Banks Could Start Seizing Shale Assets

Irina Slav Oilprice.com April 10, 2020

U.S. banks are preparing to start seizing the assets of ailing shale oil companies, Reuters reported today, citing unnamed sources in the know, who said that the banks must take this dramatic step if they want to avoid losses on the loans they extended to the industry.

U.S. shale companies rely heavily on loans, and now that they are facing the perfect storm of slack demand and low oil prices—even after the tentative deal OPEC+ announced yesterday—the chances or survival for many of them are slim to nonexistent.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that new wells are falling short of expectations concerning yields. This made banks wary of extending more loans to the industry a few months ago before the worst hit. Now, with more than $200 billion in debt backed by their assets, many oil and gas companies in the shale patch are on the brink.

Reuters reports that several large players in the shale field have hired debt advisors, including Chesapeake Energy Corp, Denbury Resources, and Callon Petroleum. Meanwhile, Whiting Petroleum became the first oil company to file for bankruptcy protection, citing the “severe downturn.”

Others, including the supermajors, are slashing spending, cutting costs, and asking oilfield service providers for substantial discounts for their services.

Meanwhile, even the news that OPEC+ was ready to cut 10 million bpd in daily production did not do much for prices. Both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were down at the time of writing, with WTI at $22.76 a barrel, down by more than 9 percent. Part of the reason was that few believe these cuts will be enough, and another part is that not everyone in OPEC+ is on board with the cuts, with Mexico balking.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com


Fabled Singapore Oil Trader Appoints Advisers Amid Bank Squeeze
Alfred Cang, Serene Cheong and Joyce Koh Bloomberg April 10, 2020


(Bloomberg) -- Singapore oil trader Hin Leong Trading (Pte.) Ltd. has appointed advisers to help in talks with banks as some of them freeze credit lines to the firm, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Bloomberg reported on Thursday that at least two lenders won’t issue new letters of credit to Hin Leong amid concerns over its ability to repay debt. The firm appointed advisers this week to help negotiate with banks for more time to resolve its finances, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

Nobody responded to calls or emails to the company seeking comment.

The privately-held company founded by legendary self-made Chinese tycoon Lim Oon Kuin could be the latest casualty of the crash in oil prices and a heightened caution among lenders to finance commodity trades.

Speculation over Hin Leong’s predicament is ricocheting around the tight-knit oil trading community in Singapore, one of the world’s most important oil markets and the biggest ship fueling hub. Before crude’s spectacular crash, it would have been almost unthinkable that such a major player in the market could be in such a position.

Hin Leong’s situation arises amid a torrid period for the Asian commodity trading industry, including multi-million dollar losses by some high profile Chinese and Japanese traders, and the collapse of Noble Group, one of the biggest names in the industry.

Hin Leong was established in 1963 and has grown into one of Asia’s largest suppliers of ship fuel, or bunkers. OK Lim, as the founder is known, built the company from a one-man-one-truck oil dealer to a regional powerhouse with assets including 130 vessels, with businesses across oil trading, terminal and storage, bunker supply and lubricants manufacturing, according to its website.

The company’s bunkering arm, Ocean Bunkering Services (Pte.) Ltd., was ranked the third-largest shipping fuel supplier in Singapore last year, according to the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority.

Hin Leong’s financial accounts couldn’t be found on the website of Singapore’s accounting regulator. A brochure on its website, dated February 2014, said it had trading revenues of $14 billion.

In a rare interview in 2018, OK Lim’s son said Ocean Bunkering Services aimed to raise its monthly bunker fuel sales to as much as 1 million tons from 650,000 tons in January that year. Singapore’s monthly bunkering sales averaged around 4 million tons in the past five years.

Letters of credit are a critical financial lifeline for commodity traders, used as way of financing short-term trade. A bank issues the so-called L/C on behalf of the buyer as a guarantee of payment to the seller. Once the ds have exchanged hands, the buyer repagooys the lender.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Leaked memo reveals some Princess Cruise and Holland America crew members will take pay cuts through June as the coronavirus sends shockwaves through the cruise industry

Mark Matousek, Business Insider•April 10, 2020

Holland America's Nieuw Amsterdam ship. Holland America Line

Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, and P&O Cruises Australia will cut the pay of some crew members in the coming months, according to a letter sent to crew members dated April 9.

Crew members have continued to be paid since Carnival Corp., the cruise lines' parent company, halted new cruises in March, the letter says.

It's unclear when the cruise lines' ships will return to service.

"During this financially disruptive time, we have made as few changes as possible, including paying our onboard teams as normally as possible even when revenue service has stopped," a Holland America Line representative said. "However, we must make some difficult short-term business decisions while protecting the long-term interests of our team members and our company."

Princess Cruises, Seabourn, and P&O Cruises Australia did not respond to a request for comment.

Some crew members from Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, and P&O Cruises Australia will take pay cuts in the coming months, according to a letter sent to crew members dated April 9. Business Insider viewed photos of the letter.

"Most of our ships are no longer serving guests. As a resulted, we must now shift to a staffing and compensation model for April, May, and June that balances the current economic and operation situation with the needs of our shipboard team members," said Susan Coskey, the senior vice president of human resources for Holland America Group, which includes Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn, and P&O Australia. All Holland America Group crew members have continued to be paid since the group's parent company, Carnival Corp., halted operations in March, Coskey said in the letter.

