We’re getting flat out hammered right now.’ UPS employees on working during the pandemic. At UPS, the most frantic time of year is typically around the winter holidays. Then things level off. But these days, as the coronavirus pandemic spurs American households and businesses to buy almost everything online, the deliveries have seemed relentless. In the new coronavirus economy that divides labor into essential and nonessential, truckers and parcel delivery drivers have become some of the most indispensable - and most exposed - workers as shut-in Americans rely more on online shopping. Online sales data and anecdotal evidence from employees we spoke to show the volume of packages handled has significantly increased. That has many UPS workers putting in long, physically exhausting hours while, at the same time, taking extra precautions to protect themselves from infection.
"I'm working more than I ever have in almost 24 years at UPS," Jack Warren, a UPS delivery driver based out of Providence, Rhode Island, tells CNN. Warren is also a union steward and is in charge of the safety committee at his facility. He says the team spends extra time cleaning "handrails, doorknobs, some of the machinery," including the trucks and forklifts. Drivers, who walk into dozens of public spaces a day, also carry paper towels and cleaning spray, he said. At UPS's massive Worldport facility in Louisville, Kentucky, which processes roughly 2 million packages a day, two employees have died from Covid-19, according to Teamsters Local 89, which represents workers at Worldport, and a Clarke County, Indiana health official. It's unclear where the workers contracted the virus, the company said. "COVID-19 is a community-spread virus. There is no way to know how/where someone contracted it," wrote UPS spokesman Jim Mayer in an email to CNN. The company won't confirm how many workers have gotten sick, he added. The company has put several measures in place to keep workers safe. UPS began distributing masks and personal protective equipment to workers in early April, Mayer said. To encourage social distancing, he said, the company has also added markings at six-foot intervals in areas Page 3 of 7 where employees are likely to gather. At Worldport, it has rented school buses so workers can spread out while on company shuttles, Mayer said. UPS said it is also offering two weeks of paid sick leave to workers who have been diagnosed with Covid19 or placed under a quarantine. But some workers say more could be done: A Change.org petition demanding hazard pay for UPS workers has received nearly 240,000 signatures. The company said it's not providing hazard pay at this time. The coronavirus has impacted the lives of many UPS delivery drivers, package handlers and their families. CNN spoke with some of them about their experiences. Her fiance is a UPS delivery truck driver in Lexington, Kentucky. We see the stress they deal with. When they come home, we see it on their faces. We know that they've had a hard day. What they're dealing with is what they deal with around the holidays, when people are ordering a lot of stuff online for Christmas. I was trying to find gloves to pack in his lunch bag and I personally gave him like a spray bottle with a bleach cleaner and hand sanitizer and stuff to make sure he was somewhat protected. We got into it one day because he was getting ready to come into the house with his shoes and stripping down his uniform and putting it over a dining room chair and I was like, "hold up." It makes us paranoid that they have been on the front line and could potentially bring it home. I'm worried about him. He's young, but he could get it. I make him take his boots off outside. He goes in so many public places throughout the day. I have a towel for him to sit them on and I spray them down with a Clorox cleaner every night. It's made me feel a little crazy, but I feel like during these times they have to be, just to be cautious to make sure we aren't bringing those germs in the home. I want people to understand when they do order something that is massive and heavy, just to give them something to do during this time, they need to find a way to say thank you to the person that's delivering it. It's not easy. I get emotional thinking about it, because I see it
Question: The political conditions in India had changed since 1991. If UPS wants to increase its investment in India, examine the host-country’s benefits and costs due to such an investment.
