President Bob Blair UFCW 227 COVID-19 Update: Actions We are Taking to Protect You
April 20, 2020
Dear Union Family,
Thank you for all of your hard work during these difficult and stressful times. You continue to show up, work long hours and do whatever it takes to get your communities through this crisis. It’s because of people like you that we will get through this.
I want to let you know that the safety of all our members is our union's highest priority and as we continue to fight for your health and safety I will keep sending you information so you have the most recent updates.
This week, the UFCW International launched a national customer campaign called Shop Smart, that is designed to educate the public about their role in helping grocery workers stay safe.
Shop Smart
Shop Smart will provide tips for how customers can limit the spread and reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 while in stores. These tips are based on the direct feedback we received from you. More broadly, this campaign will serve as a tool to engage the customer community in an effort to protect our members as well as elevate the awareness of our members’ hard work and courage during this national health crisis. These are the things being asked of our customers in the campaign:
Always wear a mask or face covering when they are in the stores
Respecting social distancing at all times by keeping six feet of distance from workers and other customers
Making sure masks and gloves are not left in shopping carts, but thrown away in the garbage so as to not unnecessarily expose workers
You can visit the Shop Smart campaign website HERE
Hero Pay update:Retail: We were successful in getting $2/hr emergency pay for grocery workers across Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Both Kroger and Meijer have agreed to extend that pay until May 2nd. We continue to fight to extend this emergency pay for as long as you remain on the frontlines in this crisis - and no one knows how long that might be.
Food Processing Plants & Other Essential Workers: Last night, we announced that we had finally reached an agreement with JBS for members to see an increase of $4/hour beginning April 20 through May 30. This is in addition to the $600 bonus officials previously announced. You can read about our announcement in the news here.
We are calling on every food processing employer we represent to follow the lead of JBS and offer our members an important emergency pay increase for your incredibly important work.
Not every employer has stepped up and others are offering something but it's nowhere near acceptable. We will continue to fight for more of you to get emergency pay for as long as this crisis continues and as long as you remain a frontline essential worker making the food we all need for our families.
Health and SafetyWe have demanded specific safety actions, such as providing masks, hand sanitizer and other supplies and equipment you need to stay healthy and safe. We know there is a lot more at both our plants and grocery stores that can be done to enforce social distancing. We will continue to fight for better social distancing and more protections for you.
We want to continue to hear from you. Your concerns are important. If you are missing supplies you need like hand sanitizers, disinfecting wipes, masks or if you think there is anything else we need to know about your workplace please fill out our Coronavirus Health and Safety Report Form.
Make no mistake, we are also pushing for extended first responder status and additional protections for all our members – whether you work in food retail or food processing. As a union, we believe that all our members must have access to “personal protection equipment” (PPE) like masks and gloves, rapid testing, childcare, and other protections.
These past few weeks have been difficult and it looks like we have more challenging days ahead. Your union has your back and we will get through this together. As we learn more about how to fight the coronavirus, we will continue to add new things to the list that we will fight for to make your jobs safer.
Thank you for all your hard work.
In Solidarity,
Bob Blair
President
UFCW 227