Workers call on Walmart, Amazon and other retailers to bring back hazard pay ahead of holiday rush

At least 131 grocery employees have died of covid-19, in accordance to the employees teams, although the precise demise toll might be a lot larger. Retailers usually are not typically required to report infections or deaths to well being officers, staff or clients. All advised, the virus has killed greater than 256,000 Americans.

“America’s essential workers are facing a holiday season of unparalleled danger,” UFCW President Marc Perrone stated throughout a call with reporters. “With more than 1 million new covid-19 cases in the past week, and deaths spiking to unprecedented levels, we are entering what could be the deadliest phase of this pandemic for millions of America’s essential front-line workers.”

Record-breaking pandemic income at many of the nation’s high retail corporations haven’t trickled down to their employees, in accordance to a current analysis of 13 main corporations by the Brookings Institution, a center-left suppose tank. The report discovered that income rose a mixed $16.9 billion, or 39 p.c, this yr. But the typical pay for front-line employees is up solely $1.11 an hour, or 10 p.c, for the reason that pandemic started.

At Amazon, as an illustration, income are up 53 p.c in contrast with final yr. But employee pay — together with bonuses, momentary hazard pay and everlasting raises — rose simply 6 p.c. Walmart staff obtained a 6 p.c pay increase whereas firm income soared by 45 p.c. (Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief government of Amazon, owns The Washington Post.)

“Amazon and Walmart could have quadrupled the hazard pay they gave their frontline workers and still earned more profit than the previous year,” in accordance to the report’s authors, Molly Kinder, Laura Stateler and Julia Du.

Representatives for Walmart and Amazon didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Courtenay Brown, who works at an Amazon Fresh warehouse in Newark, says she fears getting sick in the course of the pre-Thanksgiving rush.

“Right now is what we call the ‘turkey apocalypse,’ where we’re asked to push out as much as we can,” she stated in a call with reporters. “We are literally in the middle of an outbreak at my warehouse right now. Every day we get messages about one or two people getting infected.”

“The fact that [Amazon executives] decided to close the Seattle building [and allow headquarters staff to work remotely] until next year while keeping thousands of us jam-packed in a small warehouse is more than a little upsetting,” stated Brown, who’s a member of United for Respect.

In September, the corporate advised The Post that it had added 150 new safety measures, together with moveable sinks, thermal cameras and further janitorial workers, to its services in the course of the pandemic.

“Nothing is more important than [the] health and well-being of our employees, and we are doing everything we can to keep them as safe as possible,” Amazon spokeswoman Lisa Levandowski stated on the time.

Kroger, which gave staff a $2 hourly “hero bonus” from March to May, has largely funneled windfall income to shareholders, the Brookings report stated. The firm purchased back $211 million in inventory in the course of the second quarter and introduced an extra $1 billion in buybacks in September. While these actions juiced the worth of Kroger inventory, the corporate’s cashiers, stockers and other front-line employees “have gone 181 days without hazard pay, and will enter this new, deadlier phase of the pandemic earning some of the lowest wages in the industry,” in accordance to the report.

Kristal Howard, a Kroger spokeswoman, stated the corporate has spent greater than $1 billion since March on employee security and bonuses, together with $100 in retailer credit score it issued to every worker final week. The firm’s common wage, she stated, is greater than $15 an hour.

“Our most urgent priority throughout this pandemic has been to provide a safe environment for our associates and customers,” she stated.

But employees say it isn’t sufficient. Janet Wainwright, a meat cutter at a Kroger retailer Yorktown, Va., says she is more and more nervous about her well being however can not afford to take day without work. Although the corporate supplied staff covid-related sick go away early on, it now requires employees who check constructive for the virus to take 14 days of unpaid go away whereas they recuperate, she stated.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has not been a day when my co-workers and I have not worried about our safety,” stated Wainwright, who’s a union steward. “Americans need to know the terrible choices workers like me are being forced to make every day.”