Instead, Instacart announced Sunday it would change the default to the amount the customer last tipped, saying tips have increased considerably during the virus crisis. They also demanded that Intacart raise the tip default in its app to 10% from the current 5%. The strike organizers that policy extended to workers with a doctor’s note verifying a pre-existing condition that could make them more vulnerable to the virus. Instacart also announced a month-long extension of a temporary policy giving 14 days of paid leave to workers who are diagnosed with coronavirus, or have been ordered to isolate themselves. Instacart has started offering bonuses of between $25 and $200 for its hourly employees dependent on hours worked until April 15. During the week of March 2, Instacart, Amazon, and Walmart grocery delivery services each saw at least a 65 percent sales increase compared to the same time last year, according to estimates from Earnest Research. On Sunday, the company said it had contracted with a third-party manufacturer to make a hand sanitizer spray that workers can request at no cost via a website starting Monday, with shipments starting in a few days.ĭata show online grocery orders jumping even before some cities and states imposed “stay at home” orders. Grozdina said she wears a mask to work that she bought herself and immediately showers when she gets home.Īmong their demands, the strike organizers want hazard pay of $5 an order and supplies of hand sanitizer, wipes and cleaning supplies free of charge. Grozdina, who makes $13 an hour and doesn’t get tips, said the crowds of fellow Instacart shoppers have made it tough to keep a safe distance while racing to fulfill orders. Panic shopping has cleared out the shelves, meaning she often has to replace a customer’s orders with a lesser item or notify them that it’s not available. It also directly employs about 20,000 part-time workers who are assigned to single stores, collecting groceries that are subsequently delivered to clients by a contracted Instacart worker.Ĭhloe Grozdina, a part-time Instacart in-store shopper assigned to a Mariano’s grocery store in the Chicago area, says workers are seeing “a lot of apocalypse orders” from customers hunkered down in their homes. Instacart currently has a workforce of more than 200,000 contracted workers who make multiple trips a day to various grocery stores to fulfill and deliver orders that customers make through the app. Some customers are waiting days to receive orders. The company said 50,000 new shoppers joined its platform in just the past week. The San Francisco-based delivery app is trying to hire 300,000 more workers – more than doubling its workforce –to fulfill orders it says have surged by 150% year-over-year in the past weeks. Instacart said Sunday it would soon provide workers with a new hand sanitizer upon request and outlined changes to its tip system. They’ve been asking Instacart to provide workers with hazard pay and protective gear, among other demands. News of the strike comes just days after Instacart announced plans to hire 300,000 shoppers who would work as independent contractors, more than doubling the company’s current workforce.NEW YORK – A possible strike by Instacart workers highlights the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the grocery delivery business, where workers are worried about their safety as they try to meet a surge in demand for online groceries.Ī group called the Gig Workers Collective is calling for a nationwide walk-out today. “They are profiting astronomically off of us literally risking our lives, all while refusing to provide us with effective protection, meaningful pay, and meaningful benefits.” “Instacart has a well established history of exploiting its Shoppers, one that extends years back before our current crisis,” the post reads. The strike, first reported by Vice, is planned to start Monday March 30, and will continue until Instacart meets the demands. The gig workers who risk infection to bring groceries to customers’ homes, are demanding an extra $5 “hazard pay” fee added to each order, paid safety equipment (hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes/sprays and soap) and an “extension and expansion of pay for workers impacted by COVID-19,” according to a post in Medium by Instacart shoppers and labor activism group Gig Workers Collective. The grocery delivery service has become a vital resource for some as the novel coronavirus continues to spread in the United States, the country with the most cases in the world. (NEXSTAR) – Instacart shoppers are planning to strike, demanding additional protection against the looming health and financial threat of COVID-19 Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. ![]() This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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