The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is condemning Instacart for planning to cut the jobs of nearly 2,000 grocery workers, all of whom joined UFCW Local 1546 in February 2020. These are the only unionized Instacart workers in the country.
UFCW Local 1546 was informed of the cuts in a letter from attorney Joseph E. Santucci, which states that Instacart hopes to "accomplish the transition" in the first and second quarters of 2021, but no sooner than mid-March 2021.
“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.”
He continued, “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. 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.”
UFCW is calling on Instacart to reconsider its decision 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.”
In a statement emailed to SFA News Daily, Instacart said, “As part of our ongoing efforts to uniquely support each of our retail partners, we’ll now be offering two distinct Instacart Pickup models — Partner Pick and Instacart In-Store Shopper Pick — as well as testing in select markets a new feature that enables full-service shoppers to fulfill pickup orders. As a result of some grocers transitioning to a Partner Pick model, we’ll be winding down our in-store operations at select retailer locations over the coming months. We know this is an incredibly challenging time for many as we move through the COVID-19 crisis, and we’re doing everything we can to support in-store shoppers through this transition. This includes transferring impacted shoppers to other retailer locations where we have Instacart in-store shopper roles open, working closely with our retail partners to hire impacted shoppers for roles they’re looking to fill, and providing shoppers with transition assistance as they explore new work opportunities. We’re also providing all impacted shoppers with separation packages based on their tenure with Instacart.”
Related: Instacart Gives Employees Vaccine Support Stipend; Instacart, Aldi Expand SNAP Program.
Image: Instacart