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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 2020)
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS | Grocery stores respond to epidemic: Sneezeguards, raises, bonuses, and a hiring spree By Don McIntosh Grocery companies that own Fred Meyer/QFC and Safe- way/Albertsons will provide up to two weeks of pay for work- ers who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or required to self- quarantine, without drawing down their accrued sick leave or other paid leave, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 555 announced March 20. Both companies are adopting that policy nationwide at both union and nonunion stores. Albertsons Companies— which owns Safeway, Albert- son, Haggen and other chains— also announced a temporary $2-an-hour pay increase from March 15 through at least March 28. About 230,000 union and nonunion workers will re- ceive what the company called “appreciation pay,” including e- commerce pickers and drivers, and workers at distribution cen- ters and manufacturing plants. The company also announced it will be installing Plexiglas “sneeze guards” in checkout lanes in all 2,200 stores over the next two weeks—as a protec- tive barrier between customers and checkers. It’s waiving phar- macy delivery fees. And it’s pausing self-service operations like soup and salad bars, mak- ing cart wipes and hand sani- tizer stations available, and re- serving special times for seniors and other vulnerable shoppers. Kroger Company—which owns Fred Meyer, QFC, and other chains—announced its own one-time “appreciation bonus” of $300 per full-time employee and $150 per part- time employee (less than 30 hours). The bonus, to be paid April 3, applies to every hourly grocery, supply chain, manufac- turing and customer service worker, both union and nonunion. Nonunion Walmart, mean- while, announced that it plans to hire 150,000 new employees in its stores and distribution centers through the end of May, a nearly 10% increase in its work force, and pay $365 mil- lion in cash bonuses to hourly workers in the United States on April 2. UFCW Local 555 is also calling on the State of Oregon to designate grocery workers as essential personnel akin to first responders like Minnesota, Ver- mont, Michigan have done. That could make them eligible for state-paid childcare, and would give them permission to move freely in the event of roadblocks, curfews and stay- at-home orders. It could also prioritize grocery workers for COVID-19 testing and protec- tive gear. “In this crisis, we see the gro- cery line as the front line,” said Local 555 Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Anderson. MORE UFCW Local 555 has up-to-date rec- ommendations and info on coron- avirus protection at ufcw555.org/ covid-19-information. April 3, 2020 | PAGE 3 Daimler closes truck plant in Portland, laying off 700 By Don McIntosh In response to the COVID-19 epidemic, Daimler Trucks North America closed its Western Star and Freightliner truck plants in Portland, North and South Carolina March 26, with plans, for now, to reopen April 6. Daim- ler previously closed its auto factories in Europe. In Portland, the closure im- pacts roughly 700 members of four unions: Machinists Local Lodge 1005, Teamsters Local 305, Sign Painters & Paint Makers Local 1094, and Service Employees Interna- tional Union (SEIU) Local 49. Representatives of the four unions learned of the clo- sure in conference calls March 22. The closure comes as pub- lic health officials recom- mend people maintain six feet of distance to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Workers can’t always do that at the truck plant, because some jobs require two people working in close quarters. In the weeks leading up to the closure, Machinists Dis- trict Lodge W24 rep Dwain Panian said the Portland plant had deployed extra janitorial crews to do multiple daily cleanings of rest rooms and frequently-touched surfaces like hand rails, light switches, and time clocks. “They’ve been really proactive in trying to maintain the health at the plant,” said Panian, working from home. Panian said he hasn’t heard of any cases of COVID-19 among workers at the plant so far. But he did hear from a number of members who thought the plant should close to prevent the spread. The previous week, Gen- eral Motors, Ford Motor and Fiat Chrysler announced auto plants would close for at least a week after the United Auto Workers pressured them to do so to protect workers. Honda, Toyota and Nissan announced temporary closure of their North American plants as well.
