THE WORKERS Some customers don’t wear masks but if I challenge them my manager overrules me
A middle manager at a large Edinburgh branch of a major supermarket chain spoke to The Sunday Post on condition of anonymity. She said: “Our company has increased the number of people allowed in the store at any one time, which is crazy considering there’s a new strain of the virus which spreads much more easily. “You’ve got customers coming right up to the staff. Some of the customers don’t wear masks and when I have challenged them my manager has overruled me and let them stay in the shop to avoid a complaint. “Last March and April our shop was quiet but it just does not feel like a lockdown this time. We’re getting about 1,000 customers a day, and many of them do not seem to care about Covid. This time people are coming in for non-essential items, laughing and joking as
One supermarket worker yesterday
if there is nothing going on around them. And there is no one-way system in place like there was in the first lockdown.
“It’s supposed to be one person per trolley but we have groups of people coming in, all ages, meeting in the aisles for a chat. Last year our company allowed us to ask people to keep moving. Now we are not allowed to do that, even if they’re having a social gathering.
“Staff morale is at an all-time low. Supermarkets need to be stricter with customers who are breaking the rules.
“I am petrified that I will catch Covid, especially because I’m a manager so I’m on the shop floor all the time, walking around.
“I am worried about the safety of my staff, too. We’ve had three positive cases in the last two weeks. I’ve lost count of the number
of people who are self-isolating.” Another supermarket worker at a large store in Glasgow said: “We have more than a dozen staff off with Covid. One person was in hospital on oxygen. “My colleagues and I are fed up with shop workers being ignored during this pandemic. “This is the third bout of Covid among staff. A few months ago an entire department was closed because all the staff were off with it. “Management continually blame the staff. They say we not social distancing enough, as if it’s our fault, but they stopped monitoring how many people are in store at any one time. “Customers come in pairs or in groups and treat trips to supermarkets as a day out, even though it’s supposed to be essential shopping only. What’s going on is absolutely ridiculous.”