Crew members whose contracts end on or before May 9 will receive their normal pay if it doesn't usually include tips from passengers. Those with contracts ending by May 9 whose pay tends to include tips will get the higher of the following two options: the minimum pay outlined in their contract or 70% of what they would have been expected to make between their base pay and tips.

All contracts scheduled to end on or after May 10 will now end on May 10, the letter says. Workers in that group will receive their scheduled pay through the day their contract was originally set to end or June 9, whichever is earlier. In addition, they will receive $500 or 50% of what they earn during the 30 days before their contract ends, adjusted for the number of days worked during that period, if the latter is greater than $500.

Some crew members may work past May 10 if their role is deemed necessary for the upkeep of their ship. Workers who are not in essential roles but remain on their ships after their contract ends will receive food, lodging, and medical care.

Coskey said Holland America Group does not yet know when crew members will receive new work assignments since it's unclear when the group's ships will return to service.

"Throughout this journey, you have shown your resilience and determination in the face of almost constant change and challenge, and we are deeply grateful," Coskey said. "Thank you again for your understanding throughout this unprecedented situation."

A Holland America Line representative said the compensation changes were necessary to preserve the cruise line's health.

"During this financially disruptive time, we have made as few changes as possible, including paying our onboard teams as normally as possible even when revenue service has stopped," the representative said. "However, we must make some difficult short-term business decisions while protecting the long-term interests of our team members and our company."

The cruise industry has been shut down since March after COVID-19 spread to hundreds of passengers and crew members on ships like the Diamond Princess, Costa Luminosa, and Zaandam, though there are still 114 ships carrying over 93,000 crew members in or close to US ports, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cruise companies had planned to resume new trips in May at the earliest, but a new order from the CDC could prevent cruise ships from sailing in US-controlled waters until July.

Amid the disruptions caused by COVID-19, a steep decline in revenue has threatened the cruise industry's financial health, causing the stock prices of major cruise companies like Carnival Corp., Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings to plummet as the companies tap credit lines or issue bonds to fulfill their cash needs. While analysts told Business Insider the cruise industry will eventually rebound, they said it's difficult to predict when that will happen.

Princess Cruises, Seabourn, and P&O Cruises Australia did not respond to a request for comment.

---30---

Coronavirus: The US clothing firms now making gowns and gloves

BBC April 12, 2020

The US, like other countries, is grappling with shortages of medical supplies, but shies away from central directives

In a normal year Michael Rubin's athletic apparel factory in Pennsylvania would be ramping up for the start of baseball season, churning out team uniforms and clothing to sell to fans. Instead his company, Fanatics, has remade itself into a gown and mask manufacturer for hospitals facing shortages of protective gear as they fight the coronavirus.

Fanatics isn't alone. Thousands of companies across the US have responded to pleas for help from hospitals facing shortages of critical health supplies.

Clothing companies like Gap and Hanes are making gowns and scrubs. Ford and General Motors are repurposing fans and batteries, typically used in cars, to make ventilators. Boeing and Apple are making face shields. Luxury brands, distilleries - even state prisoners - are producing hand sanitiser.

"We felt it was our responsibility to help pitch in," says Mr Rubin. Firms responding in what he calls this "dire time of need" aren't necessarily going to profit from the enterprise but they are proving a point: The private sector is famously good at responding nimbly and quickly to changing demands.

Fanatics used baseball uniform material to make non-surgical masks

'Supply chain 101'

The shortages in the US are are not unique, nor is the response from the private sector.

In the UK, engineering firm Dyson has designed a new ventilator; in France, Chanel is contributing masks; in Germany, Volkswagen and other firms are manufacturing protective equipment.

But the White House has been notably hands-off when it comes to establishing any co-ordinated, centralised response, says Nada Sanders, professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University. This has led to a free-for-all, as local governments and hospitals competed to buy products or find donations, scam artists emerged, and prices skyrocketed.

The US has allowed "pure capitalism to serve as an incentive" says Dr Sanders.

"Companies want to step up to the plate and so many are. I really applaud them, but I also find it even more frustrating because I see the chaos."

What are ventilators and why are they important?
Coronavirus: New York warns of major medical shortages
Coronavirus: Can we 3D-print our way out of the PPE shortage?

In the European Union, the shortages were caused by inadequate reserves of equipment, as coronavirus cases surged and shipments from overseas were delayed. But in the US, which has a national stockpile of supplies, including badly-needed ventilators, a slow federal response has added to the problem, says Prashant Yadav, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a professor at INSEAD.

"Outcomes are pretty bad in both [Europe and America], but in one place they don't have large resources in a stockpile. They didn't have a large manufacturing base," he says. "Our decision-making wasn't working right or our coordinating mechanisms weren't working right."

Converting factories to make basic products like sanitiser or masks isn't necessarily that difficult or expensive. Mr Rubin's factory shipped its first masks within three days and now produces about 10,000 daily.

But getting companies to start making machines like ventilators - which have dozens of parts sourced globally - is far more complex and requires government intervention, says Dr Sanders.

While some states, including California, have voluntarily sent existing ventilators to virus hotspots like New York, Dr Sanders says a national response is needed, to ensure there is a clear inventory of what's on hand and the ability to shift resources to the places that need it most.

"This is supply chain 101 ... it's not like it's really that hard," she says. "The lack of coordinated national response is really infuriating."
'A national system'

Under pressure to act, President Donald Trump has targeted some companies with orders to produce items in high demand and banned exports of medical supplies. Federal health officials also announced a $50m deal with General Motors to produce 30,000 ventilators.

