Warehouse Workers' New Health Hazard: Frivolous Online Orders
Business should be very slow for Pier 1 Imports right now. The home furnishings retailer filed for bankruptcy in February, even before the coronavirus pandemic hit and forced the chain to temporarily close all its stores.
But the company’s warehouse outside Columbus, Ohio, is running full tilt right now. An employee there told HuffPost the facility is filling between 5,000 and 6,000 orders a day, compared to a more normal 1,000 to 1,500, and bringing on dozens of temporary workers to meet demand.
The employee said many workers have been logging overtime since the coronavirus crisis began, leaving them to wonder how critical wind chimes, three-wick candles and artificial plants are during a full-blown pandemic.
“This is unnecessary,” said the worker, who, like others in this story, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “I don’t want to be the person who died for fragrant oils.”
The spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has hit the retail industry particularly hard. Grocery stores, hardware stores and big-box chains like Target have remained open, but retailers selling “nonessential” items, like Pier 1, have had to close stores in states with stay-at-home orders. Many chains, though not all, have gone ahead and shuttered them nationwide as a safety precaution.
But that does not mean business has stopped. Some companies selling less-than-essential products are leaning on e-commerce to keep them afloat. The online sales are helping companies weather a brutal period of uncertainty, but they require warehouse employees to continue clocking in and working among others, while the rest of the workforce is telecommuting or out on leave.
Several workers at different companies have told HuffPost in recent days that they are disturbed by the crowds and lack of hygiene in their warehouses, and they wonder why their companies are open for business at all when public health experts recommend people maintain...
