
Pizza Place Manager Breaks Down Why Food Workers Are Most Vulnerable to COVID-19
By Amber GarrettMar. 9 2020, Published 11:15 a.m. ET
As the number of cases of COVID-19 coronavirus spread in the U.S. and abroad, citizens are naturally worried about contracting the virus. For those of us who work in industries that make it possible, that might mean working from home more often, thus limiting interactions with people outside your immediate family and avoiding the use of public transportation.
However, for people who work in service industries, particularly in food service or retail, it's not exactly possible to work remotely. But that's far from the only factor that puts these workers at risk of contracting and spreading diseases, as a former pizza place manager explains in a now-viral Twitter thread.
I am not an expert in immunology - I follow doctors for that.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
But I did spend 9 years as a manager at a pizza place that paid better than average wages for food service.
And I am terrified of #COVID19.
Not because the virus is going to kill people, but because poverty might. / pic.twitter.com/SNke4cD3dW
Nine years working for a "better than average" example within the industry gave this former pizza slinger a lot of insight into the policies and culture that make food service workers particularly vulnerable to contracting and spreading infectious diseases including COVID-19.
Y'all, all laws aside, nobody in the restaurant industry goes to the doctor when they're sick.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
There are health code rules about what symptoms exclude you from work - you have to go to the doctor and get cleared, or be symptom free for 24 hours.
And they are *never* followed. / pic.twitter.com/uj5hPaDIP8
Before you and your friends head out to your local Wendy's with torches and pitchforks, it's not the workers' faults they routinely skip the doctor and work through illness. In fact, following those official guidelines could see them not only missing out on wages but losing their jobs due to missed work.
The people making your food do not have health insurance. Restaurants almost never offer it.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
They do not have paid time off. Benefits like that aren't imaginable.
They do not have enough people in the schedule to cover an absence. "Lean Staffing." It's more profitable. / pic.twitter.com/Xee1ntLdVH
You may believe that the Affordable Care Act requires all restaurants to provide all workers with insurance. However, it they're small businesses with fewer than 50 workers, they're exempt. And many larger companies keep workers' hours just below full time status to exempt them from benefits. While some states and municipalities require workers receive paid sick leave, it is not mandated federally. On top of this, restaurants rarely have enough staff to cover more than one or two absent sick workers.
I have watched people PRIDE themselves on working through illness and injury. I had a driver break his foot by stepping on a tennis ball in someone's driveway, and then work another four days on a broken foot on ibuprofen and spite.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
Flu-like symptoms?
Fuck out of here. pic.twitter.com/yo97CEg4wa
Lacking insurance, sick leave, and a comfortable wage, going to the doctor is too costly for most food service employees. They would not only be missing work but they would have to pay out of pocket for the visit, which is an exorbitant expense if you're making little more than minimum wage.
That isn't the only barrier to seeking care. Working through injury and sickness is seen as a badge of honor in the service industry, often encouraged by management who would rather see people working while not 100 percent than try to reconfigure the schedule or work with an even leaner staff. If you call out sick, you often face resentment from peers and possibly could see yourself scheduled for fewer shifts in the future as penalty.
This means that
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
1) Fast food workers literally cannot afford to go to the doctor. They will do what we've always done - dose up heavily on DayQuil, puke in the bathroom, explain things away as being "hung over" or "tired," and their manager will pretend nothing is wrong. pic.twitter.com/ph1X37943p
Despite working full time (or as close to full time as possible without being officially full time) hours, Many food workers rely on public assistance of some kind to get by. And if they lose their jobs, they can also lose public assistance benefits because they are only eligible because they are fully employed and still below the poverty line.
You can't afford to take off work to go to the doctor, much less take off work when the doctor says you need to be quarantined for three weeks. You need every hour.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
Otherwise you lose your job, then your housing, and anything else that keeps the wolf away from the door. pic.twitter.com/PSxQcsuHnZ
So not only is it likely that food workers, who have increased contact with the public through their jobs and are thus at greater risk of contracting an illness, are also unlikely to be able to stay home if they fall ill, especially not for the weeks needed to "clear" a COVID-19 infection. Because doing so could cost them everything.
People who work food service are less likely to have reliable transportation - so they ride mass transit, exposing themselves to more people.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
They live together in tight spaces, ensuring it spreads between folks.
They have poor diets, poor sleep, and weakened immune systems. pic.twitter.com/Kk8i5mU1BK
And let's not also forget another factor that ups this population's vulnerability to disease. All in all, being poor is a public health issue, especially in the U.S. So many factors connected to one's income increase the risk factors.
And these are the people making your food. pic.twitter.com/0s4SK0P1CK
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
So what can be done about this? Well, without massive public pressure and costly penalties, it's unlikely restaurants will start paying workers more and offering paid sick leave and health benefits to all workers.
Poverty is a public health crisis, y'all. Wage Slavery kills.
— Do not Thump the Book of G'Nome (@NomeDaBarbarian) February 27, 2020
And if you can't be bothered to care about that out of your basic human dignity, maybe the fact that the servile class you've been supported by can't afford to not make you sick will fucking help.
Eat the rich. /end pic.twitter.com/0gUMqZaVo4
Public health experts agree that a lack of mandated paid sick leave puts workers and the people they come into contact with at higher risk. And as of 2019 numbers, nearly 40 percent of service workers do not receive paid sick leave.
Can we use this as a doctor's note? Asking for 80.4 million wage workers.
— Sergio (@unrealSerg) March 8, 2020
Even the Surgeon General of the United States is calling for mandated paid sick leave. But legislators can do more than just make recommendations. House Democrats have introduced some very timely legislation that would mandate accrued paid leave and would require up to 14 days of paid leave be made immediately available to workers during a public health crisis like the current coronavirus outbreak.