But for weeks Mr Trump resisted using the full extent of his authority to compel firms to produce equipment and prioritise deliveries.

Mr Trump has suggested a government report about shortages was politically motivated

"We're a country not based on nationalising our business," he said last month. "Call a person over in Venezuela. Ask them, how did nationalisation of their businesses work out? Not too well. The concept of nationalising our business is not a good concept."

New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a leading Democrat, last week called on the president to appoint a national 'czar' to oversee distribution and production. "The hunting and pecking isn't working," he told reporters.

It is not clear that the president will change tack.

Luckily in some places the private sector efforts are coming through. St Luke's University Health Network, which worked with Fanatics to design its masks, now has about 30 days worth of protective gear on hand, says vice president Chad Brisendine. Contributions from non-traditional suppliers account for "a quarter or more" of that.

"Between the external, local, non-traditional suppliers, plus the donations, that really helped us," Mr Brisendine says.

But the Pennsylvania hospital system has still been forced to introduce new cleaning procedures so it can reuse masks and other equipment more intensively, he adds.

Mr Brisendine says he's worried the wider needs are so great, even a stronger federal response wouldn't resolve the problems his health network now faces.

"I just wonder how fast they can move," he says. "When you need it, you needed it yesterday."

CNBC INTERVIEWS MARC PERONNE PRES OF UCFW

Grocery Workers Say Inconsiderate Shoppers Are Endangering Them In The Pandemic

Many people still aren't wearing masks or observing social-distancing protocol at the supermarket. 

Workers are afraid it will cost them their lives.


By Dave Jamieson, HuffPost US

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a lot of guidance to the public about how to stay safe during the coronavirus pandemic. But as far as Aaron Squeo can tell, a lot of grocery shoppers haven’t gotten the memos.

Squeo works in the meat department of a Kroger supermarket in Michigan. He knows of several grocery workers who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and one in his area who died. He worries that the behavior of some shoppers is putting people in unnecessary danger.

“When I’m stocking the meat counter and people are crowding around me … that’s not social distancing,” Squeo said Monday on a call with reporters arranged by his union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 900,000 grocery store employees.

Several other grocery workers on the call shared similar experiences in recent weeks as the number of coronavirus cases has shot up. As HuffPost reported Sunday, the UFCW estimates that around 30 of its members have died so far during the pandemic. The Washington Post reported that at least 41 grocery workers in the U.S. have passed away and thousands more have been infected.

With best practices changing and the rules varying from one locality to the next, the UFCW is asking that shoppers abide by a few basic rules to keep everyone inside busy stores safe during the pandemic. They even launched a ”Shop Smart″ campaign in hopes people will use common sense:

―Always wear a mask. The coronavirus can spread from one person to the next through coughing and sneezing. The CDC now recommends that people wear face coverings when out in public, and some localities are starting to legally require it in stores. Even so, many shoppers still aren’t wearing them, workers said.

“Please, for the sake of all our safety, wear a mask or a face covering when you go shopping in a grocery store,” said Janifer Suber, who works at a Vons store in California.

―Don’t leave that used mask in your shopping cart. It’s bad form to leave trash in a shopping cart in good times; it’s dangerous to do it during a pandemic. Workers reported having to constantly clean up used gloves, masks and sanitizing wipes left behind in carts, baskets and parking lots.

“We provide garbage cans. Take the extra time to walk over three or four feet,” said Gregg Finch, who works at a Stop & Shop in New York.

“I see a lot of gloves in the parking lot. I see them in shopping carts,” said Dusty Gearhard, who works at a Homeland Stores in Oklahoma. “You’re part of a larger group that we have to deal with every day. Now more than ever we need to work together to get through this.”
MORSE COLLECTION/GADO VIA GETTY IMAGES

A worker at a Stop & Shop store in New York.

―Don’t bring the whole clan shopping. The workers said they often see unnecessarily large groups shopping together at their stores, which makes it much harder to observe the six-feet distance between people recommended by the CDC.

“Don’t bring the whole family out,” said Squeo.

―Don’t bother workers with questions about out-of-stock items. Shoppers are pressing workers about items they can’t find on the shelves, like toilet paper. The reality is workers probably don’t know when that stuff will be back in stock, and the conversations put them in unnecessarily close contact with shoppers. In a survey done by the UFCW, nearly a third of workers said customers had treated them either somewhat or very poorly during the pandemic.

“We are constantly asked what specific items will be in stock. We want them to know we are all doing the best job we can,” Suber said. “We simply don’t know when items will come in.”

―Don’t go looking for that gallon of milk that never expires. Gearhard said it frustrates him to see shoppers rooting around piles of frozen meat or touching all the milk jugs as they look for one with a better expiration date. It leaves far more germs behind than necessary.

“We’re asking customers ... to think about how they shop and how it impacts their health and ours,” he said.

―Create a list and minimize trips. Suber said she has seen the same people coming back to the store multiple times on the same day because they forgot certain items.

“We really need customers to change how they shop,” she said.

―Give workers their six feet of space. In the UFCW’s survey, 85% of respondents said shoppers were not observing the CDC recommendations when inside stores.

“We’re being unnecessarily exposed,” said Gearhard. “We’d appreciate it if everyone could keep their social distance.”

RELATED...

