(WWJ/AP) - If you head out to Whole Foods today, it might be short staffed or closed.
Whole Worker, a workers group for Whole Foods employees, is calling for a nationwide "sick out" on Tuesday.
Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, has offered a temporary $2 raise in hourly wages and two weeks of paid time off for anyone who tests positive for coronavirus or who is quarantined.
But Whole Workers said they want hazard pay, immediate shut down of stores if a worker tests positive and health care benefits for part-time and seasonal workers.
On Monday, some Instacart and Amazon warehouse workers walked off the job demanding greater safeguards against the coronavirus, even as both companies are speed-hiring hundreds of thousands of new workers to handle a surge in delivery orders.
The one-day strikes had little impact on consumers, but the unrest called attention to mounting discontent among low-wage workers who are on the front lines of the pandemic, serving the needs of those who can keep safe working from home.
Instacart said the strike had no impact on its operations Monday, with 40% more shoppers using its platform compared to the same day last week. Its workers are demanding $5 in hazard pay per order and a tip default on the app to at least 10%. The company instead announced Sunday that it would change the tip default to the amount last paid by the client, saying workers are seeing a surge in tips amid the pandemic.
Instacart is also giving 14 days of paid time off for any worker who is diagnosed with coronavirus, or is ordered to isolate, a policy it extended for another month last week. Strikers want that policy extended to any worker with a doctor's note verifying an underlying condition making them vulnerable to the virus.
Several Amazon workers, meanwhile, walked out of an Amazon warehouse, in Staten Island, New York, on Monday demanding the facility be shut and cleaned during a paid time off after a co-worker tested positive for the virus. About 100 workers were expected to attend the rally, but Amazon said the number was much lower.
Amazon said it has taken aggressive steps to safeguard its employees from the virus, including enhanced cleaning and sanitation and social distancing enforcement. At the Staten Island facility, which employs 4,500 people, Amazon implemented daily temperature screenings.
