‘REAL THREAT’

Whole Foods Workers to Strike After Amazon, Instacart Employees Walk Out

The employees will call in sick for paid leave, free coronavirus testing, and hazard pay.

Whole Foods employees are reportedly planning to strike on Tuesday over the lack of protections being offered to employees during the coronavirus outbreak. According to Vice, the employees plan to call in sick—or stage a “sick-out”—to demand paid leave, free coronavirus testing, and hazard pay that is double their current wage. “COVID-19 is a very real threat to the safety of our workforce and customers,” Whole Worker, the group that is organizing the strike, said. “We cannot wait for politicians, institutions, or our own management to step in to protect us.” This comes after Whole Foods employees in New York, Chicago, Louisiana, and California have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 but the locations have remained open.

Employees at Instacart and Amazon—the online retail giant that owns Whole Foods—also walked out of their jobs Monday. NPR reports that workers at one Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York, walked out after workers said multiple people at the warehouse had coronavirus. The grocery delivery workers at Instacart are walking out in an effort to get paid sick leave and hazard pay.