UFCW Locals are continuing to fight for additional pay and resources for our members. You are – and you have been – on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, ensuring that people and families in our communities have the food and supplies they need. UFCW reached an agreement with another grocery company for it to pay retroactive hazard pay in recognition of the ongoing risk that workers take simply by coming to work. We’re going to keep pushing for you to have the resources you’ve earned and deserve, and to ensure you have what you need to keep you safe at work.
Presidents from UFCW Locals in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Kentucky, recently sent another letter to Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, which reads in part:
“Health experts recently projected that it’s likely that over 400,000 Americans will lose their lives to COVID-19 by the end of 2020. As more and more people get sick our members continue to show their dedication and make sacrifices for their customers, communities and The Kroger Company. Our members deserve hazard pay as long as the health and safety hazards of COVID-19 remain.
Hazard pay is not a handout. It’s an investment in the hard-working men and women driving Kroger’s unprecedented success. Letters, robocalls and billboards thanking your associates – our members – is not appreciation. It’s a slap in the face contributing to the low morale in your stores, especially as they see your competitors reinstating hazard pay. You need to do the right thing and pay them the hazard pay they have earned and deserve.”