Grocery workers demand store closure
Food 4 Less has many COVID cases
PALMDALE — Unionized grocery workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770 staged a demonstration Friday morning at an eastside Food 4 Less to encourage customers to call the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and ask for the grocery store to be shut down for 48 hours to allow for a deep cleaning after 23 employees allegedly tested positive for COVID-19.
The grocery store, at 2341 East Ave. S, has 80 employees.
Barbara Hughes, a cashier who also serves as a union shop steward, said the store has seen one or two employees test positive at a time since the pandemic started in March.
“Thanksgiving was the deal because they didn’t control the crowd,” said Hughes, who has worked for the grocery store for about 26 years.
On Thanksgiving Day, when many retail outlets are closed for the holiday, Hughes said it was “bumper to bumper” people in the store.
“They weren’t controlling the crowd. It was like the money, the customers were more important than anybody else,”
Hughes said.
Hughes and other union members passed out fliers to customers to alert them to the employee concerns. The fliers were printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other with the phrase “No More COVID Shut It Down!” In all caps bold letters. The fliers said 22 confirmed COVID cases in the store since Thanksgiving, though Hughes said the number was now at 23.
“We have some more pending too,” Hughes said.
According to the most recent information posted by the county Department of Public Health, 21 employees have tested positive at the store.
The flier includes an image of Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen mashed up with a picture of the Grinch and the tag line, ‘You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch!.” Kroger is the parent company of Food 4 Less.
“His salary in one quarter was over $3 million,” Hughes said.
Hughes asked that the store be closed for 48 hours to give time for a deep cleaning, “so we can get back to zero cases.”
Hughes said her manager, who declined to comment when reached by telephone, would do whatever she was asked to do by the company.
“It’s becoming a hard time trying to get the companies to shut the doors when the stores get overcrowded,” union representative Michael Rosales said. “Sometimes they will and then a lot of times, for the most part with the higher percentages they won’t shut the store down, and that’s when it gets overcrowded.”
As of Dec. 6, retail businesses must limit occupancy to 20% of their maximum occupancy pursuant to the state’s Regional Stay at Home Order. The order also calls for businesses to implement a system for monitoring occupancy.
Cal-OSHA visited the store on Thursday regarding the workers concerns about health and safety. Rosales said the store got a small citation.
“Our most urgent priority throughout this pandemic has been to provide a safe environment for our associates and customers while meeting our societal obligation to provide open stores and access to fresh, affordable food,” Vanessa Rosales, Director of Corporate Affairs for Kroger, wrote in an email. “We would not operate stores that are hazardous to our associates and customers, which is why we’ve invested $1.3 billion to both reward associates and to implement dozens of safety measures. We began implementing these safety measures early in the pandemic and since that time have only strengthened our vigilance and resolve.”
She added the company continues to support employees through benefits like paid emergency leave and a $15 million Helping Hands fund that provides financial support to certain associates experiencing hardships due to COVID-19. They also continue to invest in permanent wage increases for the frontline employees across Kroger’s family of companies.
“We are proud and appreciative of our dedicated associates who are serving our customers when they need us most,” she said.