Mother speaks out over daughter’s working conditions at Eastbourne supermarket

The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous to protect her daughter’s identity, is a 64-year-old high risk person due to her blood pressure and she said on Thursday (April 9) she is ‘petrified’ of her daughter returning home from work each shift.

She said, “I am petrified. I am a nervous wreck every time my daughter goes to work in case she catches the virus. It could be life threatening for me.

“I cannot believe when everyone is trying to do their best that there is a major supermarket putting profits before their staff welfare. It is pure greed.”

The mother said her daughter is still having to handle cash, even though other supermarkets are encouraging cashless transactions to limit the spread of the virus, and that a shortage of staff is making it hard to police government guidelines like two-metre social distancing.

The mother said, “There is no respect in how they are treating staff, especially to the ones going home to elderly parents or the staff who have kids. I just think it is awful. Absolutely awful.

“My daughter looks drained. She is worried of bringing the virus back home and she doesn’t want to catch it herself. She said to me ‘I hate the company but I am stuck here’. If she speaks out she will get sacked.

“I just want it to stop. I want them to follow other supermarkets’ guidelines and stop staff from touching cash.”

A Co-op spokesperson said, “The safety and wellbeing of customers and colleagues is a priority and we’ve invested heavily in personal protective equipment and social distancing guidance in stores.

“Around a fifth of our workforce is self-isolating and we’re paying them their full wage while they are off but we’ve also recruited 5,000 more temporary workers to feed the nation.

“It’s also important to reward our colleagues for working through these difficult times. That’s why we’ve given them a bonus, money to spend and extra time off, which is all worth almost £13million to 56,000 colleagues.

“We’d like to thank our colleagues again for their hard work, commitment and outstanding service to their local communities. We’d also like to reiterate that government guidance is to stay at home and only shop for essential items.”

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