During a video conference with reporters hosted by the Retail Workers’ Union last week, Claire Chang, a visual presentation specialist who has worked at the store for more than four years, raised concerns about coronavirus safety. .
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Ms Zhang said that after the store reopened in 2020, officials asked workers if they felt comfortable reopening the fitting rooms, where employees frequently come into contact with clothes worn by shoppers. clients.
“The majority, if not all, of the staff said they weren’t comfortable with it, and they continue to do so,” Ms. Zhang said.
Steve Buckley, a sales professional who has been at the store for about six months, said in a videoconference that he was one of many workers who contracted the coronavirus during the Omicron wave, when the store was crowded with customers.
A REI spokeswoman said the retailer left less than 5% of its employees nationwide when it reopened and the decisions had nothing to do with how employees were initial. She said fitting rooms are stocked with sterilization supplies and store capacity is limited throughout the pandemic.
She cited a 2021 survey that showed employees generally rate the company very highly on issues such as whether it treats them as valuable employees.
Several workers said they sought to unionize because of the discrepancy they noticed between REI’s behavior and its stated values, saying the workplace had become more impersonal and profit-oriented as he was looking to grow.
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