This Union's Members Are Risking Their Lives So Americans Can Still Eat

Please Stop Throwing Your Used Gloves Or Masks On The Ground

The Coronavirus Worker Revolt Is Just Beginning

Discarded gloves, crowded aisles: Major grocery worker union urges US shoppers to wear masks, change how they shop during the pandemic

PUBLISHED MON, APR 13 2020 Melissa Repko

KEY POINTS

One of the nation’s largest labor groups, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, is asking customers to wear masks, limit trips to the stores and discard their own protective gear.

At least 30 people who belong to its union have died and about 3,000 are sick from Covid-19, said the union’s president, Marc Perrone.

The union is also calling on federal and state officials to mandate safety measures, such as calling on customers to cover their faces or wear masks.

On a phone call Monday, a handful of grocery workers from different parts of the country spoke about how they’ve feared for their safety and their coworkers’ safety, as they cope with a flood of shoppers during the pandemic.
A shopper and cashier both wear masks, gloves and the cashier also has on a plastic visor at the checkout station Pat’s Farms grocery store on March 31, 2020 in Merrick, New York.
Al Bello | Getty Images

One of the nation’s largest labor groups, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, is urging customers to wear masks and gloves every time they go to the grocery store and change how they shop to protect the health of employees and one another during the coronavirus pandemic.

The need for change is urgent, said the union’s president, Marc Perrone. At least 30 people who belong to the union have died and about 3,000 are sick from Covid-19, he said. That doesn’t include workers at grocery stores, distribution centers or other food-related workplaces that are not unionized, such as Walmart, Amazon-owned Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

The union is also calling for federal and state officials, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to require grocery workers to wear personal protective equipment and call on customers to wear masks.

“This is not union versus non-union, nor is it about politics or party,” he said in a phone call on Monday. “This is about life or death. Workers are being exposed, and they are dying.”

The union represents 1.3 million workers who work at food-related and retail employers, including meatpacking plants and large grocery chains, such as Kroger, Safeway and Randalls. Perrone said the coronavirus pandemic is “the greatest health and safety crisis that America’s grocery and food workers have ever faced.”

Grocery and food workers — who often have low hourly wages and little to no health benefits — have continued to go to work, as many other Americans stay at home and limit their exposure to the virus. Many of the stores where they work have become more crowded and chaotic as customers stock up on items and grow frustrated by out-of-stock items, empty shelves or purchasing limits.

Safety concerns have inspired some workers, including Instacart contract workers and Amazon employees, to organize walkouts and circulate petitions to call for hazard pay and protective gear.

For grocery workers, Perrone said “careless customers are probably the biggest threat that we have right now.” He said there must be a cultural shift where Americans embrace wearing masks or at least covering their faces with a scarf.

“I know that we don’t normally think that we should have to go out in public with a mask on, but these aren’t normal times for any of us,” he said.

On a phone call Monday, five grocery workers who belong to the union and work in different stores across the U.S. spoke about their experiences. All of them said they’re worried about the high number of shoppers who don’t wear masks and don’t observe social distancing.

At a Vons grocery store in California, Janifer Suber said she and her colleagues have to pick up used gloves and masks that customers leave behind in shopping baskets, carts and parking lots. She said they see customers come multiple times the same day to get items they forgot or ask repeatedly when items will be back in stock.

“For as long as this pandemic lasts, we really need customers to change how they shop,” she said.

She encouraged customers to wear masks, bring a shopping list to limit trips and time in the store and throw away their own protective gear.

Aaron Squeo, who has worked in the meat department of a Kroger store in Michigan for 27 years, said he knows coworkers who have gotten sick — and one that has died from the coronavirus.

“We’re all scared,” he said. “We’re worried for ourselves and our family and our community. We don’t want to spread the virus, and it’s important for every customer — every customer — to do their part to make shopping safe for everybody.”

Another meat market employee, Dusty Gearhard, works at Homeland Stores in Oklahoma. He said he’s been concerned to see customers flip through or touch numerous food items, such as packages of bacon, as they choose which ones to buy.

“Customers need to shop more with their eyes instead of their hands,” he said.

He said some customers blame employees when they can’t find the item that they want.

“We’d appreciate if they just would have a little patience with us on that,” he said. “We’re all trying our best, and we want all the American people to appreciate how hard the work is — especially now.”

SEE  

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Coronavirus kills 30 food workers as shoppers ransack supermarkets

By Noah Manskar April 13, 2020

Shutterstock

More than two dozen US food industry workers have died from the coronavirus as scared shoppers plow through supermarkets with little regard for employees’ safety, it emerged on Monday.

The United Food and Commercial Workers labor union says at least 30 workers in the grocery, meatpacking and food-processing industries have perished from COVID-19 in recent weeks as they continue to trudge to work to help feed their fellow Americans.

Nearly 3,000 other food industry other workers have the virus or have been exposed to it, union president Marc Perrone said Monday.

Perrone said the number may be worse as UFCW’s count doesn’t include for non-union grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, which has reported at least one employee death so far.

Grocery workers say they feel particularly exposed because they have to face shoppers who litter stores with used masks and gloves while hectoring staff about product shortages.

“The fear that we feel here is absolutely real,” Queens Stop & Shop worker Gregg Finch told reporters Monday. “We worry about catching this virus and possibly taking it home to our loved ones. Unfortunately, we don’t have a choice.”

