Executives of some denounced companies belong to the economic Task Force that advises the Government.
The agency received 680 complaints against employers related to the crisis by COVID-19.
Photo: Archive
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration of Puerto Rico (PROSHA) received 680 complaints against employers related to the crisis by COVID-19, between March 14 and April 29. Of these complaints, at least 124 were reported between April 1 and 29, just before the government began the partial reopening after the curfew and the same week that the peak in the number of cases of infections is expected. by COVID-19. The Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH) sent a table whose figures on the number of complaints disagree with the numbers that the same agency offered to specific questions from the Center for Investigative Journalism (CPI).
Of the complaints related to the pandemic according to the DTRH data, from employers who maintained their operations during the quarantine, at least 50 come from hospital employees and eight from health service centers around the Island. Among them the HIMA hospital. from Bayamón, Auxilio Mutuo de San Juan, Menonita de Humacao, San Pablo de Caguas, Perea de Mayagüez, La Concepción de San Germán and Pavía de Toa Baja.
There are also eight complaints against Walmart de Santurce, Bayamón, Cayey, Carolina, Ponce and Fajardo. Walmart Supercenter de Canóvanas has two complaints, one in April and the other in March. Iván Báez, Walmart’s director of public and government relations, is a member of the Economic Task Force that advises the Government and promotes economic reopening.
Employees of Banco Popular de Canóvanas, Santurce and two other branches of San Juan also filed complaints with PROSHA. Ignacio Álvarez, President and CEO of Popular Inc. is another member of the Economic Task Force.
PROSHA is part of the Department of Labor and Human Resources. When asked by the CPI, Briseida Torres, Secretary of Labor, stated that “the number of complaints received by PROSHA is part of the information provided in DTRH reports” to the Economic Task Force and the Government Medical Task Force. In addition, “the DTRH secretary participated in some of the meetings of the Economic Task Force where the partial reopening of the economy was discussed.”
Emilio Colón Zavala, president of the Economic Task Force, distanced himself from the information related to the complaints. “Our role is not to investigate complaints, our role is to make recommendations for an economic reopening. So I do not know, I am not aware of the issue of complaints, the reality is that we do not have information about complaints. We made some recommendations as to how companies should manage their COVID risk at work. In addition to that, it was adopted that the companies that have been open since day zero have to submit their plan and certify it, like those who are going to start working now in this second part, “he told the CPI.
Although he said he did not know about the complaints, Colón Zavala later added that “we suggest at one point that there be an expedited process to resolve these complaints within the situation we are in.”
Could that number of complaints against employers by COVID-19 be seen as an indicator that employers are not ready to protect their employees and clients in the midst of the pandemic? The CPI asked the Secretary of Labor via email.
“Not necessarily. The number of complaints reflects the position of employees on certain aspects of their workplaces and they have been handled accordingly. Complaints do not in themselves constitute violations of prevention guidelines or evidence of noncompliance. The employers to whom recommendations or points have been made have acted immediately to attend to them and update their control plans. ”
What was the recommendation or opinion of the Secretary of Labor regarding the partial reopening of the Government?
“The recommendation of the DTRH Secretary regarding the partial reopening of the Government has been and is that any opening process must require compliance with the prevention guidelines of the COVID-19 of PROSHA and the CDC,” Torres replied.
“After the complaint everything returned to normal”
“Since the COVID-19 situation began, seeing the few preventive measures the store used with its employees, I began to try to convey the concerns to different people. I made several complaints to PROSHA. Here I emphasize that the last complaint was answered and this was worked with the store. But, as always happens, after the complaint everything returned to normal. They have taken preventive measures, but on many occasions they have not measured customer control, ”a Walmart employee from Plaza del Sol in Bayamón told CPI.
“Here we are all employees with enormous anxiety and concerns. There is no public control to enter, they are entering as if it were a normal sale. They are practically selling things that are not essential. For an employee to wear a mask they make them sign a release of responsibility that if they do not sign it, they deny them work and send them home. The company does not supply us with masks. That is why several associates have chosen to bring their masks, but as I indicated, if they do not fill the relay they will send them to their homes, “said the employee on condition of anonymity.
An employee of the Walmart de Barceloneta, although that store does not appear on the list of complaints before PROSHA, told the CPI on April 2 that an employee tested positive for COVID-19 and that there were three employees with symptoms.
“These employees were removed from their work areas, as well as employees who have been in contact with them. The problem is that there are additional employees showing symptoms, but they do not want to notify them because “they have not had a fever.” Employees have taken the initiative to go to Human Resources, but they have already asked them in a meeting to stop going with complaints about ‘nonsense’ and ‘stupidities’, that they would no longer grant them sick leave or vacation to leave. Many employees are fearful for two reasons, for fear of contracting COVID-19 and for fear of losing their jobs for reporting the situation in Human Resources. They also told them that they are not going to close the Barceloneta store even if they have employees with positive COVID-19 tests, ”said the employee who asked for identity protection.
Iván Báez, from Walmart, said that according to the company’s Human Resources division, “the complaints have been duly addressed.” He also detailed that at least eight employees from different stores have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been sent to quarantine.
Employee of factories vulnerable to COVID-19
Among the companies denounced in PROSHA is the Eaton-Cutler Hammer factory in Arecibo, with a complaint filed on March 25. “The alleged risks are employees working without personal protection exposing themselves to the contagion and infecting their families with COVID-19. You have not been guided by policies or measures to protect yourself, ”says a PROSHA notice to Eaton that reviewed the CPI.
In these cases, PROSHA orders the employer to investigate himself.
“You must inform us in writing no later than March 27, 2020, the results of your investigation. You must provide documentation to support your findings, including any applicable measurements or monitoring results and photographs that you understand may be helpful, as well as a description of any corrective action you have taken or are in process… If you do not receive a response on or before March 27, PROSHA will conduct an inspection at its workplace, ”says PROSHA’s notification to Eaton.
On Wednesday, May 6, an employee of that factory who spoke to the CPI on condition of anonymity, said that he was going to file another complaint with PROSHA against the company because he still does not feel safe in the work area. After the March 25 complaint, the company began taking the temperature of its employees and made modifications to the cafeteria. But machine operators have no way to keep the distance of at least six feet that the CDC recommends to prevent COVID-19 infection.
Until last week, not all employees had masks to cover their mouths and noses because the company was not providing enough, but was still forcing them to report to work. On Monday they distributed some masks but cloth, which according to the employee do not adequately protect because they do not prevent air from passing.
Other Arecibo factory employees who have reported similar conditions to the CPI in their work areas since the beginning of the pandemic are ABB, manufacturers of power generation products and Thermo King, producers of transport temperature control systems. These factories also have complaints to PROSHA.
The manufacturers Abbott de Arecibo and Caguas, Medtronic de Juncos, Pfizer de Barceloneta, Johnson and Johnson de Añasco, Zimmer Biomet Manufacturing de Ponce and SNC Technical Services de Camuy also appear in the list of employers who have been reported to PROSHA in the context of COVID-19.
PROSHA also received 129 information inquiries and carried out 279 interventions, although it has not reported the result, between March 14 and April 29. The Inspection Bureau has 28 people attending to the complaints filed with PROSHA, according to the DTRH.
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