Workers at Mercer Island sandwich shop on strike due to heat
Workers at a Mercer Island sandwich shop are on strike, citing dangerous working conditions as the cause of heat-related injuries in the workplace.
KIRO 7 talked to employees at Homegrown on the first day of the strike, and they said working the sandwich line is too hot for anyone to deal with.
“To make all the sandwiches, we have to put them through an oven. And this oven is constantly emitting heat all day long as we’re making sandwiches,” said worker Quinn Haba. “In the back rooms where we’re doing prep and where we’re stocking food, there’s no vents.”
“The biggest issue is air conditioning. We’ve had people getting heatstroke in the store. Nothing’s really been done. They’re not listening to us, so it’s got to this point,” sandwich maker Greyson Stypulkoski said. “There was one time I ended up losing my lunch in the bathroom because it was too hot. I came close to passing out and went home.”
Employees said they’ve asked for air conditioning with little success. They said they’ve held pickets, passed out leaflets, and spoken to management.
The employees have refused to clock in due to the lack of air conditioning.
They said they have held pickets, passed out leaflets and spoken to management.
“I started working here last summer, and we have the same problems. They’ve told us, ‘We’re sending a guy out. We’re going to fix it.’ It just never happened,” said Max Carlson, a sandwich maker.
Workers told KIRO 7 that they deal with triple-digit temperatures while on the sandwich line, causing them to throw up and suffer heat-related injuries.
They also said Homegrown has been forced to shorten its hours of operation, which has led to smaller paychecks.
“We had to close early, or we didn’t open at all because of the heat. So I’ve lost a lot of hours, and that means a lot of money,” Celina Damico said. “Honestly, it would be really easy to just go and find another job, but that would mean nothing would change with Homegrown and people that got hired in the future would have the same issues.”
The strike comes on the same week Seattle tied an all-time heat record.
The region saw its 12th day with 90-degree temperatures, tying the record for the most 90-degree days in a year.
KIRO 7 has reached out to Homegrown about the heat-related conditions and the striking employees but has received no response.
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