UFCW is pushing for protections, such as hazard pay, expanded sick leave and widespread coronavirus testing. It’s pushing states to designate grocery workers as first responders so they can have priority access to coronavirus testing.

The union also launched an ad campaign Monday urging shoppers to wear masks and gloves in stores and stay at least six feet away from workers. Many customers fail to wear masks and gloves while picking through the shelves — and those who do frequently toss their used protective gear in shopping carts, baskets and parking lots, according to workers.
“Our people have to go out there and pick up this stuff, and we don’t know what’s all over it. It’s dangerous,” said Aaron Squeo, who works in the meat department at a Kroger store in Roseville, Michigan.

Fears about the virus are almost universal among the union’s members, with 96 percent saying in a recent survey that they’re concerned about being exposed to it at work, Perrone said.

Some 85 percent of the 5,000 surveyed members said they’ve seen customers flouting social-distancing guidelines meant to prevent the virus from spreading, Perrone said. Another 62 percent say shoppers have blamed them for product shortages and 11 percent have had to call police over safety concerns, the survey found.

“Unless something changes quickly, more and more of these workers, both union and non-union, will become sick and get exposed and/or die,” Perrone said

‘Careless Customers’ Pose Biggest Threat to Workers, Union Says

By Matthew Boyle April 13, 2020

A thermal camera registers the temperature of a customer entering a supermarket in Duluth, Georgia on March 26. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg

The union representing the nation’s grocery-store workers is used to battling employers. Now, with supermarket staffers falling ill and dying from the coronavirus, it’s focused on the growing threat from customers.

Since the outbreak, 30 members of the UFCW -- which represents over 900,000 grocery workers -- have died and almost 3,000 have been impacted by the virus, Marc Perrone, the union’s international president, said Monday. With no nationwide policy in place regarding wearing masks while shopping at supermarkets, shelf stockers and cashiers risk getting infected on the job. More than eight out of ten workers surveyed by the UFCW said they’ve seen customers not practicing social distancing.

“There are definitely careless customers,” Perrone said on a call with reporters. “They are probably the biggest threat we have right now.”

Shoppers, some in masks and some not, wait to checkout at a Walmart in Uniondale, New York, on April 3, 2020.Photographer: Al Bello/Getty Images

Over the past month, the nation’s grocers have struggled to keep pace with unprecedented demand for food and other household essentials while simultaneously rolling out measures to keep their employees safe. Walmart Inc., Kroger Co. and other chains have installed plexiglass shields and one-way aisles, doled out masks and gloves to many workers and set limits on the number of customers allowed in at one time. Still, Perrone said those measures aren’t enough, and he’s appealed to both the Centers for Disease Control and Vice President Mike Pence over the past week to impose strict nationwide standards.

Some states and local governments, such as Los Angeles, Washington and New Jersey, now require customers to wear masks while shopping for food, but the patchwork of regulations has left many staffers feeling unsafe and exposed on the job, several of them said on the UFCW call. Two workers at a Chicago area Walmart have died from the virus, prompting a wrongful-death lawsuit from one of the worker’s families, while Kroger said four of its workers in the Michigan region have passed away.

“The fear that we feel is absolutely real,” Gregg Finch, a worker at a Stop & Shop supermarket in New York, said on the call. “We are asking everyone, understand the level of seriousness and help us keep each other safe. We do need to shop smarter.”

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=UFCW

‘It feels like a war zone’: As more of them die, grocery workers increasingly fear showing up at work

Abha Bhattarai WASHINGTON POST APRIL 13,2020


Doug Preszler wasn’t thinking about risk when he took a cashier job at a regional supermarket in eastern Iowa. But five months in, he has found himself at the forefront of a global crisis with little training or protection — save for the pocket-size bottle of hand sanitizer and Ziploc full of disposable gloves he brings from home each day.

© Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post An employee restocks eggs at a Giant grocery store in Silver Spring, Md.

The 51-year-old has told himself not to live in fear yet concedes he increasingly is. Even the most routine tasks are fraught: Accepting bills and giving change scare him the most, Preszler says. And he has run through so much hand sanitizer that his skin is cracking.

I’ve been way more anxious this week,” he said. “They’ve started telling people, ‘Go to the grocery store as little as possible.’ And yet I’m going there every day.”

Next to health-care providers, no workforce has proved more essential during the novel coronavirus pandemic than the 3 million U.S. grocery store employees who restock shelves and freezers, fill online orders and keep checkout lines moving. Although the public health guidelines are clear — steer clear of others — these workers are putting in longer shifts and taking on bigger workloads. Many report being stressed and scared, especially as their colleagues fall ill to the highly contagious coronavirus that is responsible for more than 21,000 deaths in the United States alone.

Some liken their job to working in a war zone, knowing that the simple act of showing up to work could ultimately kill them. At least 41 grocery workers have died so far. They include a Trader Joe’s employee in New York, a Safeway worker in Seattle, a pair of Walmart associates near Chicago and four Kroger employees in Michigan, as well as employees at meatpacking plants and food processing facilities around the country. Thousands more have tested positive for the virus.

Now workers across the country are staying home or quitting altogether, according to interviews with more than a dozen employees, leaving many markets short-staffed and ill-prepared to deal with demand. That’s complicated the scramble led by Walmart, Kroger and Safeway to fill hundreds of thousands of new jobs. Demand for groceries has doubled in recent weeks, employees say, as Americans avoid restaurants and prepare most of their meals at home.

