COVID-19 has not only upended grocery shopping as we knew it before the pandemic but continues to add pressure to the supply chain in the work done behind the scenes.
Adobe on Tuesday reported a 110 percent rise in daily online grocery sales in the United States in April, compared with March, according to a CNET report.
All of this extra strain on the supply chain translates into trying to find a balance in terms of keeping the supply chain moving vs. the continual threat of COVID-19. In some places, that has led to labor strife as workers continue to fear catching the virus at their jobs.
On Thursday, the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO reported in a news release that workers at multiple fruit warehouses in the Yakima Valley “have walked off the job and are conducting wildcat strikes to demand safer working conditions, paid sick leave, hazard pay and protection from retaliation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“This weekend, organizers expect that six or more fruit warehouses will be on strike,” it noted.
Maintaining hazard pay has been an issue between workers and other retailers such as Amazon and Kroger. Amazon is set to end its hazard bonus pay program at the end of May; Kroger is set to end its “hero pay” program also this month.
In a statement Thursday, UFCW 21 sent out a notice of “Don’t cut hero pay” rallies on Friday at a Fred Meyer in Burien and another one in Bellingham.
The workers planned to distribute masks to co-workers that say, “Always a Hero – Forever Essential.”
In a statement Friday, Kroger announced a special “Thank You Pay” it would issue to hourly front-line grocery, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmacy and call center associates “to acknowledge their dedication to maintaining safe, clean and stocked stores.”
The one-time $400 payment for qualified full-time associates and $200 for qualified part-time associates, will be paid out in two installments on May 30 and June 18, according to the statement issued Friday afternoon.
The company also said it would continue its COVID-19 Emergency Leave guidelines “to provide paid time off to associates most directly affected by the virus or experiencing related symptoms.”
UFCW 21, in a statement issued late Friday, responded: “Kroger’s decision today shows that we can have an impact, and that it is important for workers, communities and unions to protest against decisions that harm workers.
“We will continue to keep up the pressure for better pay, and for improving safety in Kroger stores. Kroger has a lot more work to do to show essential workers that they are valued and safe at work.”
The union added that it would continue to push for the hero pay for its workers.
More transparency sought from Amazon
Changes were promoted broadly in March in a show of heightened safety measures taken at grocery stores, but it’s harder to see a full picture of the behind-the-scenes conditions, particularly with Amazon.
Amazon’s global logistics chief Dave Clark gained media attention early this week after he would not provide a total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at its warehouses in a recent CBS “60 Minutes” interview. The company has been pressed by more than a dozen attorneys general, including Washington’s, to offer state-level data on cases involving both Amazon and Whole Foods Market.
A Sumner Amazon worker wrote The News Tribune saying she had repeatedly asked her human resources office for information about total cases there and had yet to receive an answer.
Earlier this month, an anonymous tipster sent The News Tribune copy of a cell-phone notification of a confirmed case at Amazon’s DuPont facility.
A representative from Amazon told The News Tribune via email late Wednesday that the company alerts all employees at a site when a confirmed case occurs in one of its buildings by phone and/or text.
Those who’ve had close contact with a confirmed case are asked to self-quarantine for 14 days at home, and paid for their time at home, according to the company.
Brittany Parmley, Amazon media representative, did not answer questions as to how many cases had been reported at the DuPont or Sumner sites.
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department also would not provide number of cases or any investigation details from the two sites.
Parmley noted that the company expects to invest approximately $4 billion company-wide from April to June on COVID-related initiatives “to get products to customers and keep employees safe.”
“Like most global companies, we’ve had employees affected by this, and we’re doing all that we can to protect our employees and take the proper precautions as stated in WHO guidelines.”
Fred Meyer cases and monitoring protocol
The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department on Tuesday, in response to questions, told The News Tribune that the Fred Meyer distribution center in Puyallup had 16 reported COVID-19 cases.
Fred Meyer initially publicly reported 12 cases at the site in response to questions last week from The News Tribune.
In the days following the initial report, several workers requesting anonymity reached out to The News Tribune saying they personally were still concerned about working conditions.
One worker told The News Tribune via Facebook Messenger that the work itself made it difficult to socially distance as workers faced an already demanding workload at the site.
“It would be nearly impossible to wear a mask full time,” the worker added. “I’d estimate 50 percent of the people that work here are doing manual labor moving around 300 cases of product an hour on 10-hour shifts.
“We have to get a little air sometimes so we don’t pass out,” he added.
In a public response about the outbreak the retailer issued May 8, spokesman Jeffery Temple wrote that “Face coverings are provided and mandatory for every associate, every shift.”
The retailer says it has Implemented social distancing practices throughout the facility and provided hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes “throughout the facility for quick access” and mandates temperature and symptom checks for associates prior to the start of shifts.
Temple has not responded to further questions about the site beyond the initial response.
Steve Metcalf, communications specialist with the county health department, told The News Tribune via email this week that “We worked with the distribution center to identify people who came in close contact with the workers who tested positive for COVID-19. Standard procedure is for those close contacts to self-quarantine for 14 days. We worked with staff to review infection control practices at the center.”
He added that the department remains “in contact with the center with check-ins every few days.”
“The degree of monitoring depends on the size and severity of the cases involved. How much we monitor also depends on the need to implement additional infection control measures.”
He also noted that “In this case, the center followed our infection control guidance.”
Some of the workers in Puyallup remain skeptical of the efforts.
“This COVID outbreak is just the icing on the cake, and a few other employees I work with are as furious as I am,” wrote one, who requested anonymity. “I risk my safety and life and the lives of everyone I have at my home when I go home each day after work.”
UFCW 21, in its statement Friday, noted that stores also need to be made safer.
“Kroger still needs to be clear on their commitment to support workers for the entire pandemic and to make stores safer with limiting the number of shoppers in stores to allow for safe social distancing and guaranteeing that customers wear masks.”
Story has been updated from original posting on May 15 to add details of Kroger’s “Thank You Pay” announcement and UFCW 21 response.
Debbie Cockrell has been with The News Tribune since 2009. She reports on business and development, local and regional issues.
