This is YOUR fight.
Former Pet Care Associate Joy Potts explains why she’s not backing down in the fight for better working conditions at PetSmart, even after leaving the company.
PetSmart workers, we need to talk.
Ever since we sounded the alarm about the working conditions inside our stores that are harmful to us and the animals in our care, I’ve been worried that some of my former colleagues are anxious or confused about our motives for getting organized and calling for #PetCareOverProfit.
I want to make one thing crystal clear: we’re in this fight for you.
I had already quit my job as a Pet Care Associate, in fact, when I joined the PetSmart Worker Committee at United for Respect.
COVID was my deal-breaker.
Like so many retail workers who were applauded as pandemic heroes, I quickly came to understand that ‘essential’ actually meant ‘exploitable’ to the millionaires and billionaires in charge. PetSmart told us, “you’re too valuable to stop working,” but in reality, they abandoned us on the front lines with more work to do and fewer people to do it — while BC Partners (BCP), the Wall Street private equity firm that owns PetSmart, cashed in on the pandemic pet boom.
I’m sure many of you remember the chaos in our stores during the spring of 2020. A lack of supplies, and a lack of support from corporate. Skeleton crews because people were furloughed or fired. Those of us who didn’t lose our jobs had our hours cut. At the start of the pandemic, 2-week quarantines were recommended following exposure, but because PetSmart didn’t offer COVID leave, people were forced to use vacation or unpaid sick days to comply with public health guidance. There was no company-provided PPE even though it was required (we supplied our own to protect ourselves at my store), and no hazard pay.
I was petrified every day about bringing COVID home to my immunocompromised parents. Meanwhile, PetSmart counted its stacks of cash.
I remember so many volatile feelings from that time. It felt like we were machines forced to produce, produce, produce with very little payoff and no protection from a deadly virus. Eventually I realized, “My life is only worth $10 an hour to this company… what am I doing here?!?”
Here was a massive corporation that had been bleeding its employees for everything it could. I knew I had to make the powers that be understand that we were not OK, but as an individual employee I had very little reach. I left PetSmart to protect myself and my family — and then I found United for Respect and the hundreds of other current and former PetSmart associates like me who wanted to hold the company accountable and transform it into something better.
The problems in our stores didn’t start with COVID. The pandemic simply brought existing issues into sharper focus, when our lives were literally on the line for a company that was keeping our pay low and slashing our hours, even though our stores were (and still are) understaffed. But the virus didn’t create the dangerous conditions at PetSmart. BCP did, by cutting costs and padding their profits, after acquiring the company in 2015. Innocent animals have paid the price, as they were not prioritized when BCP cut corners to make an extra buck. It came down to workers having to make personal sacrifices just to keep things running, because PetSmart made it clear none of that was their concern.
And that is the reason that we sounded the alarm about the conditions inside of PetSmart. It didn’t seem like there was any other way to get their attention at corporate. We know it’s pet care workers who are the first to be blamed whenever something goes wrong with an animal, and we wanted to shine a light on the actual cause: unleashed corporate greed. It’s really as simple as that.
These dangerous and unacceptable conditions in our stores have cost some animals their lives and have also caused undue stress and anxiety for all of us workers. We’re the ones who see the harm done. We carry that burden. Our top priority is to provide the best possible care to the animals in our stores. When we can’t, we’re left feeling responsible for things that are beyond our control. The VICE exposé was the rare opportunity for workers to speak out about the changes we know are needed to make our stores better.
We want you to know that the PetSmart Worker Committee is doing everything possible to show who’s actually at fault for the suffering in our stores, BCP and PetSmart’s corporate leadership. Those are the people who must be held accountable for leaving us underpaid and understaffed, making it impossible to provide a standard of pet care that lives up to OUR personal and professional expectations. After all, WE are the experts when it comes to the animals in our stores — and we’re fighting for the betterment of this company to benefit animals AND workers. The vast majority of PetSmart associates do this work because we LOVE animals and do everything in our power to provide the best possible care. Unfortunately, corporate fails to provide the supplies, equipment, training, and staffing we need to provide excellent pet care.
The good news is that our campaign is working. By joining together with United for Respect, we’ve seen things slowly start to shift in our favor. Our committee has had to fight inch by inch, but we’ve stuck with it and scored meaningful victories for PetSmart workers during some of the most difficult moments of the pandemic, securing a COVID bonus and vaccine incentives for all associates.
Next, we’re aiming to win a pay increase for all of PetSmart’s hourly employees and secure schedules with hours we can count on. Will you join us?
Whether or not you feel comfortable speaking out with us, never forget that it’s your hard work that made PetSmart’s success possible. Now it’s time for all of us workers to get our fair share, and our fight has only just begun.