Job postings for grocery clerks have jumped 60 percent in the past four weeks, according to Julia Pollak, a labor economist for the site ZipRecruiter. Supermarkets are increasingly hard-pressed to find and keep staff. Workers are walking out, going on strike and circulating petitions aimed at getting companies such as Amazon, Trader Joe’s and delivery service Instacart to take additional measures to protect their health.

“The language in job postings has become more desperate,” Pollak said. “Grocery companies are saying there’s an ‘urgent need’ or that they need workers to ‘start immediately.’ It’s becoming more difficult to convince workers to put themselves at risk.”

Chains such as Kroger and Safeway have begun providing masks and gloves. Walmart is checking employees’ temperatures before each shift. And countless large and regional chains have installed plexiglass shields at cash registers and signs encouraging social distancing — the best defense against spreading the coronavirus. But employees say more needs to be done.

“Grocery workers are risking their safety, often for poverty-level wages, so the rest of us can shelter in place,” said John Logan, director of labor and employment studies at San Francisco State University. “The only way the rest of us are able to stay home is because they’re willing to go to work.”

Public health experts generally say nurses, doctors, paramedics and other medical workers have the highest risk of exposure to the coronavirus. But grocery workers also come in close contact with large groups of people, often without meaningful protective gear. They are less likely to have paid sick leave or the financial means to take time off if they feel ill.

The sector’s relatively low pay — grocery cashiers averaged $11.43 an hour in 2018, Labor Department data show — has also become a bigger part of calculus.

More than 1,500 supermarket workers throughout the country have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, which represents 900,000 grocery employees at chains such as Kroger, Safeway and Giant. Nearly 3,000 members are not working because they are quarantined, hospitalized or awaiting test results, the union said.

“The big picture is workers are frightened,” said Marc Perrone, the union’s president. The labor group, he said, is urging states to categorize grocery workers as first responders to give them higher priority for testing and protective equipment such as masks.

“We believe in our health-care professionals being first, but we also believe that if we’re going to slow the transmission, that we need to start flattening the curve in those areas where grocery employees are literally coming face-to-face with thousands of people,” Perrone said.

Although more than 40 states and the District of Columbia have ordered nonessential businesses to shut their doors in recent weeks, grocery stores are among the few retailers that remain open.

Wando Evans had worked at a Chicago-area Walmart for 15 years when managers sent the 51-year-old home March 23 because he was displaying flu-like symptoms.

Two days later, he was found dead.

Now his brother, Toney Evans, alleges in a wrongful-death lawsuit filed Monday that the world’s largest retailer didn’t provide protective masks and gloves, adequately disinfect the store or keep workers apprised of their colleagues’ illnesses. Another store employee, Phillip Thomas, 48, died four days after Evans.

Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the retailer was “heartbroken” by the deaths. “We take this issue seriously and will respond with the court once we have been served with the complaint,” he said in a statement. The company declined to provide a full count of employees who have tested positive for the virus or died of related complications.

Some employees at a Whole Foods Market in Virginia say they are afraid to go to work.

“It’s like you’re constantly in fight-or-flight mode,” said a worker in her 50s who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her job and health insurance. “It’s been scary, it’s been confusing, and there is a palpable fear among everyone who’s still working. It feels like a war zone.”

That fear, she says, picked up last week after a store manager called, texted and emailed late one evening to say that someone at the store had tested positive for the coronavirus. A number of cashiers called in sick the next day, leaving long lines that snaked through the aisles. Although there are signs and stickers at her store encouraging customers to stand six feet apart, not everyone does. (Whole Foods is owned by Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.)

The store recently installed plexiglass dividers at registers and is offering masks to workers who want them. But, the employee said, there are no limits on how many people can be at the store at one time, and the company has made no specific accommodations for its older or more vulnerable workers.

A spokeswoman for Whole Foods said the company has had “crowd control protocols” at its stores since March 25. The company is also checking workers’ temperatures and providing gloves and masks before each shift, she said.

When the Virginia worker ended her shift that day, she told her manager she wanted time off. She plans to stay home for a couple of weeks, although her children are urging her to quit. Her daughter is helping her update her résumé.

“We’re in new territory, and nobody knows what to do,” she said. “But I also need to keep myself safe.”

Shoppers Food stores in Maryland recently began limiting the number of customers who can shop at one time. It is providing disposable gloves and paying employees an extra $2 an hour. But many workers are still scared. The store hasn’t been able to find masks for its employees, they said, and hasn’t provided them with hand sanitizer in days.

The chain’s parent company, United Natural Foods, did not respond to a request for comment.

“There are things they could have done to better protect us, sooner,” said Amber Stevens, 30, who has been working at the Forestville, Md., store for a dozen years. “It’s a scary feeling to be around so many people and then come home to my family.”

Stevens says she’s lucky to still have a job when much of the economy is upside down. At least 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March, and U.S. stock markets have tumbled from the all-time highs set in mid-February. But Stevens worries about passing on the virus to her 9-year-old daughter or 59-year-old mother.

Workers say grocers have done little to assuage their fears. Jasmine Kapralova says she has repeatedly asked her managers at a Trader Joe’s in Seattle for guidance on responding to the virus since late February, after dozens of infections had been confirmed locally. She and her colleagues asked to wear masks to work but were told they would be disciplined if they did, she said.

