Senators Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren Call on Top 15 Grocery CEOs to Extend COVID-19 Hazard Pay for All Frontline Workers

On National Press Call, UFCW Announces New Numbers: 93 Grocery Worker Deaths, 12,405 Grocery Workers Infected or Exposed as COVID Cases Spike 

Senators & UFCW Demand Top Companies Provide Hazard Pay, Establish Mask Mandates to Protect All Shoppers and Workers  

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), America’s largest food and retail union with 1.3 million workers, held a national press conference with U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (Ohio) and Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts), calling on top grocery and retail companies to reinstate hazard pay for frontline workers as COVID-19 cases continue to spike across the country. On the press call, UFCW announced there have now been 93 grocery worker deaths and 12,405 grocery workers infected or exposed among the union’s members. Click here for the full video recording of the press conference. 

Senators Brown and Warren highlighted a new letter they led with Senate Democrats, calling on major grocery store CEOs to restore pandemic pay and implement CDC recommendations for workplace safety for the duration of the pandemic. In addition to Sens. Brown and Warren, the letter to the top 15 grocery chain CEOs was signed by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Murphy (C-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ). A full list of companies receiving the letter is below. 

During the call, UFCW also released the results of a new national poll of 4,000 grocery workers, highlighting the challenges these workers face on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic: 

• Nearly 1 in 2 workers are more concerned about COVID-19 now than 2 weeks ago
• Customers not wearing masks and companies less concerned about employees
• Over half of workers worry about bringing COVID-19 home and getting their family sick
• Nearly 7 out of 10 workers say their employer is not enforcing mask mandates
• More than 7 in 10 workers want COVID-19 hazard pay, given the risks they face
• 75 percent of workers say an even worse second wave of COVID-19 cases is coming  

The following are statements from Senators Brown, Warren, and UFCW President Marc Perrone: 

“Grocery store workers and thousands of others are on the front lines of this pandemic. UFCW members are risking their lives so that Americans can keep food on their table. They’re keeping our society going – and their paychecks should reflect that,” said Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio). “My fellow Democratic Senators and I wrote this letter to 15 major grocery store chains with a clear message: the pandemic is not over, and grocery store CEOs need to extend their pay increases and bonuses to frontline workers. If workers deserved hazard pay in April, they certainly deserve it now.” 

“Grocery workers’ lives are at increased risk every day as they do critical work to keep America functioning – and they deserve robust hazard pay to account for that risk. I’m in this fight with the UFCW and Senator Brown to demand grocery chains extend hazard pay for their essential workers,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts). “The next coronavirus relief package must include my Essential Workers Bill of Rights to guarantee this and a whole suite of benefits and protections like enforceable health and safety protections, universal paid sick leave and family leave, and child care.” 

“America’s grocery workers are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, bravely putting themselves in harm’s way every day as millions of Americans work from home. Since the beginning of the pandemic, UFCW has called for hazard pay, increased access to COVID testing and PPE, and the enforcement of mask mandates in stores to keep workers and shoppers safe,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “It is outrageous that top grocery chains across the country have cut hazard pay for these essential workers, even as they rake in billions in profits and the danger of COVID-19 continues to grow.

“As of today, nearly 100 grocery workers represented by UFCW have died and over 12,000 grocery workers have been infected or exposed. Leaders from the White House to countless retail boardrooms have simply failed to do their jobs to protect the American people and these companies still refuse to tell the truth about how many of their workers are getting sick or dying,” Perrone added. “These CEOs have a responsibility to fight this virus and provide a safe place to shop and work. The time has come to establish not just a national mask mandate, but to guarantee hazard pay for all American frontline workers.” 

Click below for copies of the Letters to the 15 Major Grocery Store Chain CEOs:

1. Ahold Delhaize
2. Albertsons
3. Aldi
4. Costco
5. Dierbergs
6. Kroger
7. Mejier
8. Publix
9. Schnucks
10. Smart & Final
11. Sprouts
12. Trader Joes
13. Walmart
14. Wegmans
15. Whole Foods

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The UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.3 million professionals and their families in grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries.

Our members help put food on our nation’s tables and serve customers in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at www.ufcw.org