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Vol. 34 No. 16
Gov. pledges more COVID-19 testing on West Side,
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April 15, 2020
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austinweeklynews.com
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Also serving Garfield Park
@AustinWeeklyChi
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@AustinWeeklyNews
Greater St. John h mourns Adrew Betts, PAGE 5
Workers blast area bakeries as unsafe
Employees at Hostess and Bimbo bakeries say they’re afraid of contracting COVID-19 due to unsanitary conditions By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Workers at two suburban food production plants — the Hostess Bakery at 2035 N. Narragansett Ave. in Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood and the Bimbo Bakeries USA plant at 1540 S. 54th Ave. in Cicero — say they are in fear of contracting COVID-19, because their employers will not implement appropriate safety measures. Employees who work at both plants shared letters drafted by management confirming that the Hostess and Bimbo plants each have at least one confirmed positive case of COVID-19. Workers at both plants, however, said that they believe there are more cases that the companies are not publicizing. “It’s a lot of problems at that plant,” a Hostess employee, who insisted on anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said of the bakery. “They’re not keeping the bathrooms or the break rooms clean, we’re not social distancing, people are allowed to walk around with no uniform. We don’t have enough gloves and masks.” The worker said that managers have told employees that they have ordered masks, but they are currently on back order. A Hostess representative could not be reached for comment. The worker said that they took two weeks’ vacation because of the conditions at the Hostess plant and fear returning to work. The worker also explained that Hostess employees have been told that if they don’t return to work, they will not receive unemployment benefits, and that workers who are still on the job get $100 Walmart See BAKERIES on page 6
Madison Hopkins/Better Government Association
Karen Williams, 57, rides a CTA bus next to a sign instructing riders to “Please Practice Social Distancing.” Williams takes two buses from her home in the Englewood neighborhood each day to care for two elderly clients, work the state has deemed essential during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Aides caring for seniors still working despite lack of PPE
As many as 22 home care clients who are part of an Illinois program have tested positive for COVID-19 By ALEJANDRO CANCINO Better Government Association
As the nation scrambles to keep its doctors and nurses supplied with safety
gear during the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak, an army of low-wage Illinois home care workers on the front lines remain largely on their own. Workers such as 57-year-old Karen Williams, whose resourceful son tracked down a few masks for her to wear each day as she takes two buses from Englewood to Bronzeville to care for elderly clients for whom she prepares meals, dispenses medication and helps with bathing. “What I’ve been doing is reusing them. Maybe every two or three days I
change them,” said Williams, who never considered staying home. “I am always there when she is sick,” she told the Better Government Association while she was visiting one client. “When she gets sick, I get sick, and vice versa… Because the client comes first, I am going to try to come as long as I can.” Williams is among more than 40,000 workers in Illinois’ Community Care Program, which allows more than 100,000 seniors to stay out of nursing facilities See HOME-CARE AIDES on page 11