PHOENIX, AZ — Amid all the closures around the Valley there's one industry that's staying open: grocery stores.
And with workers coming in close contact with hundreds of people all day long, some families fear their loved ones are being exposed to COVID-19, but can't afford to stop working.
ABC15 viewer Melissa tells us her father is one of those workers. He's also a senior citizen with an underlying condition.
"Sometimes the customers are right up--I mean you have to kind of get in that 3 to 6 foot space to actually interact with the customer," she said.
Exactly what the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says we shouldn't be doing.
But Melissa says her dad believes his only choices, are to work and possibly get sick or stay home and possibly lose his job.
"I know that he believes that his job would be on the line," she said.
Grocery store chains around the Valley tell ABC15 they are taking CDC recommended precautions to keep workers safe: have people wash their hands regularly and clean busy areas more frequently.
But Melissa says stores can't enforce those rules on the public.
"Even now people are kind of not being as careful as they should be," she said.
She'd like to see restrictions placed on how close people can be to each other while interacting inside the stores to protect all workers.
And in scenario's with workers who are older or have underlying conditions liker her father, she says they "should be prioritized and really given the option to say 'hey do you wanna take some time off work and we won't fire you.' Even if they can't afford to pay him, at least don't fire him."
ABC15 also reached out to the union that represents grocery worker UFCW99 in statement it says in part:
"In the cases of employees who are at high risk and do not feel they should work in the stores at this time, the union employers have agreed to permit these workers to go on leave and have guaranteed they will receive their sick leave and any unused vacation time earned under the contract.”
Melissa says her father has not been given that option and does not have vacation time.