Shoppers Food employee Amber Stevens, 30, poses outside the store in Forestville, Md. Grocery store workers are putting in longer shifts and taking on bigger workloads. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

“Anytime we tried to talk to management about this outbreak, they made it clear they did not want us speaking about it,” said Kapralova, 39, who has worked at the company for nearly a decade. “They warned us not to freak each other out and cause panic.”

She and three colleagues, she said, came down with respiratory infections in early March. Kapralova took three weeks off with pay but says she was warned by her manager not to talk about her symptoms — which included a fever, body aches, a cough and difficulty breathing — on social media. She took an extra week off unpaid but is still sick.

Kenya Friend-Daniel, a spokeswoman for Trader Joe’s, confirmed that the company had given Kapralova three weeks of paid leave while she recovers. Managers were concerned, she said, that Kapralova’s social media posts speculating that she had the coronavirus were alarming her colleagues. They asked her to refrain from saying more online because she had not been formally diagnosed, Friend-Daniel said.

Although the grocer initially discouraged workers from wearing masks, Friend-Daniel said it is now providing masks and gloves to all employees to keep up with changing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kapralova has since asked managers to take her off the store’s schedule, Friend-Daniel said.

“I shouldn’t go in, but I feel pressured to go because I need the money,” Kapralova said. She and her 12-year-old daughter have been living with relatives since they lost their home in a fire five years ago. “I’m scared to death of dying but also of losing my job and not getting paid.”

Elsewhere in Seattle, a longtime Kroger employee says he’s facing a similar decision. At least two colleagues have tested positive for the coronavirus and about 20 more are home sick or awaiting results — although the company has instructed workers not to discuss this with shoppers.

“It scares the hell out of me,” said the employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he fears retribution. “We’re terrified, but what choice we do have? We’re college students or we’re parents trying to raise kids. We need the paychecks.”

Kroger spokeswoman Kristal Howard said the company is communicating “openly and transparently” with its employees and the public. “Our store teams should confirm when there’s been a diagnosed case, sharing how we’ve worked with the health department and the immediate actions taken to sanitize and clean the store,” she said.

The Seattle employee says it never occurred to him that the supermarket job he applied for 13 years ago to support his new wife and infant could one day put his life at risk. He feels vulnerable and scared

“Nobody told us,” he said, “that when the world falls apart, it’s going to fall on our shoulders.

---30---

SEE  

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=GROCERY

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=UFCW

Google thanks grocery workers with new Doodle
By Wade Sheridan

Google is recognizing grocery workers with a new Doodle. Image courtesy of Google

April 13 (UPI) -- Google is honoring grocery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic with a new Doodle.

Google's homepage features the letter "G" in the company's logo sending a heart to a grocery store worker who is represented by the letter "e."

The grocery store worker, who is wearing all green, is standing next to stands of fruits and vegetables along with a cash register.

The company says that as the pandemic continues, Doodles will pay homage to those who are battling the virus.

"As COVID-19 continues to impact communities around the world, people are coming together to help one another now more than ever. We're launching A Doodle series to recognize and honor many of those on the front lines," Google said.

Recent Doodles have given thanks to farmworkers and farmers and custodial and sanitation workers.

 Allison WilliamsGoogle honors farmworkers and farmers with new Doodle

Google recognizes custodial and sanitation workers with new Doodle

Grocery Workers Keep Dying From Coronavirus:
 ‘We Don't Have a Choice’
Dozens of grocery workers nationwide have died from coronavirus, and thousands more are out of work because they're sick or have been exposed.

By Paul Blest Apr 13 2020 VICE NEWS USA 

Cover: Volunteers at Pantry 279 distribute food to area residents experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 Coronavirus emergency. (Photo by Jeremy Hogan / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

Dozens of grocery workers nationwide have died from coronavirus, and more than 3,000 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union are currently out of work due to illness or exposure to COVID-19, the union said in a press call on Monday.

UFCW president Marc Perrone said that 30 members of the UFCW, which represents more than 900,000 grocery workers as part of its membership of 1.3 million, had died due to complications from coronavirus. But according to a Washington Post analysis published Sunday, at least 41 grocery workers nationwide have died due to complications from the coronavirus and more than 1,500 UFCW members have tested positive for coronavirus.

“I work in one of the hardest hit areas, and while I maintain my composure at work, the fear we feel is absolutely real,” said Gregg Finch, a UFCW member and Stop and Shop worker in New York, the global epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.. “We don’t have a choice, we have to work. We also know that we are needed. The shop is essential for New Yorkers going through the struggle.”

A recent survey conducted by the UFCW found that 96% of 5,000 members who responded are concerned about being exposed to coronavirus, Perrone said on the call Monday. In recent weeks, workers at companies such as Amazon, Shipt, and Instacart have staged walkouts in order to demand management to implement stronger safety measures and paid leave for sick employees.

Because of the overwhelming concern from members, the UFCW is rolling out a “Shop Smart” ad campaign in an attempt to persuade social distancing compliance from customers. The union will soon roll out print and video ads on a “nationwide basis,” Perrone said, “to get customers to think about [safe shopping] in a more positive way.”

Jane St. Louis, a Safeway worker in Maryland, said that three of her coworkers are out due to illness, although they haven’t been tested, and that workers are expected to stay home for two weeks if they have a fever. “Everyone’s going by that even though they aren’t getting paid,” she said.

Grocery workers from around the country expressed their fears of contracting the virus, which they said have been compounded by poor social distancing and unhygienic behavior from customers, such as tossing used gloves in shopping carts or on the floor.

