Service plaza workers say conditions worsen crisis

Workers at the service plazas along Connecticut highways have found themselves on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic with fewer hours of pay and little protection against the disease.

The workers, deemed essential under the executive orders by Gov. Ned Lamont, say they are working without personal protective equipment, often without sick days or health insurance, and with reduced staffing as hours are reduced due to COVID-19.

And unlike many restaurant employees, they must face travelers leaning right over the counter as they sell burgers, fries, sandwiches and convenience items.

“That is a danger because it forces people like us to come to work sick and we can’t afford for us to miss a day of pay because we have families we have to take care of, bills that we have to pay, especially now, with this coronavirus, threatening everybody around,” said Josh Rivas, a worker at the Subway at the Madison northbound service plaza on Interstate-95.

Rivas, 29, spoke on a Zoom event Thursday, organized by SEIU 32BJ, the union attempting to organize the roughly 950 workers at the state’s 23 service plazas, in stores such as McDonald’s, Subway, Dunkin’ Donuts and Alltown.

Rivas said he has worked at the service plaza for 12 years, but said his last day of work was last week, forcing him to apply for unemployment — which is delayed by the crush of filings.

Now the workers, joined on the call by many of the state’s top elected Democrats, are demanding protection from McDonald’s and other franchised chains at the rest stops for the duration of the crisis and beyond.

A union spokesman said at least one worker has shown symptoms of illness and a small number of others fear they may have had exposures. The status of testing is unclear. The union does not represent the workers and is not in regular contact with all of them.

One worker at a fast food location informed her manager that her husband had tested positive and has not worked for two weeks — but has not received paid sick time she had earned under state law, the union said. Workers said they can’t afford not to work and fear that colleagues are coming in even though they have sick family members at home.

Democratic state legislators, along with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, pledged to help the employees access benefits such as paid healthcare, sick days granted by the federal government under a coronavirus response package and income during the crisis.

They called on the corporate franchises to protect their workers health and safety.

“Make no mistake what is at stake here. It’s not just the working conditions or even the health and safety of the workers, it is all of our health and safety,” Blumenthal said. “These service plazas and rest stops along our highways are potential points of infection. They are the height of hazard as long as employers refuse to follow basic standards of health and safety and they are defying not just their legal obligation, but their moral obligation, to make their workplaces safe and healthy.”

The service plazas along I-95 and the Merritt and Wilbur Cross parkways are owned by the state with a master contractor, Project Service LLC, running the plazas and contracting to bring in the retail businesses.

Project Service said in an email that the service plazas have implemented many changes to comply with the governor’s executive orders. The company said it considers the role of protecting workers to be a joint effort between the state, Project Service and the franchises that employ the workers.

The plazas on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Orange and the Merritt Parkway in New Canaan have been closed in both directions.

All seating or access to seating has been removed from the plazas. “Social distancing is encouraged with guests able to use mobile ordering apps for brands such as Dunkin, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Chipotle and Subway for ordering and payment,” the company said.

In addition, the statement said, “A number of the tenants have created A and B teams who don’t interact in case there is an identified case – there is a team available to staff the store who didn’t have exposure to the other team.”

He added that the gas pumps are being disinfected and physically wiped down, and the service plaza common areas are disinfected regularly.

It isn’t clear whether the franchise owners, the plaza operators or the state will ensure compliance with the governor’s order that all retail workers receive protective equipment.

Workers on the call cited many concerns that they’ve had all along, which they said were exacerbated during the crisis, such as lost hours and inattention to safety measures.

Michell Enterprises, which owns about ten of the McDonald’s stores in the plazas and has been the subject of some worker complaints through SEIU 32BJ, did not return a message left with an employee. A message left with the North American Association of Subway Franchisees was not returned.

The union has filed complaints with the state Department of Labor on behalf of individual workers, but has not been recognized as a bargaining agent for the workers.

“It’s tragic that this crisis has provided an opening for companies like McDonald’s to ramp up their abuse,” said Juan Hernandez, Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, which has been supporting service plaza workers for the past year during their fight to unionize.