An army of desperate workers fear they are risking their lives after claiming bosses are urging them to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Daily Record has been flooded with emails and calls from employees, their friends and families who feel they have been let down by their employers.
They say they are being asked to continue working despite UK and Scottish Government advice to stay home during the outbreak.
A national lockdown and requests for employees to work at home has highlighted the plight of those who cannot do so, despite the growing number of deaths from Covid-19
Scottish Amazon staff say they’re working in packed warehouses with no hand sanitiser or personal protection equipment.
Workers at the Dunfermline complex in are said to be “petrified” of becoming infected.
The GMB union said Amazon workers across the UK have reported being in crowds of between 200 and 300 and having to reuse equipment multiple times without hand sanitiser being available.
Mick Rix, GMB national officer, said: “We are so angry about this – these workers are petrified of catching and spreading Covid-19.
Amazon is blatantly disregarding the two-metre social distancing rules, there are no masks, no sanitiser – and with the vast amount of people working there, there’s no way of keeping them from getting ill.”
Amazon said it urged employees who could work from home to do so, although it acknowledged fulfilment centres were not conducive to that.
It is paying workers an extra £2 an hour from now to the end of April on top of the typical £9.50 starting rate.
A spokesman added: “We increased our cleaning of all facilities globally, including regular sanitisation of all door handles, stairway handrails, lift buttons, lockers, and touch screens.”
Construction workers were out in force at a scheme in West Dunbartonshire. Employees were still working on the social housing project in Westcliff, Dumbarton, this week. A local said: “It seems like business as usual.
"There are diggers, vans and all sorts of vehicles cutting about. I can’t see how this type of building qualifies as absolutely essential.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said there was extensive guidance on which businesses and what work counts as essential. He declined to comment on the development.
Staff at confectioners Lees of Scotland, in Coatbridge, claim they are making snowballs and meringues in a factory with no protective gear or social distancing.
A source said: “The stuff that is made there is not absolutely essential, so why not wind things down for a while?”
Clive Miquel, chief executive of Lees of Scotland, said: “The safety of our employees and the public is our top priority and we will continue to follow the UK Government’s national guidance on preventing the spread of Covid-19 as this evolves.”
Scotland’s biggest local authority, Glasgow City Council, has come under attack for allegedly putting pressure on support staff to turn up for work.
A source said: “People in office jobs that are clearly not essential to life are being asked to go into offices to do things that could really wait.”
A council spokesman said: “Many of the council’s most critical services cannot be delivered remotely – and although some staff may not view themselves as being directly involved in them, they have an equally essential role in supporting those that do.”
Logistics giant Malcolm Group was accused of working through the lockdown. A source said: “People have been instructed to go to work at sites as normal.
"They have no regulations in place, they are not practising social distancing and don’t even have a cleaner or cleaning equipment.”
A Malcolm Group spokesman said: “We strongly refute any accusation that we have taken insufficient measures to counteract the Covid-19 crisis.
"We are adhering to Government guidelines for safe working, with a lot of our employees working from home where possible. We have also opened additional office space to deliver strong social distancing at work for those employees who do need to be present.”
Staff and family members were upset that whisky distiller Chivas Brothers was working on through the crisis. A source said: “People shouldn’t be risking their lives to get booze out there to shoppers.”
A Chivas Brothers spokesman said: “We are stepping up our already substantial social distancing processes across our reduced number of sites.
"We will be conducting further consultations on site with operators, engineers and union representatives to ensure the highest safety processes are in place.”
