Walmart, Starbucks and Ikea workers brace for face mask anger

• Insider spoke to eight retail workers about the return of mask warrants as COVID-19 cases rise.
• Some workers said they felt safer if buyers wore masks, but worried about more anger and violence.
• Retail workers have faced anger and violence over the advice on masks.

Some retail workers fear reverting to police the use of masks in stores and restaurants following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC recommended in late July that everyone wear masks indoors in areas with high transmission, after saying in May that those vaccinated could drop their masks indoors. Some companies have followed suit and resurrected the requirements for masks for all.

Insider interviewed eight store workers from major chains, including Walmart, Ikea and Starbucks. They seemed divided over whether their employers should impose masks and vaccines on workers and customers. But most agreed that as frontline workers they didn’t want to be responsible for forcing buyers to comply with such mandates.

In some cases, buyers have fought back against workers over mask requirements. A Family Dollar security guard was killed last year in an argument over masks. A customer shot and killed a grocery store cashier in June after she asked her to wear a mask, authorities said.

In response to customer hostility, some retail workers have “given up the anger.” Those who keep their jobs may soon be tasked with asking buyers to wear masks again.

Workers expect renewed anger over masks

“I would love to see our customers still wear masks,” said Jeannette Randall, employee of the Safeway store in Seattle. “It would relieve all employees a bit of fear of the Delta variant.” Safeway’s parent company Albertsons is considering reinstating a mask requirement.

Randall said she was fully vaccinated but feared new variants and the possibility of infecting her unvaccinated 6-year-old or her immunocompromised mother.

“The fear is still there, and I know – even though I’m vaccinated and masked – unless we all do our part, my family and I are not 100% safe from COVID,” a- she declared.

AP Photo / David Zalubowski

A Walmart employee in Massachusetts said it would be more difficult to enforce mask warrants now that some people have dropped masks over the summer and have had a “taste of freedom.” Walmart recently said it would require vaccinations for company employees and impose mask rules for associates vaccinated in high transmission areas.

“People are tired of contradicting the information and taking uncertain precautions to minimize the outbreak,” the Walmart employee said. This employee, as well as several others, asked to remain anonymous in order to be able to speak freely on the subject. Insider has confirmed their identity.

Starbucks now requires all employees at its company-owned stores to wear face masks. Vaccinated clients should wear masks in areas with local mandates.

Joe Raedle / Getty Images

“Overall, baristas are a little upset,” said a Starbucks in Nebraska barista, “especially those who are getting vaccinated and have been maskless for a month or more now.”

Workers don’t want to enforce mask warrants

A Walmart employee in California called the return to masks a “step backwards” for those vaccinated. He said retailers should instead require proof of vaccination when entering stores.

An Ikea employee, also based in California, said he did not want to have to force the wearing of the mask, even though he supports the practice. Ikea has not changed its policy of allowing vaccinated shoppers to remove their masks in stores.

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“I think having a mask tenure again will take these difficult clients to new levels of rebellion and anger,” the worker said. “The first time around, I was scared every time I told someone they had to wear a mask, because I wasn’t sure if they would obey or if they would curse me and spit on me. . “

Another Ikea employee in a Midwestern state also said his colleagues were concerned about a return to mask warrants.

“I don’t think anyone wants this to be mandatory for clients again because it irrationally angers clients for having to wear a mask and they become horrible to deal with,” the worker said. “At this point in the pandemic, no one has the energy for this shit anymore.”