Instacart's workers will strike for safety protections and hazard pay.
A lifeline of groceries could be caught in the middle. Gig workers for the grocery delivery app Instacart are planning an emergency strike starting Monday to protest the company’s lack of worker protection during the coronavirus pandemic, a move that is likely to cause waves in the already-disrupted grocery space.
Instacart has become a lifeline for some consumers during the outbreak as more states order residents to shelter in-place. Gig workers have become akin to first responders for some people during the crisis, but they perform this labor without meaningful health benefits or pay protection. Instacart hasn’t provided workers with any hand sanitizers or protection, Vanessa Bain, a veteran shopper for Instacart who helped organize the strike, told The Washington Post.
“It’s so scary to be in a grocery store right now, and so scary to be around swarm and mobs of people,” she said. “I would convey to customers that we are also doing this out of interest in protecting them.”
Instacart workers are asking for hand sanitizer and disinfectant, an additional $5 per order in hazard pay, as well as for the default tip to be set to 10 percent, rather than 5 percent. They are also seeking an indefinite extension of pay for workers impacted by covid-19, including “anyone who has a doctor’s note for either a preexisting condition that’s a known risk factor or requiring a self-quarantine.”
The strike will continue until Instacart, which has raised $1.95 billion in venture capital, according to Pitchbook, agrees to the terms, according to a Medium post outlining their terms.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/03/27/instacart-strike-worker-coronavirus/
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