Blog

April 30, 2022
Listening to- Black Dresses, AGAIN!!! Because they're GOOD!!!
Mood-

I work at a grocery store, for context. One of the guys who makes sushi in fresh foods told me the other day that he doesn't get any days off except for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I've felt sick about it since. The sushi guys work for a company that contracts them out to our store, so our store isn't directly responsible for this, but they are of course still responsible in their decision to work with that contract company. It makes me think- it's possible that many other sushi departments in supermarkets work similarly. IS THIS STANDARD? I can't imagine anyone buying supermarket sushi being okay with that level of human exploitation. Maybe something to think about...maybe ask the workers who make sushi at your local supermarket. If you do ask, let me know what they say. I want to know how common this is. Other than being physically and mentally cruel to workers, having no days off also means they can't travel anywhere. If you work every day, you can hardly leave town. It's a huge hiderance to One's personal freedom.

This is the most recent horrible thing I've learned, but your ability to buy food relies on a ton of exploitation and human fucking misery. At the most extreme, you have agricultural workers, who are disproportionally immigrants. This is a hyper-exploited class of workers who have their non-citizen status taken advantage of to deny them basic labor rights, such as minimum wage pay and days off. Many of these ag workers live on property and have their lives heavily controlled by bosses. If this sounds uncomfortably close to slavery, that's because it is. Every once in a while, a case will come to light where farm owners enage in actual slavery. One particular case happened last year in the state I live in (Georgia), where workers were forced to work at gun-point. This situation also involved contract companies, like the situation at my job does. I feel like it's impossible to avoid the implications of immigrant abuse there as well, considering how many sushi workers are Asian immigrants.

Though it is not as extreme, the supermarket workers manning registers, organizing stock, and making your deli sandwiches are also miserable. Our dairy manager was required to work 100 days straight last year, and many other coworkers have told me they're expected to work 15 days in a row sometimes. I realize 15 is a lot less than 100, and 100 is a lot less than 363 days a year, but actually all of these cases are unacceptable. I get incredibly burned out when I have to work 6 days. The longest I've done is 9 days, and that was very fucking hard for me. The level of pain and suffering only goes up from there.

Supermarkets are understaffed, workers are horribly underpaid, our concerns are not being listened to, and this is THE WAY YOU GET YOUR FOOD. Everyone should be alarmed by this. Everyone needs to eat. And for the record! Our store is 1) very bougie 2) has very bougie customers and 3) is apparently a flag-ship store, meaning we're considered one of the top 5 most profitable stores for this company.

Our pay is going up soon across the board, to account for inflation, but I don't know how much it will increase, and it will not solve the problem. Currently, deli workers at my store start at $10/hr.

The state of labor everywhere right now is dire. I just think about the issues food workers face every day, because that's where I work. Also, like I said before, it really should concern everyone that their ability to buy groceries relies on human misery at every level.

I would love if everyone thought about this more when they go shopping. Just keep it in your mind. Treat grocery workers with respect, even if they're kinda rude, because you have no idea what their week has been like. Talk to people you know about this, support strikes of all kinds when they happen, and agitate for better conditions in your own workplace.