Grocery Workers Seek Emergency Status

As he stood outside of Stop & Shop bringing shopping carts from the parking lot to the store’s entrance, William stopped to ponder whether he could now be considered a first responder.

“Normally when I think of first responders I think of people in hospitals that really got to deal with it,” he said, referring to Covid-19. But William (who asked to go by only his first name), too, shows up to work every day to provide an essential service. He touches shopping carts that have been in the hands of hundreds of customers all day. His co-workers inside the store pick up and scan the groceries of the customers who stand well within six feet of them, separated now only by a glass shield.

For those reasons, the union that represents William, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 919, is trying to get the state to recognize his work and give him the same state-provided benefits that are afforded other essential workers in a crisis.

Like doctors and paramedics, grocery store workers must report to work, even in a pandemic, in order to keep their customers fed. Unlike for doctors and paramedics, Connecticut does not guarantee them childcare. Unions are trying to change that.

Local 919 has circulated a petition on Change.org lobbying Gov. Ned Lamont to recognize grocery workers as first responders.

Specifically, said Organizing Director and Business Rep. Jorge Cabrera, the union wants the state to guarantee all grocery store workers four benefits: free childcare, free coverage for Covid-19 treatment, extended paid family medical leave, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

“Because food workers are frontline workers, they should get the benefits of first responders,” said Cabrera. While the petition specifically uses the term ​“first responder,” Cabrera said the name is not so important. ​“As long as those four things happen, we don’t care what [the governor] calls them,” he said.

Stop & Shop has responded to the pandemic in a few ways.

“They’re taking care of us,” said Mark Peterkin (pictured above) as he walked through the parking lot on his way back to the meat counter after his break.

He is still at risk, though. ​“I come in here and I’m in contact with 500, 1,000 people in a day,” he said.

David, a grocery manager who declined to give his last name, said the company has raised its workers’ pay by 10 percent and has provided gloves and masks for some workers. Customers, he said, have acknowledged the risks grocery workers are taking. ​“Three or four times a day someone will thank me,” he said.

Stop & Shop also granted its workers two weeks of extra paid sick leave if they come down with Covid-19, as have a number of other grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

While it’s good that Stop & Shop has provided extra paid sick leave, said Cabrera, workers should also be able to get pay if they have to stay home because a member of their family is sick.

Local 919’s petition asks for 14 days of paid family medical leave for all grocery workers in the state, guaranteed by the state.

Cabrera pointed out that Stop & Shop’s extra two weeks of paid sick leave requires the verification of a medical authority, which in some cases is hard to get and takes time.

“People have called me to say ​‘I don’t feel well, but I cannot afford not to go to work. Or I already have my vacation booked,’” he said.

Giving workers the assurance that they can stay out of the store and still get paid is also important for public health, Cabrera said, as workers touch the food that customers then buy.

By designating grocery workers in the same category as first responders, the state would ensure that they have access to the same provisions as medical workers and other emergency personnel. Though Local 919 represents only Stop & Shop workers (and workers in some other industries), it is lobbying for those provisions for all grocery workers and pharmacy workers, many of whom don’t get the same benefits that Local 919 members do to begin with.

When Lamont shut down schools, he guaranteed healthcare workers and first responders childcare. While grocery workers must also report to work, they are responsible for finding their own childcare.

A few other states have designated grocery workers as emergency workers, and have guaranteed them a place to send their children while they work. In Vermont and Minnesota, grocery workers have been designated emergency personnel. In Michigan and Massachusetts, they have been guaranteed childcare.

During an appearance on WNHH Radio’s Dateline New Haven on Wednesday, Lieut. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said that she and Lamont had discussed designating grocery workers as first responders.

“Yes, the governor and I are working on that,” she said in answer to a question that Cabrera posed in the comments section of the live interview.

When asked whether the governor is considering Local 919’s request to provide free child care, paid family medical leave, free healthcare coverage for Covid-19, and PPE for grocery workers, spokesperson David Bednarz pointed to an executive order Lamont issued on Wednesday that limits occupancy in grocery stores.

The order requires that stores allow no more than 50 percent of their capacity in the store at any given time, and also requires markings throughout stores to enforce social distancing. It directs stores to set up Plexiglass shields between checkout workers and customers.

“Wherever possible,” it says, employees should wear gloves and masks when interacting with customers or handling products.

Bednarz did not say whether Lamont is considering the specific provisions that Local 919’s petition is asking for.

“Individuals working to provide vital services to our residents like healthcare workers, childcare professionals, and especially those providing food through either food service or grocery stores are doing remarkable work making sure our residents are getting critical services and goods they need,” he wrote in an email to the Independent.