have received two bonuses, which the company said were equivalent to receiving an additional $2 in their paycheck.
“However, that’s not true because the bonuses, they work differently,” he said. “If you’re a regular clerk, you get maybe $100 [and] that’s before taxes. You’re taking home $75. Additionally, your currency clerks will get $50 before taxes, really taking home like $30. So, it was nowhere near what they were saying.”
Additionally, Martinez said the workers feel if the company is going to use bonuses instead of hazard pay, why not pay them weekly bonuses, because last week employees did not receive a bonus at all.
“They talk about how much they appreciate us coming to work and how we’re everyday heroes, but, I mean, if that’s how they really see us, they don’t treat us like that,” he said. “They treat us like we’re expendable, we’re easily replaceable if something should happen to us, and it’s not right.”
Valerie Smith, a Sprouts customer and H-E-B employee, said she assumed Sprouts employees already had all the things they demanded, since many other grocery stores had similar guidelines in place.
“I don’t think it’s fair because a lot of these people, they don’t exactly want to be working right now,” Smith said. “Plus they’re exposing themselves … they’re exposing their parents.”
She said her workplace faced a similar situation where a petition workers created led to a pay raise.
“I’d be pretty upset, because every other grocery store has done it,” Smith said.
She said they all received PPE about two weeks ago as well.
“If they don’t get the pay raise that they want, if they’re not able to get the equipment to stay safe, then they shouldn’t be going to work,” Smith said.
Cano said he was frustrated with the situation at the beginning, but now feels broken down.
“The other day, I got home from work and I put my things aside and I just, kind of, sat down, and I really wanted to just let everything out,” he said. “I really wanted to cry … because to think that this is a life-and-death situation.”
Cano said co-workers and friends have called the store and corporate to demand the company support and give in to the demands of the workers.
“We’re going to continue organizing until we receive, and we feel, that we’re protected at our job as our company makes $5.6 billion in revenue,” he said. “We know 110% that they can afford this.”
Asked what Sprouts is doing about the current situation unfolding at the McAllen location, Romero replied the company is working with team members to ensure the employees’ needs are met.
“We appreciate and recognize team members during this time,” he said. “Their health and safety are our priorities.”
The Rider today attempted to follow up with Romero about Martinez’s customer interaction and management’s response. As of 5 p.m today, there was no response from the corporate spokesman.
Cano and Martinez both said they encourage other people in other workplaces to organize if their lives are at risk.
Martinez said to any workers reading this article, to not be afraid and to stand up and fight for what you deserve.
“There’s strength in numbers and if anybody in a corporation happens to read the article … really sit back and ask yourself, are we doing enough for our employees or can we help them more?” he said.
Cano said he wants other workers to know there are laws that protect people from organizing and collectively getting together for their health and safety.
“They’ve given us the option, either you come to work, minimal protection, risk infection, risk getting the loved ones sick, or you don’t come to work, you don’t get paid and you starve,” he said.
Cano said even though they’re not 100% there yet in receiving their demands, the employees are living proof they are getting there and will get there.
–Sol Garcia contributed to this story.
