After Raleigh sanitation worker dies of COVID-19 complications, coworkers seek protections
The second North Carolina resident to die from complications of COVID-19 was a 17-year employee with the City of Raleigh — a smart man with lots of ideas, one of his co-workers said Thursday night.
Adrian Grubbs was 37 and a supervisor in the Raleigh Solid Waste Services Department, the City of Raleigh said. The city manager issued a statement about Grubbs’ death but the city has not confirmed how he died. The city’s statement came after Harnett County reported that a resident in his late 30s had died from the coronavirus.
But while Grubbs’ co-workers mourn his sudden death, they also are concerned that they are susceptible to contracting coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. They had a virtual meeting with three Raleigh Council members Thursday night to express worker concerns and provide a list of demands to protect the solid waste employees.
“I think they could be doing more to protect us, because it’s not just the workers. It’s our families,” said Charlen Parker, president of the Raleigh City Workers Union, in a phone interview Thursday with The News & Observer.
“If you’re not testing what went on, then it’s like you’re willing to risk putting our families at risk and in danger,” Parker said. “And I feel like if you get up in meetings saying you care about us and try to look out for us, I think that should be the least you can do.”
In an email late Thursday night, Raleigh spokesperson Julia Milstead provided The N&O with a list of ways the city is trying to protect sold waste and sanitation workers. That includes reducing the number of staff in a truck from three to two, checking employee temperatures when they begin their shifts and cleaning the trucks daily.
Employees who had direct contact with Grubbs are in 14-day quarantine, she said.
Parker knew Grubbs and occasionally played basketball with him. He said it was clear how much Grubbs loved his children and his wife.
Parker said workers were told Thursday morning that Grubbs had died Wednesday from COVID-19 complications.
“He was very smart, and had a lot of good ideas that possibly could have changed things if he was still around longer to push them,” Parker said.
City workers express concerns
Union representatives sent a letter to city leaders on March 17 asking for more worker protections and for the city to issue a state of emergency. Two days later, Raleigh City Manager Ruffin Hall wrote that the city had since declared a state of emergency and was making strides to protect workers. The union’s suggestions would be included in the city’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
After Grubbs’ death, union leaders sent a second letter to the mayor and city manager.
“We believe that if the city had acted swiftly based on the concerns we raised in our March 17 letter, that some of the current safety issues and anxiety from workers could have been avoided,” it said.
In a news release, the union said sanitation trucks aren’t being cleaned on a regular basis; workers are violating social distancing by being on one truck; they are only getting two pairs of gloves per week; and there is a lack of “adequate hazard pay.”
Parker said workers are on a staggered shift to avoid other employees, and they have been provided some gloves and masks, Parker said. But workers would like to see more protections. The union is calling for all sanitation workers to be tested for the virus.
Council member David Cox, one of the members who attended the virtual meeting Thursday , said he would bring their concerns to the city manager. But he told The N&O he isn’t aware of how the city can get the staff tested.
“These are scary times, and I don’t want to diminish their concerns,” Cox said. “But I am listening and will take them back to city council and do my best to see they are addressed.”
Parker said he is aware of a shortage of masks and gloves and the ability to test for COVID-19 is limited. But, he said, “if you don’t take care of your work force, who is going to get this stuff up?”
The city is using “every resource available to us to ensure the safety and security of our employees and our community,” said Raleigh City Manager Ruffin Hall in a statement earlier Thursday.
“This is an incredibly sad day for the City of Raleigh,” he said. “We have lost one of our own and our hearts are broken. He was loved by his family and friends and a dedicated servant of this community.”
North Carolina reported its first deaths Wednesday. A person from Cabarrus County died Tuesday from complications associated with the virus. The person was in their late 70s and had several medical conditions, Gov. Roy Cooper said.
A second person in their 60s from Virginia who was traveling through North Carolina also died.
As of March 26, there are more than 700 cases of coronavirus in North Carolina.
Steve Wiseman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 11:12 PM.
