SEATTLE — Grocery store workers in Washington state say not enough is being done to protect them as coronavirus cases keep rising.
Angel Gonzalez is president of UFCW Local 367, a union representing grocery workers, and said they want their hazard -- or hero -- pay back.
"We didn't sign up to be in the frontlines of anything, we signed up to be grocery workers," Gonzalez said.
"They call the hero pay, appreciation pay, we refer to it as hazard pay, but we don't quite care. We don't care too much what it's called as long as we get it," he said.
To drive that point home, Local 367 drove a billboard truck around several of the stores they represent.
"We wanted to exhort them to actually do the right thing, you know, you should make sure our stores are safe and you should pay us our hazard pay," Gonzalez said.
When the pandemic began, Gonzalez said the union negotiated an additional $2 of pay per hour.
"This pandemic has thrust us into a very precarious position that is putting not only ourselves but our families at risk," he said.
But a few months later the bonus pay was gone. Gonzalez said to this day he’s not sure why, but he wants it back as new variants of the virus are discovered and cases keep rising.
"It certainly does, you know, make it a little bit more palatable and it shows a little respect and appreciation," he said.
Gonzalez said the union met with members from Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer and QFC stores, on Friday to discuss pay and other safety measures including protecting workers from unruly customers.
"Many customers have a negative attitude about wearing masks. They have a negative attitude about keeping their distance, and we're calling our employers to ensure that our stores are safe," he said.
KING 5 contacted Kroger to ask about the hazard pay and other issues raised by workers.
A Fred Meyer spokesperson issued a statement that said in part, "Since March, we’ve invested over $1.3 billion dollars to reward our associates (i.e., Appreciation Pay, Hero Bonus and Thank You Pay) and safeguard our associates and customers."
In response to the question why was the hazard pay removed, the spokesperson said, "We would not operate stores that are hazardous to our associates and customers. We began implementing safety measures early in the pandemic and since that time have only strengthened our vigilance and resolve."
The statement also said Fred Meyer has implemented more than 30 policy and process changes to safeguard the health and wellbeing of its employees, including providing gloves and face coverings for every associate, installing plastic partitions at checkout stands, and mandatory temperature and symptom checks for associates before starting their shifts.
The spokesperson also said all managers and supervisors are supposed to deal with any customers who won't comply with wearing a face covering.