Posts Categorized: Health & Safety

On Feb. 1, Kroger retaliated against a new grocery hazard pay mandate in Long beach, Calif., by announcing the closures of multiple grocery stores. The UFCW condemned  this move by Kroger, which was an attempt to intimidate other cities considering grocery hazard pay mandates. As Kroger moves forward with closing the stores, UFCW locals are making their voices heard and continuing to build momentum at the state and local level for additional hazard pay mandates, helping to successfully pass measures in Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle and other cities.

The workers affected by the store closings in Long Beach are members of UFCW Local 324, and UFCW International President Marc Perrone issued a statement in response to Kroger’s actions as follows:

“Since the pandemic began, Kroger has made billions in profits because of the sacrifices of grocery workers who have been putting their own health and safety on the line every day,” said Perrone. “Rather than provide the hazard pay these grocery workers have earned and deserve, Kroger decided to threaten these workers and the community’s access to food in the middle of a public health crisis. City leaders stepped up to take care of these essential grocery workers and ensure they receive hazard pay for the danger they face. Kroger closing these stores is truly outrageous conduct and a ruthless attempt to create a chilling effect that will discourage other cities from doing what is right and enacting hazard pay mandates that recognize the threat these workers face from COVID-19.”

“Let us be very clear, this is not how you treat frontline essential workers that face daily and worsening exposure to COVID-19,” Perrone added. “America’s grocery workers will not be silenced in the face of these shameless scare tactics. Major grocery chains across the country have already agreed to new hazard pay agreements and Americans strongly support hazard pay in recognition of the ongoing risks these grocery workers are facing. Kroger does not have the right to ignore laws designed to protect workers and the public during this escalating health crisis. As America’s largest food and retail union, UFCW will use every tool available to ensure that Kroger follows the law and that our state and federal leaders hold companies accountable for flagrantly choosing to evade these vital workplace laws.”

As Kroger closes stores in Long Beach, UFCW locals are continuing to advance hazard pay legislation in other cities and counties in California and other states.

UFCW Local 770 worked with the Los Angeles City Council to advance a new hazard pay measure on Feb. 2 that would temporarily provide hazard pay for essential workers in grocery and drug stores. UFCW Local 5 helped to pass a $5 per hour hazard pay ordinance in Oakland, which will go into effect immediately and a $3 per hour hazard pay ordinance in San Jose that will go into effect in 30 days. The local is also advocating hazard pay in the cities of San Francisco, Berkeley, San Leandro, Concord and San Mateo.  

On Jan. 25, UFCW Local 21 worked with the Seattle City Council to pass hazard pay legislation that requires certain large grocery and food retail businesses with at least 500 employees globally to pay $4 per hour hazard pay for grocery store workers. Similar legislation was passed by the Burien City Council just south of Seattle on Feb. 1 and the local is looking at additional cities across the region.

“I am grateful the council recognized the risks grocery store workers face during this extraordinary crisis,” said Maggie Breshears, who is a member of UFCW Local 21 and works at the Greenwood Fred Meyer. “Thank you to our communities for hearing our stories and helping us get our voices out. Now, thanks to our hard work together, Seattle has won hazard pay for essential front line grocery store workers. This is a victory for Seattle workers, and I hope other cities follow Seattle’s lead.”

On Jan. 27, Minnesota lawmakers and members of UFCW Locals 9 and 663 introduced new legislation to improve workplace safety at meatpacking and food processing plants. The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act, authored by Rep. Dan Wolgamott of St. Cloud, would provide paid leave to all meat and poultry processing workers to recuperate from an illness, injury or to care for an ill family member. The members of UFCW Local 9 and 663 work at meatpacking plants in Austin, Worthington and other communities throughout the state.

In 2007, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights which requires employers to provide meatpacking workers with information about their rights as workers and adequate safety equipment. The Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights was a positive measure; however, it has not proven adequate to protect the safety and rights of meatpacking workers before or during the time of COVID-19.

The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act creates a brand new “Workers’ Rights Coordinator” position housed within the Department of Labor and Industry dedicated to enforcement and compliance. This individual would be given the ability to investigate and prosecute violations of workers’ rights with the help of the attorney general, a district attorney, or any city or county attorney.

The proposed legislation also requires employers to provide personal protective equipment at no cost to employees; allow meat and poultry processing workers adequate break time to sanitize and wash hands; routinely clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces, workstations, and training rooms; and provide paid leave to all meat and poultry processing workers to recuperate from an illness, injury or to care for an ill family member. The proposed legislation also prohibits employers from discriminating or taking an adverse employment action against a worker, including the threat of reporting a worker’s current or suspected immigrations status, and requires employers to post all the rights, as well as training manuals, in the language of fluency for workers every year.

“When COVID-19 first hit Central Minnesota in the spring of 2020, I heard heartbreaking and horrifying stories from my constituents about the unhealthy working conditions at meat processing plants that were jeopardizing the health and financial well-being of their families,” said Rep. Wolgamott. “That’s why I’m introducing the Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act, which provides comprehensive workplace health and safety protections, and ensures workers have access to the benefits and training needed to work safely during this pandemic and beyond.”

“Every day, me and my coworkers put our lives on the line when we go to work,” said Antonio Jimenez, a UFCW Local 663 member who works at JBS in Worthington. “I was here at the plant when the COVID-19 outbreak happened. No one ever wants that to happen again. This legislation is about safety, not just about me, but for all the meatpacking workers in the state.”

“Our local represents packing workers at Hormel and QPP in Austin,” said UFCW Local 9 President Rich Morgan. “I was involved in the 2007 Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights legislation. At the onset, Matt Utecht and I, along with our staff members, had conversations and a meeting with the Minnesota Department of Labor, and they used parts of the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights to help formulate some of their guidelines for supplying personal protective equipment and other measures. But we realized more needed to be done to keep workers across the state safe since worker shortages are sometimes leading to short cuts, causing injuries and ergonomic issues. The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act is common sense legislation.”

“We represent meatpacking workers in Worthington and across the state in Minnesota,” said President of UFCW Local 663 Matthew Utecht. “Worker safety is the most important issue. It took a worldwide pandemic to pull back the curtain for the public to really see inside the packing plants and see the dangerous work that takes place in there. The workers have been long forgotten, not really given a second thought by the public until the pandemic struck and the media took notice.”

“These essential workers in Worthington, along with all meatpacking and poultry workers throughout the state, risk their health and expose their families to additional risk to be able to put food on the table for Minnesota families,” Utecht added. “The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act would provide comprehensive workplace health and safety protections and ensure workers have access to the benefits and training needed to work safely as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.”