“We do need to shop differently and smarter than ever before,” Finch said.

“It is clear that unless something changes quickly, more and more of these workers, both union and non-union, will become exposed and die,” Perrone said. Perrone also noted that the UFCW sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week urging the federal government to provide personal protective equipment to food workers “before food supply is threatened and workers die needlessly.”

He added that no formal plans have been made for walkouts at grocery stores yet, as the union has seen “good faith efforts” from employers. But he didn’t rule out more aggressive action in the future if conditions get worse.

“The more people get frustrated, if this virus doesn’t die down, we could see some of that at some point,” Perrone said. “But not because anybody wants it to happen and certainly not because these workers want it to happen. They’re just as concerned about consumers as themselves.”

This article originally appeared on VICE USA

How face masks became a fashion statement – in stylish circles, form foFrom operating theatre to fashion runway, designers put their own, often absurd twist on the face mask, Hong Kong’s new everyday accessory

Sofia Suarez Published: 21 Feb, 2020

People wear face masks in Hong Kong, on February 9. Photo: AFP

For most of us, a face mask is not a fashion statement. Most recently, it is being used as a shield against the coronavirus, before that as an attempt to hide the identity of protesters, or a defence against air pollution.

We don’t have the luxury of considering how the white or blue material coordinates with an outfit, although it may have crossed your mind.

A simple online search for the now-scarce surgical face masks opens up a rabbit hole of designer face masks and celebrity fashion statements. As only the fashion industry can do, it has infused medical supplies with absurdity and, argu­ably, beauty, creating a niche accessory category.
Before 2003, a Hongkonger wearing a face mask in the street was a rarity. After
the Sars outbreak, however, it became common practice in public spaces and even, somewhat comically, for drivers alone in their cars. Masks have become ingrained in our daily lives in subsequent years owing to H1N1 (swine flu), Middle East respiratory syndrome, annual flu seasons and, yes, pollution. Designers and celebrities eventually caught on.

Billie Eilish at the Grammy Awards, in January, wearing a Gucci face mask. Photo: AFP

In 2014, Chinese designers such as Masha Maand Yin Peng sent models down the runways wearing haute face masks. That same year, Yoox collaborated with Chinese designers Qiu Hao, Xander Zhou and Sankuanz on a series of luxury face masks. I wish I could report a decline in the anti-sun facekinis that gained notoriety a few years ago, but a sighting was made in Hong Kong just the other day. Sorry, the only way those might work against the coronavirus is by scaring people away.

Ariana Grande sold face masks in tandem with new album releases in both 2014 and 2019. South Korean boy band BTS famously wore and continue to sell branded face masks. We’ve also seen masks as signature looks on rappers such as Future, 2 Chainz, Travis Scott, Ayo & Teo and Young Thug. Bloggers have been bedazzling their surgical masks for fashion week, too.

So-called urban athletes have had various anti-pollution masks to turn to by companies such as R-Pur, Airinum, Cambridge Mask, Vogmask and Respro. Offering a choice of colours and patterns, not to mention reusability, non-cyclists got in line pretty quickly, too. It should come as no surprise then that designer collabora­tions were fast to follow. The label Marcelo Burlon County of Milan worked on a line with Respro, in 2014. Designer Manish Arora collaborated with Vogmask in 2016 for the Indian market, another country facing significant air pollution. Swedish brand Airinum released a collaboration with Italy’s Nemen, in 2019.

For her spring/summer 2020 collection, Marine Serre collaborated with R-Pur to create designer anti-pollution face masks. It’s a theme she explored last season, too. Fendi sells a silk face mask printed in its iconic logo. Virgil Abloh’s Off-White has been making branded cotton masks for a while, more as street style than germ barrier. Labels such as A Bathing Ape, Heron Preston, Maison Margiela and Gareth Pugh have all riffed off the face mask.

An anti-pollution face mask from Marine Serre’s spring/summer 2020 collection. Photo: AFP

Gucci’s autumn/winter 2018 runway show controversially presented black woollen masks with red lines around the lips and a similar balaclava jumper that were immediately
slammed as being a reference to “blackface” and quickly withdrawn from sale. Then, last month, singer Billie Eilish appeared at the Grammy Awards in fluore­scent
green-and-black Gucci from head to toe, including face and nails and a branded face mask.

Known for her outlandish style, Eilish has been rocking dressed-up face masks for a while, by brands such as Louis Vuitton and Burberry. Her own merchandise has included the Billie green slime mask. Don’t look for it; it’s sold out.
What should you look for to keep away those germs? Experts say face masks aren’t recommended for the general public. Ultimately, it looks like
washing hands regularly, avoiding touching your face while out and staying away from crowded places might be your best defence.

Clearly, the hysteria and the designer face mask aren’t going away any time soon, though, so choose wisely. Surgical, N95 and N99 masks are all different, but most wearers don’t adjust them well enough for them to be effective. Your money may be better spent pampering yourself with a beautifully scented luxury hand sanitiser by brands such as Byredo, Aesop or EO. Stay healthy!

Sofia Suarez personal shopper and teacher, Sofia A. Suárez, contributes to newspapers, magazines, travel guides and luxury brands around the world. Born and raised in Hong Kong, the Filipina-Italian attended Georgetown University before moving to New York to begin her career at Fairchild Publications. She has been a contributor to the Post since 1999, focusing on fashion, art and design.