Members of UFCW Local 663 who work at Cub Foods stores in Minnesota recently ratified a new contract that guarantees that union grocery workers will fulfill Instacart orders. The workers, who are employed at Jerry’s Foods, which is a grocery operator of Cub Foods, will fulfill Instacart orders when a customer selects “pickup” in the app for their order at the stores. This agreement applies to 14 stores in Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington and across the western Twin Cities suburbs.
“I’ve been doing online shopping since COVID hit last year,” said UFCW Local 663 member Blanche Gulley, who has 17 years of experience in the grocery industry and whose current job duties include online shopping for pickup orders at a Cub Foods store in Chaska, Minn. “It’s important that this work is done by unionized workers because we are in the grocery industry and are the experts in customer service. I expect online shopping to continue to grow, even though COVID might be on the decline. It’s convenient for the customer, and it’s convenient for us because we are in the store to do the work.”
“Grocery store workers continue to be on the front lines of this pandemic and are putting their health at risk to serve their communities,” said UFCW Local 663 President Matthew Utecht. “As the world has shifted to new realities, UFCW Local 663 members continue to be the backbone of essential foods and services our communities cannot live without having.”
“It’s straightforward for UFCW Local 663 members to do the work inside of the store for online shopping and pickup,” Utecht added. “All our union members have guaranteed wages, minimum hours, benefits, and workplace protections because we fought for them collectively. It is fantastic that this new agreement establishes that only workers with these safeguards will be doing the online shopping work for supermarket pickup moving forward.”