Monthly Archives: January 2021

On Jan. 21, the UFCW condemned the news that Instacart is firing nearly 2,000 grocery workers, who have been vital to protecting food access for Americans during the pandemic. 

As part of this move, the company is firing the only unionized Instacart workers in the country, who joined UFCW Local 1546 in February 2020. UFCW Local 1546 has demanded that Instacart reconsider its decision to lay off any of the company’s essential workers during the pandemic. Instacart workers are among those designated as essential workers and successfully pressured the company to strengthen COVID-19 safety measures to protect them on the job as virus cases have continued to rise across the country.

“All across the country, Instacart grocery workers have been bravely serving on the frontlines since the pandemic began, putting their own health at risk to ensure Americans have the food they need during this crisis,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement. “Now, with COVID-19 outbreaks spiraling out of control, it is outrageous that Instacart would fire these courageous and hard-working men and women keeping our food supply secure.” 

“For seniors, high-risk individuals, and countless more who are quarantining, Instacart grocery workers have been a trusted and crucial lifeline, providing access to food for some of the most vulnerable Americans,” Perrone added. “Instacart firing the only unionized workers at the company and destroying the jobs of nearly 2,000 dedicated frontline workers in the middle of this public health crisis is simply wrong.  As the union for Instacart grocery workers in the Chicago area and grocery workers nationwide, the UFCW is calling on Instacart to immediately halt these plans and to put the health of their customers first by protecting the jobs of these brave essential workers at a time when our communities need them most.”

Updated materials pertaining to individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and the reinstatement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) are now available to locals. Resources, including Spanish-language fact sheets and a sample employer letter, are available here and here.

TPS

TPS is a form of immigration relief available to individuals from certain countries where there is ongoing armed conflict, a natural disaster, or other extraordinary conditions that prevent people from returning safely.  

On December 9, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) published a Federal Register Notice automatically extending the validity of documents related to TPS, including work authorizations, for individuals from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, Nepal and Honduras through Oct. 4, 2021. This extension complies with a recent decision in the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Other legal challenges to the Trump Administration’s decision to terminate these six countries’ TPS designations are ongoing, and the Biden Administration is expected to extend and expand TPS designations even further. The Biden Administration has proposed legislation that will make green cards and a path to citizenship available to TPS holders.

Workers who re-enrolled during the last designated TPS registration period benefit automatically from the Dec. 9 extension. No worker needs to reapply for this extension.

If a worker’s employment authorization document (EAD) expires before Oct. 4, 2021, the worker should keep a copy of the Dec. 9, 2020 Federal Register Notice. If an employer questions the validity of an EAD, all a worker needs to show is their EAD and a copy of this Federal Register Notice.

DACA

DACA is a U.S. immigration policy that allows some individuals who were brought to the country as children (“Dreamers”) to receive a renewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and become eligible for a work permit in the U.S.

On his very first day, President Biden issued a memorandum directing DHS and the Attorney General to take all appropriate actions to preserve and fortify DACA. The Biden Administration has proposed legislation that would establish a path to citizenship for DACA recipients.

On Dec. 4, 2020, a New York federal court ordered DHS to restore DACA to its original form. As a result, USCIS is accepting first-time DACA applications, DACA renewal requests, applications for advanced parole (travel) documents, and extending DACA grants and one-year employment authorization documents to two years.

The UFCW was among the plaintiffs in a separate Supreme Court case that overturned the Trump Administration’s termination of DACA in June 2020 as a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The UFCW is supporting efforts by the new Congress and the Biden Administration to support immigrant workers and will keep everyone updated.

If you have any questions regarding TPS and DACA, please have your Region Director contact Sarai King at sking@ufcw.org in the International’s Legal Department.