Union Calls for Enforcement of Pandemic Restrictions as Grocery Workers Are Hit Hard by Surge

Union representatives are calling for increased safety measures as Southern California grocery store employees and other essential workers who continue to work with the public daily to keep food on tables and preserve the vital functions of society are being hit hard by the current pandemic surge.

In December alone, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have documented outbreaks at three Trader Joe’s locations, three Sprouts Farmers Market locations, two Whole Foods Market stores and several smaller chains, according to an analysis of county and company data conducted by the Los Angeles Times. Food-4-Less locations have seen six outbreaks over the course of the pandemic.

As the virus spreads through the general population, the risk to grocery workers has skyrocketed, according to United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 Secretary and Treasurer Kathy Finn. The union branch represents many grocery workers in Pasadena and throughout Southern California.

“The rates of infection have been higher throughout the pandemic in grocery stores than in the general population, and amongst essential workers in general, such as grocery workers, packinghouse workers, agricultural workers — all along the food chain, um, which is the most essential thing, obviously. People need to eat,” she said.

“There have been massive outbreaks. And so now with surge, it’s the same, just worse. It’s just magnified 10 times from what it’s been, and we’re getting literally hundreds and hundreds of new COVID-positive diagnoses every week,” Finn said.

UFCW 770 officials reported 117 new infections among members on Thursday, for a total of 2,681 COVID-19 cases among members.

“Throughout the summer, sadly, we’ve had members pass away from COVID,” Finn said.

“We just had two more members pass away in the last two weeks,” she said. “It’s tragic. One was a meatpacking worker and one was a grocery worker. And the grocery worker was only 38 years old.”

Finn pointed out that her data included only data from stores that employ union members.

Those workers who remain healthy have been working tirelessly to keep essential operations running, Finn said.

“In some of the stores — the stores that have been really hard hit by COVID — the workers who aren’t sick are struggling because there are a lot of stores where so many people are out sick,” she said. “And then anyone who comes into contact with someone who’s sick is also out. They have to quarantine.”

“So some stores are extremely short-staffed, which puts additional pressure on the workers who were there,” according to Finn. “I know some people have worked 70 hours a week.”

A movement has emerged in recent weeks in Los Angeles and elsewhere to require grocery stores to provide hazard pay to employees, as was done in the early weeks of the pandemic.

While many stores have been distributing holiday bonuses, Finn said the only grocery chain she was aware of that has increased employee wages in response to the latest pandemic surge.

After previously announcing the reinstatement of a $2-per-hour increase for all Stater Bros. employees beginning the second week of December, the company announced Tuesday that it was extending the pay boost for an additional two weeks, running into mid-January.

The UFCW has been lobbying for worker protections and safety policies since the onset of the pandemic, from mandating customers to wear masks to providing breaks to sanitize workspaces Finn said.

“Now that many of those regulations have been passed, we do make complaints to OSHA when we find that those rules are not being followed, and educating our members, the workers themselves, about what the rules are and making sure that when they see the rules not being followed, they stand up,” she said. “They can complain to OSHA. They can complain to their County health department, they can call the union.”

One major challenge is that the rules and restrictions that have been put into place are not always followed, accordion to Finn.

“One other thing that we’ve been pushing for recently is monitors at the door. Because one problem is, like the masks, they have a sign at the door, but that doesn’t make somebody put on a mask,” she said. “They may not even notice.”

The West Hollywood City Council passed an ordinance requiring someone monitor and enforce pandemic restrictions at the doors at all grocery stores, Finn said, urging others to follow suit.

“You can’t enforce all the other regulations unless there’s somebody at the door,” she said.